Mumbai’s Haji Ali holds mirror to Sabarimala

Women entering the sanctum sanctorum area of the Haji Ali Dargah is a normal sight nowadays, but things were different two years ago.

Women activists filed a PIL and the matter went to the Supreme Court. In October 2016, the trust ceded and allowed women in the sanctum area. Parallels are being drawn between women devotees being stopped at Sabarimala and women being allowed inside the Haji Ali Dargah after the SC order.

Arguments made in both the cases are common, said Dr Noorjehan Safia Niaz who was one of the petitioners in the PIL. Noorjehan requested various state authorities to intervene, including the minority's commission, women's commission and charity commissioner, before approaching the court.

"In both the cases (Haji Ali and Sabarimala), arguments were made on the grounds of gender equality. Those days are over when the agents of God dictated the terms of worship. People are breaking those barriers now. When they stopped us from visiting we took the matter to court. These beliefs stem out of a patriarchal mindset



which leads to gender-based discrimination against women. The intervention of courts through judgments helps demolish these mindsets and perceptions. It's wrong to deny women right to worship because they are biologically different," said Noorjehan.

"After the court verdict, we made some structural changes, and also made sure that we can provide a safe environment. There are different entry and exit points for men and women. Nobody is allowed to touch the tomb. In this way we are able to give equal treatment to both sexes and also keep it in line with the Muslim personal law (Shariah)," said Suhail Khandwani, a trustee of the Haji Ali shrine.

When asked if there was a way to implement the SC order in the Sabarimala case, Khandwani said that "everyone has a different belief system". I don't think one can compare the Sabarimala and Haji Ali cases.

Meanwhile, the famous Sabarimala shrine has closed after five days of monthly pooja. During the 5 days of pilgrimage, no women between the age of 10 - 50 has managed to enter Sabarimala.