The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Haji Ali trustees to meet today, plan next move
THE SEVEN trustees of Haji Ali Dargah are set to meet Monday evening to chart their future course of action.
The Bombay High Court Friday deemed the trust’s decision to ban the entry of women into the inner sanctum of the dargah as unconstitutional and asked it to remove the restrictions. It had, however, allowed them six weeks of time to challenge the judgment in the Supreme Court and stayed its own judgment for this period.
The trust now has two options: either remove the barriers or approach the Supreme Court. Suhail Yacoob Khandwani, one of the trustees, had earlier said the trust would in all probability approach the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Bhumata Brigade president Trupti Desai visited the shrine Sunday and offered prayers from outside the barriers. “I came here to pay my respects as our fight has been successful. Thankfully, unlike last time, there were no protests over my visit. I want to thank everyone for this,” said Desai.
After Desai’s success in her fight for equal access to women at the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, activists from Mumbai under the aegis of Haji Ali Sab Ke Liye (HASKL) had decided to launch a similar campaign for Haji Ali. They had asked Desai to participate in the agitation.
The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), the original petitioners who took the Haji Ali trust to court, meanwhile, said they did not plan to visit the shrine until the barriers were completely removed. “The trust has six weeks to challenge the verdict and we have to respect its right to do so. We will see how things go, but we will go only when the barriers for women are completely removed,” said BMMA co-founder Noorjehan Safia Naiz.
The demand for equal access to Haji Ali Dargah was first raised by the BMMA, which had file a PIL in the Bombay High Court in August 2014 against the “blatant discrimination on the ground of gender”.