January 22, 2025

While the Sabarimala case continues, it is heartening that the judiciary has stepped in to restore gender equality in Shani Shignapur and Hazi Ali dargah cases. In both the temple and the dargah, managing trusts prevented women from entering and praying in the sanctum sanctorum citing specious and outdated reasons not backed by religious texts but largely enforced by the diktats of self-appointed guardians of the religions. Gender equality is enshrined in Indian constitution and is part of rights of individuals and overrides the concerns or interests of parochial society.

The outdated notion that women are somehow impure during their menstrual cycles and that Gods prefer not to have them in their presence during that period is not backed by any religious text. Similarly, the excuses that women’s body parts will be exposed when they pray at the dargah and that they should not be allowed to pray at tombs of male saints are not backed by religious text. Constitutional guarantees cannot be denied even on the pretext of freedom of religion under Article 25. Women's rights will only be looked after by having women on the board of religious trusts as men-only trusts see things with a men-only perspective.

It is sad that the women's rights are not freely recognized and available to them. Judicial intervention is almost always required to make some of those rights work for them. It is blot on our parochial society that we still try to deny even simple rights to women. Unless Indian society recognizes the fact that women comprise almost 50 percent of our population and can be equal partners in our progress, we will always achieve only 50 percent of our potential. Unless women know that they have rights equal to men, they will be prevented from giving their best and it will be society's loss.