AMN
After a long legal battle women granted permission to enter Haji Ali Dargah on Tuesday. A group of 80 women present a chadder at the shrine.
After a series of legal battles and agitations, a group of women activists on Tuesday entered the sanctum sanctorum of Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai and offered prayers.
The dargah is a popular religious place located on an island off South Mumbai. It houses a mosque and the tomb of Muslim saint Sayed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari and is visited by people of all faiths.
Prior to 2012, the Dargah did not discriminate against women and allowed free entry of people across religions. However, the Dargah’s board of trustees imposed a ban on women’s entry in 2012.
On October 24, the Haji Ali Dargah Trust told the Supreme Court that it was ready to implement the Bombay High Court’s order and had sought four weeks for infrastructural changes to make arrangements for it. The women activists thanked Durgah trustees for welcoming women into Dargah.