Haji Ali PIL: HC warns of intolerance in society

MUMBAI: It is an era of intolerance, said Bombay high court on Tuesday while hearing a public interest litigation challenging the ban on entry of women into the inner sanctum of Haji Ali Dargah.
A bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere responded to a comment of the petitioners’ advocate, Raju Moray, made in the context of the bench showing its disinclination to pass orders in religious matters.“Especially now things are such, it should not be taken otherwise,” Moray said.
The PIL was filed by activists Noorjehan Niaz and Zakia Soman of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan to lift restrictions to the ‘mazaar’ or tomb of the saint imposed between March and June 2012. The Haji Ali Dargah Trust defended the ban, saying entry of women in close proximity of the grave of a male Muslim saint is a “grievous sin” in Islam. The judges said the Trust should on its own resolve the issue. “Normally the court does not interfere in such matters,” said Justice Kanade. The bench then gave the instance of the Parsi Panchayat banning women who married non-Parsis from entering fire temples and how the HC said it will not interfere and asked the petitioner to file a suit. The matter was carried to the Supreme Court and they got relief. “When it comes to religious matters people are very sensitive,” said Justice Kanade. But Moray pointed out that while the court does not like to interfere in religious practices “it is not a religious issue but of gender justice”. The bench directed the charity commissioner to give a copy of the trust deed to the petitioners and posted the next hearing on December 15.