“Do we breach practices only because we seek to make headlines” Smriti Irani on Sabarimala Row?

The Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala row has completely split the opinion of the public and while review petitions are still pending, union minister Smriti Irani has spoken about the issue.

While speaking during an event on Delhi University campus in response to a question from a student, she said religious practices should be “respected” and anyone breaching them just to “make headlines” would do a great disservice to the country’s diversity.

“I speak from personal experience. And, I said that publicly when I made that comment.I am married to a Zoroastrian, i.e., a Parsi, and by law, I am not allowed (to enter fire temple). And, by law means not by the Constitution but by laws that govern that particular religious practice,” she said. “Irrespective of how empowered I am, I am not allowed to enter a fire temple”

“It is incumbent upon you to respect that religious practice because the Constitution gives us rights to be free, but it also impinges upon us responsibilities towards fellow citizens,” she said. Irani said there are “many temples” across the country, where “men are not allowed”.

“Do we breach practices only because we seek to make headlines or do we talk about only and only matters of faith. And, that is where my comments came from,” she said. “That if I breach somebody’s religious practice only because my face will be in the newspaper, then I do great disservice to the diversity of India,” she said.