Supreme Court issued notices to the Narendra Modi government and others on a PIL seeking entry of Muslim women in all mosques of the country. A top court Bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices SA Bobde and SA Nazeer issued notice to the Union ministry of law and justice and minority affairs on the plea seeking entry of women in mosques. The plea was filed by one Yasmeen Zuber Ahmad Peerzade for issuance of direction to government authorities and Muslim bodies like Wakf Board to allow women into mosques on grounds that denial amounted to violation of various fundamental rights.
Interestingly, in July earlier this year, the apex court had rejected the plea on the same issue citing the fact that it was not filed by any Muslim woman. The Supreme Court had rejected a plea filed by a Hindu Mahasabha leader for allowing Muslim women’s entry into mosques and ban the ‘purdah system’. The Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that, “let the Mulsim women come.” The Bench junked the plea saying the Hindu Mahasabha was not an affected party. The petitioner, Swamy Dethathreya Sai Swaroop Nath, is the President of the Kerala unit of the Akhil Bharath Hindu Mahasabha. He had also prayed that the ‘Purdah’ system, which requires Muslim women to cover their face, be banned.
In a landmark verdict on September 28, 2018, the Supreme Court granted women of all ages the right to enter the Sabarimala temple, reversing the Kerala shrine’s tradition of barring girls and women of menstruating age—10-50 years.
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