Bombay High Court opens shut temple doors to women

Mumbai - Asks government to ensure their entry to Shani Shingnapur shrine

 Ruling that women cannot be prevented from entering a place of worship, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government to ensure their entry to the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar.
Taking up a bunch of writ petitions challenging the ban on the entry of women into the temple and the sanctum sanctorum, the court said there was no law that prevented entry of women to a place of worship.
"If you allow men then you should allow women also," said the division bench of the court. "If a male can go and pray before the deity, then why not women? It is the state government's duty to protect the rights of women."
The court also reminded the government that under the Maharashtra Hindu Place of Worship (entry authorisation) Act, 1956, if any temple or person prohibits any person from entering a temple then he or she faces a six-month imprisonment.
It also asked the government pleader to make a statement on Friday as to whether it would allow entry of women into the temple.
Earlier in January, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay
High Court had refused to pass any orders relating to the entry of
women into the temple in Ahmednagar district.
The court had said that since the issue was pending before the Supreme Court it would not like to pass any interim orders.
The temple, located 250km north-east of Mumbai, attracts millions of devotees every year. The open temple has a black stone idol kept atop a platform. However, besides the temple priests, no one is allowed to climb the platform.
In January, women activists from Pune and other cities threatened to enter the temple. But the police prevented them from approaching the village of Shani Shinganapur. Most of the homes in the village do not have doors or locks and the residents claim there have been no burglaries for decades.
In the past, women were not allowed anywhere near the temple, but after activists raised objections about seven years ago, they were allowed to enter the premises. But entry into the sanctum sanctorum is still not allowed.
Women activists filed the writ petition against the century-old temple tradition, claiming that the ban on their entry was illegal and violative of their fundamental rights.
What the court says
> There is no law that prevents entry of women to a place of worship.
> If you allow men then you should allow women also.
> If any temple or person prohibits any person from entering a temple then he or she faces a six-month imprisonment.
> It also wants the government pleader to make a statement on Friday as to whether it would allow entry of women into the temple.
nithin@khaleejtimes.com

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