Taking a swipe at religious customs and temple entry restrictions
violating women's constitutional rights, the Supreme Court of India(SCI)on Monday January 11,2016
said no temple or governing body can bar a woman from entering the
famous Sabarimala shrine in Kerala where lakhs of devotees throng
annually to worship.
“Why can you not let a woman enter? On what basis are you prohibiting
women entry... What is your logic? Women may or may not want to go (to
worship at Sabarimala), but that is her personal choice,” Justice Dipak
Misra, who headed a three-judge Special Bench, pulled up the Travancore
Devaswom Board, which manages the shrine.
When the Devaswom Board countered that the prohibition was based on
custom followed for the past half century, Justice Misra lashed back,
asking what proof the Board had to show that women did not enter the
sanctum sanctorum over 1500 years ago.
Justice Misra orally observed that the Constitution rejects
discrimination on the basis of age, gender and caste. “Unless you have a
constitutional right to prohibit women entry, you cannot prevent them
from worshipping at the shrine. There is a difference between a temple
meant for the public to worship and a mutt,” the Bench said.
The SC then asked Kerala government to file a fresh affidavit in a
week's time while posting the case for hearing on January 18.
The SC Bench was hearing a petition filed by the Indian Young Lawyers
Association and five women lawyers seeking a direction to allow entry of
women into the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple without age restriction.
Women
in the age group 10-50 are not allowed entry. The apex court had issued
notice in the case way back in 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment