Judges
say Sabarimala Ayyappa Hindu temple in Kerala must allow female worshippers, in
landmark case for gender discrimination at holy sites
Reuters
in Delhi
 |
The Shani Shingnapur temple in
Ahmednagar was ordered to open its inner sanctum
to women by a state court. Photograph:
|
Places
of worship that deny or restrict women’s entry undermine the fight for gender
equality and have no constitutional right to do so, the Indian supreme court
said, in the latest boost for women demanding equal access to temples, mosques
and other holy sites.
The
country’s highest court told the board which manages the popular Sabarimala
Ayyappa Hindu temple, in the southern state of Kerala, to explain why it bans
women.
“What
right does the temple have to forbid women from entering any part of the temple?
Can you deny a woman her right to climb Mount Everest ? The reasons for banning anything must be
common for all,” Justice Dipak Misra, head of a three-judge bench, said on
Monday.
“Gender
discrimination in such a matter is unacceptable,” he said, adding that the
temple’s arguments must be based on the nation’s constitution. The struggle for
equal access to places of worship in India
The
Sabarimala temple is one of a few in India Asia , where they are forbidden from entering
houses or temples and taking part in festivals and community events.
“Banning
on the basis of age is not practised in the Hindu religion,” Ravi Prakash Gupta,
of the Indian Young Lawyers’ Association, which launched the petition against
the temple, said. The association said it had received death threats over the
petition.
The
supreme court comments came days after the Shani Shingnapur temple in
Ahmednagar, in the western state of Maharashtra, opened its inner sanctum to
women following a Mumbai court ruling that it was the fundamental right of
women to enter any place of worship that allows men access, and that the state
should protect this right.
The
Mahalaxmi temple, also in Maharashtra , followed suit on Monday and allowed women
entry. In a separate case, two Muslim women are demanding access to a landmark
mosque in Mumbai.
Sabarimala
authorities have said the ban on women is rooted in a centuries-old tradition
and is essential to the rites related to the temple’s chief deity, Ayyappan. “You
can’t look at the issue from the angle of worshippers alone. It has to be seen
from the point of the god being worshipped, a celibate,” senior counsel K K
Venugopal told the court.
The
next hearing is on 13 April.
