Men and Women Pray Together

Men and Women Pray Together

At last the Bombay High Court in a landmark judgment observed that it is the Fundamental Duty of the state to protect the Fundamental Rights of women. This was made in a verdict on a petition pleading for the entry of women into a temple which discriminated against their entry into specified areas. Interestingly and immediately some temples have taken to heart the recent advice of a Spiritual Guru advocating equidistance of both genders from sanctums and restricted the entry of both men and women to areas hitherto allowed to men only. 
There can be no better example of the superb art of living by cutting off the nose to spite the face. 
The High Court was hearing a public interest litigation challenging the prohibition on women’s entry to the shrine area at Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district. The provisions of The Maharashtra Hindu Places of Public Worship (entry Authorisation) Act, 1956, would apply. The implementation of this law, which perhaps had been deliberately overlooked, would have a bearing on all the places where people are banned from entering temples on the basis of gender.

As it appears that the decision of a High Court of any state would be followed by all lower courts in the country, provided that a contrary judgement has not been passed by the High Court of that particular state where the lower court exercises jurisdiction, it would be interesting to see what would happen in the case of Sabarimala in Kerala (which is now before the Supreme Court) where  the Kerala government in its latest affidavit has said the prohibition of women is a matter of religion and it is duty-bound to “protect the right to practice the religion of these devotees”. Curiously enough, in a previous affidavit, it had supported a PIL seeking women’s entry in Sabarimala.

The Bombay High Court is waiting for a Supreme Court ruling on entry of women in the Kerala Sabairimala temple before deciding on the case of Haji Ali Dargah where women are not allowed entry and has kept a petition pending.

In this bewildering scenario would we have the industry of  ‘offended sentiments’ descend upon us if we enquire what the position of the temple and other shrine guardians would be if and when pious transgenders seek to pray at those shrines that exclude one gender.