Plea filed in SC to allow women enter mosques

New Delhi: Encouraged by the verdict in the Sabarimala temple case allowing entry of women of all ages without any discrimination, two Muslim women moved the Supreme Court on Monday to direct the religious authorities in Islam to allow all Muslim women to enter mosque and offer prayers.

The petitioners, Yasmeen Zuber Ahmad Peerzade and Zuber Ahmad Nazir Ahmad Peerzade, in their writ petition prayed for a direction against the Union of India and others for declaring the practices of prohibition of entry of Muslim Women in Mosque in India as illegal, unconstitutional for being violative of Articles 14, 15, 21, 25 and 29 of the Constitution.

They wanted a direction to provide a life of dignity to Muslim women and to permit them to enter mosque and to direct the authorities to permit the Muslim Women to offer their prayer/namaz inside mosque and to enter the mosque through the main door and have an Islamic right to visual and auditory access to the musalla (main sanctuary).

They said if the petition is allowed it would benefit the citizens of this country generally as rule of law is essential for democracy and such brazen violation of law by the respondents can be stopped by the orders of this Court only.

They said the persons affected by such acts of the State are numerous and are not in a position to approach the Court hence the petitioners are filing the present PIL on behalf of such affected persons.

They said they had written to the Mohmdiya Jama Masjid, Bopodi, Pune, and Imam to allow them to enter mosque. They had responded stating that no practice of entry of women in mosque is permitted in Pune and other areas. Hence the present petition seeking court intervention to remove the gender discrimination.