Date:
April 28, 2016
Haji Ali Sab Ke Liye
Women of all religions have the right to equal access to sacred space
April 20, 2016
Press Release
A meeting was held at the Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal on April 16th wherein it was collectively decided to support women demanding their Constitutional Rights as equal citizens of India.
The meeting was attended by representatives of several progressive, secular movements and organisations. Many others who could not attend the meeting which was called at short notice have also endorsed and supported the initiative.
Conclusions of the meeting:
- To launch a joint forum: ‘Haji Ali Sab Ke Liye’ (‘Haji Ali For Everybody’)
- The Forum fully endorses the supremacy of our Constitutional Principles over customs or traditions which undermine gender justice and equality.
- Accordingly, the forum asserts that women have a right to equal access to sacred spaces.
- The Forum lauds the initiatives – in the courts and outside – of women’s organisations to press for their right to full access to temples and dargahs in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country.
- The Forum welcomes the verdict of the Bombay High Court upholding the right of women to full access to the Shani Shingnapur temple and all other temples in Maharashtra. The court order obliges the state’s administration and the police to ensure that women are able to exercise their right.
- The Forum eagerly awaits a decision of the Supreme Court granting to Hindu women the right to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala and the Bombay High Court affirming the right of Muslim women to unhindered access to the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai.
- The Forum is of the firm view that women’s entry in a dargah is not a religious issue but something to do with custom and tradition. In fact, until 2011, the practice at the Haji Ali dargah was not to put any restrictions on women. What’s more some of the dargah’s trustees are also trustees of the Makhdoom Baba dargah at Mahim where even today there is no restriction on women.
- The Forum therefore urges the trustees of the Haji Ali Dargah to proactively withdraw the restrictions imposed on women in recent years.
- The Forum held a press conference in Mumbai on April 20, 2016 to place its views before the people.
- A delegation from among the forum members will seek an appointment with the trustees of Haji Ali Dargah soon thereafter to urge it to proactively withdraw the restrictions it has recently imposed on Muslim women without waiting for the Bombay High Court. Such a gesture on the part of the trustees will preempt any attempt at communalisation of this issue and send out a positive signal all over the country.
- The Forum has also decided to hold a peaceful dharna outside the Haji Ali Dargah on April 28.
- The Forum appeals to all citizens committed to gender equality to support its initiative.
Members present at the April 16 meeting:
Javed Anand (Muslims for Secular Democracy), Feroze Mithiborwala (Bharat Bachao Andolan), Mariam Dhawale (All India Democratic Women’s Association, AIDWA), Prakash Reddy (CPI), Milind Ranade (Lal Nishan Party), Anjum Rajabali (Screen Writer), Rahman Abbas (Fiction Writer, Urdu and Hindi), Moin Khan (Democratic Youth Federation of India, DYFI), Jatin Desai (Senior Journalist), Varsha Vidya Vilas (Sadbhavna Sangh), Nasreen Contractor (Mrinal Gore Interactive Centre for Social Justice and Peace in South Asia), Bharti Sharma (Maharashtra MahilaParishad), Jyoti Badekar (Vaghini), Jayant Dewan (ChattraYuva SangarshVahini), Shabana Ansari (YUVA),Shaikh Hussain (Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal), Sushmita Verma (Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights, CPDR), Michelle Vaz (Writer), Farouk Mapkar (Bharat Bachao Andolan), Dr. Vivek Korde, Virendra Kumar (Social Activist), Vijay Dalvi (National Trade Union of Initiative, NTUI), Bajrang Sonawane (Sadhbhavna Sangh), Ganesh Shirke (Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal), Shailaja Sonawane (Phule-Ambedkar Vichar Manch), Punam Gaikwad (Rashtriya OBC Parishad), Abhilasha Srivastav (All India Students Association, AISA), Aditi (All India Students Association, AISA) Dhananjay (All India Students Association, AISA), Heena Faruqi (All India Students Association, AISA).
‘Haji Ali Sab Ke Liye’ is fully supported by the following persons/organisations who were not present at the April 16 meeting:
Hasan Kamal (Writer, commentator, poet, lyricist), Javed Siddiqi (Screen writer, dialogue writer, playwright), Feroz Abbas Khan (Theatre director), Saeed Mirza (Director, screen writer), Shama Zaidi (Screen play writer, documentary film maker), Zeenat Shaukatali (Author, Islamic Scholar), Tariq Ansari (Former proprietor, Inquilab group of newspapers), Aslam Parvez (Urdu writer), Preeti Shekhar (DYFI), Waqar Qadri (Urdu writer), Kumar Ketkar (Senior journalist, commentator), Shakeel (Human Rights Lawyer, Activist), Ram Puniyani (Writer, activist), Anand Patwardhan (Documentary Film Maker), Simantini Dhuru (Documentary Film Maker), Prof Farrukh Waris (Principal, retired), Irfan Engineer (INSAF), Kishor Jagtap (Bharat Bachao Andolan), Adv. Susan Abraham (CPDR), Pervin Jehangir (Narmada Bachao Andolan), Feroze Ashraf (Social activist, columnist), Adv. Shabana (Lawyer), Dolphy D’Souza (Social Activist), Varsha Berry, Shyam Sonar and Harshali Potdar (Joint Action Committee for Social Justice), Ramesh Pimple (PUCL), Nasreen Fazalbhoy (Professor, retired), Sharifa Khan (teacher, retired), Vidya Chavan, Vijaya Chavan, Amol Madame, Salim Sabuwala (Social Activist), Satyen Bordoloi (Documentary Film Maker), Mayur Thakre.
The press conference was addressed, among others, by: Hasan Kamaal, Javed Anand, Javed Siddiqui, Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Feroze Mithiborwala, Saeed Mirza, Aslam Parvez, Rahman Abbas, Shabana Khan, Nasreen Contractor, Marium Dhawale (AIDWA), Prakash Reddy (CPI), Vijay Dalvi (National Trade Union Initiative), Jyoti Badekar (Vaghini), Varsha Vidya Vilas (Sadbhavna Sangh).
For further information please contact:
Javed Anand Feroze Mithiborwala
9870402556 9029277751
javedanand@gmail.com
feroze.moses777@gmail.com