Why can’t women enter Nizamuddin Dargah: Delhi high court seeks Centre's reply

New Delhi, Dec 10: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the Centre, the AAP government and police on a PIL seeking entry of women into the sanctum sanctorum of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah in the national capital.

Apart from the Centre, the Delhi government and police, a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao also issued notice to the trust managing the 'dargah' (shrine) and sought their stand on the plea by April 11, 2019.

The PIL seeking court's intervention in the matter has been filed by female law students from Pune.

The law students tried to reach out to the authorities including the Delhi Police over the matter, as per the petition, but later decided to take the legal route after getting no response.

In the plea, women said that prohibiting the entry of women into the shrine -a public place- amounts to gender discrimination and therefore unconstitutional. The plea gave the example of other major Muslim shrines - Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai and Khwaja Moinuddin Dargah in Ajmer - which do not allow women to enter.

The petition comes in the backdrop of a raging controversy in Kerala over the entry of women of menstruating age to the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala.

(with PTI inputs)