Dargah row: Political parties are parochial, say women activists

Everything turns political and arch rivals like the Shiv Sena and the AIMIM coming together to protest against women's entry is an indicator of their motives, they allege

Women’s rights activist and Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai’s bid on Thursday to enter the Haji Ali dargah — women are not allowed inside the Worli shrine — was thwarted by the Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party and the Owaisis-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

While Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi threatened to manhandle Desai if she tried to enter the dargah, Sena leader Haji Arafat Sheikh and AIMIM’s Haji Rafat Hussain said they would blacken her face. The Sena leadership, however, distanced itself from Sheikh saying the party supports women’s entry to all places where men are allowed. Earlier, Sena spokeperson Neelam Gorhe had said the party believes in the constitutional rights given to women.

Women activists working for gender equality called the attempt to politicise and lend a communal hue to the rights movement harmful to democracy. “Ours is a fight for women’s rights and to secure their constitutional guarantees. Rabid sloganeering is detrimental to a democratic atmosphere. A democratic discussion cannot be quashed just because you don’t find certain views agreeable. We condemn this kind of behaviour,” said Mariyam Dhawale of All India Democratic Women Assocaition (AIDWA), adding political parties involved are essentially strengthening orthodoxy and appealing to fundamentalists in society.

Hasina Khan representing Bebaak Collective accused political parties of double-speak. “They claim to be against gender discrimination but aren’t supporting the entry of women into places of religious worship. Majoritarian politics is highly dependent on patriarchal values and these parties are doing their best to safeguard these values,” she said.

Noorjahan Niaz of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, which has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking women’s entry to the dargah, said the issue was in court because of patriarchal political parties. She said her outfit had contacted the State Minority Commission, but in vain and had to go to court.

“Everything turns political, and even this religious matter had to turn political some day. Look at the Shah Bano case. It was simply an old woman demanding her maintenance. It was the matter of only Rs 125, yet it turned political. All decisions by political parties are male-dominated. Women as a constituency are yet to emerge. Till then, such incidents will happen,” she said.

Dhawle of the AIDWA added that fundamentalists have always helped each other and have always been united against women’s rights and equality. “Strengthening patriarchal value systems is detrimental to women”s rights,” she said.

Javed Anand, a members of ‘Haji Ali Sab ke liye’ forum which had organised Thursday’s protest, said political rivals coming together to communalise this says a lot about the motives of these parties. “Our aim is to ensure women’s entry inside the dargah in a peaceful and democratic manner. I am sure we will achieve that,” he said.

—Inputs by Progyaa Dutta and Ajeet Mahale

Rabid sloganeering

is detrimental to

a democratic atmosphere

Mariyam DhawaleAIDWA