week 8-14 Feb:
• Maharashtra government favoured entry of women in the sanctum sanctorum of the renowned Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai.
• The State Advocate-General conveyed the government’s stand in the Bombay High Court, which reserved its judgement on the issue.
• The Advocate-General said unless the dargah board is able to prove that ban is part of their religious practice with reference to Koran, women should be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of Haji Ali.
• The dargah board said that the sanctum sanctorum of the dargah houses the grave of a male saint and in Islam it is sin for women to touch male saint, and hence, women are barred from touching the tomb.
• Petitioner Raju More, however, contended that as per Haji Ali’s website, no one is buried inside the tomb. Hence, it is not a graveyard of a saint.