'Is This Iran?': Women's Panel Serves Notice On Jama Masjid For Barring Entry Of Girls 'Alone'

The Delhi Women's Commission has served a notice on the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid seeking to know why the entry of women going to worship alone has been banned.

Soon after Delhi’s Jama Masjid barred entry of women going alone or with friends, the Delhi Commission for Women served a notice on Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the shahi imam of Jama Masjid. Taking suo-motu cognisance of media reports on the matter, the panel’s chief Swati Maliwal said: “I am issuing notice to the Imam of Jama Masjid.”

“The decision to stop the entry of women into Jama Masjid is absolutely wrong. As much as a man has the right to worship, so does a woman. I am issuing notice to the Imam of Jama Masjid. No one has the right to ban the entry of women like this,” she tweeted.

"This is an unconstitutional step taken by them. Do they think this is Iran, where they can discriminate against women and no one will say anything? A woman has an equal right to pray as a man. DCW will make sure the ban is removed," Swati Maliwal said.

The panel said a notice has been placed at the entry of Jama Masjid, Delhi which states, "Jama Masjid mein ladki ya ladkiyon ka akele dakhla mana hai [Entry of a girl or girls alone (without families) into Jama Masjid is banned.” The notice came up a few days ago outside the three main entry gates, sources in the mosque's administration said.

The DCW notice reads: “The board prohibits the entry of women and girls in the Masjid who are not with male companions. The Jama Masjid in Delhi is a historical mosque and women have been going there to perform religious practices without any restriction FOR ages. Preventing women from freely entering and practising their religion in the mosque is highly discriminatory and an extremely regressive practice as a place of worship should be open to everyone, regardless of their gender.”

It has sought to know the reasons for prohibiting the entry of women and girls 'without male companions' to the Jama Masjid.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) also took cognisance of the matter. It is deciding on the future course of action to be taken. 

Earlier in the day, Jama Masjid PRO Sabiullah Khan said: "There is no restriction on girls/women coming with families, no restriction on married couples either. When women come alone, they indulge in improper acts and shoot videos. The ban is to stop this." "This cannot be a meeting point; people should not think of this place as a park or a spot to shoot TikTok videos. It's not right for any religious place — be it a mosque, a temple, or a gurdwara," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)