Context
- Prohibition of women’s entry to shrines solely on the basis of womanhood is derogatory to women and their fundamental rights.
- Authorities must uphold a stern approach towards gender equality
What is the significance of Sabrimala temple?
- Sabarimala is the second largest seasonal pilgrimage after the Islamic holy site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
- An estimated 3.5 crore Hindu pilgrims visited the shrine last year
Why is entry at Sabrimala banned for women?
- The Sabarimala temple restricts entry only for menstruating women.
- There are restrictions on the entry of women in the age group of 10 to 50 years in the shrine because women of menstruating age can’t be allowed on account of “purity”.
- The ban on ‘menstruating women’ was enforced under Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorization of Entry) Rules 1965.
- The board states that “Women who are not by custom and usage allowed to enter a place of public worship shall not be entitled to enter or offer worship in any place of public worship”.
What has happened so far?
- In 1991, the Kerala high court upheld the ban in the S.Mahendran vs the Secretary, Travancore case and directed the Devasom Board to implement it.
- The India Young Lawyers Association revived the issue in Supreme Court through a PIL contending that Rule 3(b) violates constitutional guarantees of equality, non-discrimination and religious freedom (Articles 14, 15 and 25).
- The Supreme Court recently indicated that it will refer the Sabarimala temple entry restriction on women of a certain age to a Constitution Bench.
- The Supreme Court on Friday referred to its constitution bench on October 20th 2017, the matter pertaining to the ban on entry of women at Sabarimala.
How is the ban contradicting the essence of the constitution of India?
- Preventing women’s entry to the Sabarimala temple with an irrational and obsolete notion of “purity” offends the equality clauses in the Constitution.
- It denotes a patriarchal and partisan approach.
- The entry prohibition takes away the woman’s right against discrimination guaranteed under Article 15(1) of the Constitution.
- It further curtails the religious freedom assured by Article 25(1).
- Prohibition of women’s entry to the shrine is done on the basis of womanhood and the biological features associated with womanhood, which Article 51A (e) aims to renounce.
What are the various Articles guaranteeing religious and gender equality?
Article 15 of the Indian Constitution
- Article 15 of Indian Constitution prohibits any discrimination done on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
- It is important to note that Article 15 of the Indian constitution states that no person shall be discriminated on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
- Every person shall have equal access to public places like public parks, museums, wells, bathing ghats and temples etc.
Special provision for women and children.
- Special provisions may be made for the advancements of any socially or educationally backward class or scheduled castes or scheduled tribes.
Article 25 of the Indian Constitution
- Articles 25 to 28 states make India a secular state.
- 42nd Amendment inserting the word “secular” make the assertion firmer.
- The Article 25 states that every individual is “equally entitled to freedom of conscience” and has the right “to profess, practice and propagate religion” of one’s choice.
Violation of Article 25
- This constitutional provision does not give individuals the right to conduct animal sacrifice and perform religious rituals on a busy street or public place that causes inconvenience to others.
- Though the right to perform rituals is protected under this Article, yet the state retains the power to formulate laws to regulate “economic, financial, political.
What is India’s stand on women rights?
- The rights available to woman (ladies) in India can be classified into two categories, namely as constitutional rights and legal rights.
- The constitutional rights are those which are provided in the various provisions of the constitution.
- The legal rights, on the other hand, are those which are provided in the various laws (acts) of the Parliament and the State Legislatures.
Constitutional Rights to Women:
- The rights and safeguards enshrined in the constitution for women in India are listed below:
- The state shall not discriminate against any citizen of India on the ground of sex [Article 15(1)].
- It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women [Article 51-A(e)].
Article 26 in The Constitution of India 1949
- Freedom to manage religious affairs subject to public order, morality and health, every religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right
- to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes;
- to manage its own affairs in matters of religion;
- to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and
- to administer such property in accordance with law
What is the suggested way ahead?
- Article 25(2)(b) enables the state “(to provide) for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of the Hindus.”
- While delivering its judgment, the Supreme Court should keep in mind that none among the devotees of Sabarimala have come to court demanding changed rules.
- It is essential to prevent monopolization of religious rights by a few under the guise of management of religious institutions.
Forum ias I need your advice. Please forgive me as this is not the right platform to seek advice. Where to complaint for noise pollution?and what to do if number 100 don’t function or sounds busy everytime.
Prohibition of entry is not based on purity of women, which some attributes to woman menstruating and all but the restriction is purely based on the rituals at the temple.
The issue could be treated the same way women are restricted from some positions in the army
Could you please elaborate on the rituals that take place at the temple that restrict a woman from even having ‘Darshana’ of the deity..
We have thousands of pilgrim site all over India, where women do not perform any rituals per se as ‘bramhin pujari’ but are only there to take a glimpse of the deity like a common person and as far as purity is concerned; a women if is menstruating herself considers a sin to enter a holy place…
Army is altogether a different thing; women aren’t asking to threaten their lives in areas of extreme physical and mental conditions. Let me also add, these are changing too– we have a lady defence minister, many countries including India, US and even Syria (which already has women fighting IS) are now towards allowing women in Combat roles..
Kindly elaborate on the rituals.
The diety at sabarimala is considered to be in his ‘bramhacharya’ which does not permit him to see women of the young age (10-40), and there is no complete ban on women entry and its not because of their ‘impurity’ which most of us think of and there’s no way one becomes impure because of their biological differences.
The diety is actually barred from women presence more than the other way around.and after all these are all practices done for so long and many can question its validity but its all as we say as beleifs and questioning and changing it may not end well as india is more sensitive in religious matters than anything else.
The same diety resides at many temples in other forms where women are completely permitted. So many would raise the question of why there and not here.
Our religion has more gods than our population and that too in many forms and its all a practice and beleif which cannoy be easily changed.
There are many who spread false news about women entry in sabarimala picturing it as a matter of impurity while its completely not
What I agree is that there cannot be anything other than a seasoned debate on this issue, no matter how much we argue. so I would like to draw attention to two fundamental issues which might have less doing with the temple entry and more with its modern relevance.:.
1. Brahmacharya- in the sense of the word — of purity in a physical sense– of sexuality– when you proclaim it requires not allowed to even see a woman, is like debarring the deity from becoming impure or losing Brahmacharya by even the sight of a woman..
hence to me it smells of patriarchal notion of viewing a woman as a source of pollution / of the ideal being vitiated.
2. If the deity is debarred; how do we convince the woman that even you must let go of any desire to get a glimpse of the God becuz he doesn’t want to see you..or as you put it.. the rulebook of Brahmacharya doesn’t allow him to see you..
The entire thing sounds so complicated if we go in the epistemology…
Thanks for the reasoned debate..!
The society is patriarchial and its a truth wethet one accepts it or not but that has much less to do regarding the issue of women entry here and i cant agree here with this statement of your’s-“hence to me it smells of patriarchal notion of viewing a woman as a source of pollution / of the ideal being vitiated”. you being allergic to a food doesnt make the food bad.
And regarding the case of men before setting out for sabarimala he takes a 40 day long fast which includes restricting himself from all forms of sexual desires. While a woman cant take sucha fast as she may be going through her menstrual cycle in between in her younger age so the first thing to clarify is wether masturbation to be treated a period of impurity for women.its a sensitive case and different religions have their own way of treating menstrual period of women.within the hindu community its still treated as a period where you dont go to temples and do pujas and other rituals even in our homes.so change should start from home itself.no man has ever taken womens menstrual period to be an impure one its the women herself doing it which she is practised from her childhood itself by her mother or grandma and not by her father or grandfather or brother who doesnt even speak about the matter as its completely attributed as a womens issue.so how can it be treated as a result of a patriarchal form society.
So this has the potential to question every aspect of beleifs in a religion which wont be completed in a short while and like the courts in our country say “this questions the basic idea of our constitution” this issue questions the basic idea of our religion and beleief where a drastic change is not easy
And in sabarimala no one is asking you what your age is and none is restricting you anywhere i go to sabarimala every season and doesnt see anyone asking a women her age as a proof to enter there.and there are many mostly from andra and tamilnadu who sneak their young wives along with them but none is bothered there but giving this issue a wide advertisement mainly by media can make everyone skeptical of every women who comes to sabarimala and this will surely destroy the purpose and order at sabarimala.
Our generation is seen to accept changes to our old customs easily but that may not be the case for the old people.
I think you know why we choose aug 14 1947 midnight for our independence day.even that was based on a beleif even when wr had an atheist prime ninister.so its hard to separate religion and beleifs from our way of life.
And thanks for that good discussion you have put up
The diety at sabarimala is residing in his ‘brahmachari’ state as per beleifs and this doesnt permit him to see women of young age group which is true to brahmacharya way of life and we dont hear it much because there are not much brahmacharis around and its the god who is barred from women presence and not the other way around and this is a long bound tradition at sabarimala and there are many spreading false news that its relatef with women’s “impurity”.