NEW DELHI: India’s top court on Friday revoked a ban on women entering a famous Hindu temple following a decades-long legal battle, ruling that patriarchy cannot be allowed to trump faith.
The decision is the latest by the Supreme Court in recent weeks to reflect a more liberal outlook in the largely conservative and traditional society of 1.25 billion people.
Women in India have been intensifying campaigns in recent years to be allowed to enter Hindu temples and other religious sites.
The Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala — the subject of Friday’s ruling and considered one of the holiest for Hindus — has traditionally barred all women of menstruating age, between 10 and 50.
The temple’s rule emanated from the still widely held belief in India that menstruating women are impure. In rural pockets of the country, many women are still made to sleep and eat separately during menstruation.
The custom in the temple in the southern state of Kerala was challenged by a clutch of petitioners who argued that women cannot be denied the constitutional right to worship.
“To treat women as children of a lesser god is to blink at the constitution itself,” said Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, part of the five-judge bench that gave a majority verdict on Friday.
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said banning the entry of a large section of women was discriminatory and violated their rights.
“Prohibiting women (from entering the temple) violates the right of a woman to worship and practice religion,” he said.
While most Hindu temples don’t allow women to enter when they are menstruating, the temple, commonly known as Sabarimala, was one of a few that did not allow any woman of menstruating age.
Indu Malhotra, the only woman judge on the bench, dissented with the majority verdict, saying courts must not interfere with issues concerning “deep religious sentiments.”
The case made headlines last month when a regional newspaper editor blamed devastating floods in Kerala on women wanting to enter Sabarimala.
Millions of devotees visit the temple every year to seek the blessings of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity who is believed to be celibate.
According to the temple website, pilgrims have to observe celibacy for 41 days before entering the shrine. Some worshippers take an arduous forest route to reach the hilltop temple, located some 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) above sea level.
Friday’s verdict was welcomed by India’s Women and Child Development minister Maneka Gandhi and other prominent women’s rights activists.
“It opens up the way forward for Hinduism to become even more inclusive and not a property of one caste or one sex,” Gandhi said.
In 2016, hundreds of women campaigned in Maharashtra state to successfully end a ban on women entering the Shani Shingnapur temple.
Women were also prevented from entering Mumbai’s Hajji Ali Dargah mausoleum until the high court scrapped the rule in 2016.
Rahul Easwar, one of the main activists who backed the Sabarimala ban, said he would appeal to the Supreme Court for a review before the temple reopens next month. The revered shrine only opens for certain auspicious days each year.
“We will go ahead with the fight as it (the verdict) affects the very core and belief of temple systems,” Easwar told reporters.
“Deities have certain rights and their rights should be protected,” he said.
Earlier this month the Supreme Court scrapped a ban on gay sex dating back to 1861, and on Thursday it said adultery would cease to be a crime.
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India court rules Hindu temple must allow all women entry
India court rules Hindu temple must allow all women entry
- The Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala has traditionally barred all women of menstruating age, between 10 and 50
- The temple’s rule emanated from the still widely held belief in India that menstruating women are impure
US backs Pakistan’s ‘right to defend itself’ after strikes on Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan air strikes on Afghanistan drew diplomatic support from Washington as Islamabad said on Saturday it would not stop military operations pressuring the Afghan government, which it accuses of backing militancy.
The Taliban government has denied harboring militants and its spokesperson has called for “dialogue” to resolve a previously simmering conflict that Pakistan’s defense minister said on Friday was now “open war.”
After both countries’ forces clashed at the border intermittently for months, Pakistan launched the strikes in the early hours of Friday morning in response to a cross-border Afghan offensive on Thursday night.
Pakistan’s information minister said on Saturday that 37 locations across Afghanistan had been subject to aerial targeting since its operation began.
It was not clear if strikes had taken place on Friday night, but authorities signaled operations were still taking place.
“Pakistan’s immediate and effective response to aggression continues,” Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, posted on X late on Friday.
The United States “expressed support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks,” Allison Hooker, the under secretary of state for political affairs, wrote on X after talks with her Pakistani counterpart.
The operation was Pakistan’s most widespread bombardment of the Afghan capital Kabul and its first air strikes on the city of Kandahar, the southern power base of the Taliban’s supreme leader since they returned to power in 2021.
Zaidi did not confirm whether Pakistan had carried out air strikes overnight between Friday and Saturday.
- Surge in hostilities -
The sharp surge in hostilities drew international concern, with China, Britain, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross calling for immediate de-escalation and return to dialogue.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Friday Afghan forces had killed 55 Pakistani soldiers and captured several others, while putting the death toll among Afghan troops at 13.
Zaidi, the Pakistan government spokesman, said 297 Afghan Taliban and militants had been killed. Islamabad earlier said 12 of its soldiers had been killed.
The Afghan government’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said at least 19 civilians had been killed in eastern Khost and Paktika provinces.
Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.
This week’s escalation marked the first time in on-off fighting that Pakistan had focused its air strikes on Afghan government facilities, analysts noted, a stark change from previous operations it had carried out on Afghan territory that it said were targeting militants.
Relations between the neighbors have plunged in recent months, with land border crossings largely shut since deadly fighting in October that killed more than 70 people on both sides.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government denies.
Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since 2021.
Zaidi told AFP on Saturday that there had been no reports of border clashes during the night, but that gunmen — who he said were associated with the Pakistani Taliban — had attacked a checkpoint in northwest Pakistan near Afghanistan’s Khost province. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
- Push for negotiations -
Iran, which shares an eastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, offered on Friday to help “facilitate dialogue,” while Saudi Arabia and Qatar moved to allay tensions, and China said it was “working with” both countries while calling for calm.
In Geneva, ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric said the organization was preparing relief operations but stressed that “no humanitarian response can compensate for political will to respect the rules of war and prioritize de-escalation.”
Last year, several rounds of negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan followed a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, but the efforts have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
After repeated breaches of the initial truce, Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.
Just days later, Pakistan carried out strikes in eastern Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, which the UN mission in Afghanistan said killed at least 13 civilians.
The Taliban government has denied harboring militants and its spokesperson has called for “dialogue” to resolve a previously simmering conflict that Pakistan’s defense minister said on Friday was now “open war.”
After both countries’ forces clashed at the border intermittently for months, Pakistan launched the strikes in the early hours of Friday morning in response to a cross-border Afghan offensive on Thursday night.
Pakistan’s information minister said on Saturday that 37 locations across Afghanistan had been subject to aerial targeting since its operation began.
It was not clear if strikes had taken place on Friday night, but authorities signaled operations were still taking place.
“Pakistan’s immediate and effective response to aggression continues,” Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, posted on X late on Friday.
The United States “expressed support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks,” Allison Hooker, the under secretary of state for political affairs, wrote on X after talks with her Pakistani counterpart.
The operation was Pakistan’s most widespread bombardment of the Afghan capital Kabul and its first air strikes on the city of Kandahar, the southern power base of the Taliban’s supreme leader since they returned to power in 2021.
Zaidi did not confirm whether Pakistan had carried out air strikes overnight between Friday and Saturday.
- Surge in hostilities -
The sharp surge in hostilities drew international concern, with China, Britain, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross calling for immediate de-escalation and return to dialogue.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Friday Afghan forces had killed 55 Pakistani soldiers and captured several others, while putting the death toll among Afghan troops at 13.
Zaidi, the Pakistan government spokesman, said 297 Afghan Taliban and militants had been killed. Islamabad earlier said 12 of its soldiers had been killed.
The Afghan government’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said at least 19 civilians had been killed in eastern Khost and Paktika provinces.
Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.
This week’s escalation marked the first time in on-off fighting that Pakistan had focused its air strikes on Afghan government facilities, analysts noted, a stark change from previous operations it had carried out on Afghan territory that it said were targeting militants.
Relations between the neighbors have plunged in recent months, with land border crossings largely shut since deadly fighting in October that killed more than 70 people on both sides.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government denies.
Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since 2021.
Zaidi told AFP on Saturday that there had been no reports of border clashes during the night, but that gunmen — who he said were associated with the Pakistani Taliban — had attacked a checkpoint in northwest Pakistan near Afghanistan’s Khost province. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
- Push for negotiations -
Iran, which shares an eastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, offered on Friday to help “facilitate dialogue,” while Saudi Arabia and Qatar moved to allay tensions, and China said it was “working with” both countries while calling for calm.
In Geneva, ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric said the organization was preparing relief operations but stressed that “no humanitarian response can compensate for political will to respect the rules of war and prioritize de-escalation.”
Last year, several rounds of negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan followed a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, but the efforts have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
After repeated breaches of the initial truce, Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.
Just days later, Pakistan carried out strikes in eastern Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, which the UN mission in Afghanistan said killed at least 13 civilians.
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