No ban on women’s entry into Dargah Nizamuddin: Fareed Ahmed Nizami

New Delhi: Deputy Sajjada Nasheen of Dargah Nizamuddin claimed there is no ban on entry of women in the Dargah. He said actually the shrine of Hazrat is located in a very small the area where there is space for only one person to stand. A large number of devotees visit the shrine. To ensure that women do not have any trouble, they are not allowed inside the shrine instead two different places have been specified for them.

A member of the Dargah Committee told that Hazrat Qutbuddin had told in his will not to allow any woman near his grave. Even during his lifetime, he led a very pious life and never met a non-Mahram woman. Hence the women are stopped at a distance of 40 feet from the Shrine. Similarly, there are two other Dargahs where men are not allowed to visit, only women are allowed inside the shrines. One is the shrine of Biwi Maa Sahiba and the other is of the ‘nanny’.

Hence the members of the Dargah Committee told that ‘purdah’ factor is the only reason for not allowing women inside the Dargah.

It must be noted that the Delhi High Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre, state government and the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah trust on a plea seeking entry of women into the sanctum sanctorum. A group of women law students from Pune had filed the plea in Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah case requesting the Centre and other authorities to remove the ban on the entry of women into the shrine. In their plea the law students contended that Nizamuddin Dargah is a public place and prohibiting women from entering the shrine is gender discrimination and thus highly unconstitutional.