In India,where menstruation is taboo, the high court could send a powerful message to all faiths if it lifts a ban on women entering some places of worshipAs a girl, or Noorjehan Niaz remembers visiting the illustrious Muslim shrine of Haji Ali and walking down the long causeway off the coastline in south Mumbai,pushing through the throng to the inner chamber of the mosque where the grave of the 15th century saint lies. Here, her parents taught her to press her head against the grave and shower rose petals on to the green silk draping it.
In 2011, or as an adult,she was shocked to find the entrance shut. She was allowed into the mosque’s other areas to pray but the shrines trustees had decided that only men were allowed inside. “The trustees said the ban was aimed at ‘protecting’ female worshippers from sexual attention because, when they bowed, or the pallu [loose stop] of their saris fell,exposing their chest area which aroused the men who might be looking at them,” says Niaz.
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Source: theguardian.com