Hearing on petitions for entry of women in Kerala’s Sabarimala temple continues on Thursday. The central government supported the restrictions on entry of menstruating women and argued in the Supreme Court that the decision to lift the ban in 2018 was based on the assumption that men are superior to women. A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant is currently hearing several petitions related to entry of women in places of worship and broader scope of religious freedom in different religions.
Religious rituals should not be viewed from a gender perspective
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the central government, said that religious customs cannot be seen only from a gender perspective. He gave examples where even men are prohibited from entering some temples or are required to follow certain rituals. Citing traditions associated with the goddess, Mehta argued that the practice of Sabarimala is based on faith rather than discrimination. He cited the example of Kottankulangara Sri Devi Temple in Kerala, where men dress as women during the Chamayavilakku festival, which shows the diversity of religious customs.
This is a woman dominated country
“It is not a question of male-dominated or female-dominated beliefs. In this case, it is a female-dominated country,” Mehta told the bench of judges BV Nagarathna, MM Sundaresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Arvind Kumar, Augustine George Masih, Prasanna B Varale, R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi. Along with this, Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraja argued that the Court should base its approach on “public morality” rather than “constitutional morality” as previously interpreted.
Restrictions on women in temples are unconstitutional
Let us tell you that this matter is related to the 2018 decision of the Supreme Court, in which by a majority of 4:1 the ban on the entry of women aged between 10 to 50 years in the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple was declared unconstitutional and canceled.
In 2019, a five-judge bench headed by former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi referred broader questions related to gender discrimination in places of worship of different religions to a larger bench, noting that such issues require thorough investigation beyond individual cases. The ongoing hearing is expected to determine how the constitutional principles of equality interact with the right to practice religion.
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