Women fume at ban on entry at Haji Ali shrine

However, the shrine trust said that the entry curbs have been in place since many years now, and that the women were out only to get cheap publicity.

"We had visited the shrine in August and were restricted from entering the sanctum sanctorum, where the saint's grave is," said Noorjehan Safia Niaz, founding member of BMMA. Anguished at the curbs, BMMA members surveyed 20 shrines of the city and found that only seven of these didn't allow women near the grave. "What worries us is that eventually the curbs will be put in place at all dargahs," Niaz added.

President of the Haji Ali Dargah Trust SM Merchant, however, said that women can read their prayers, do namaz and offer shawls and flowers. They are allowed within the premises.

"But since Sharia law does not allow women entry to a cemetery or a grave, they are just not allowed to go near the grave. Can they not respect the Sharia law?" asked Merchant.

Niaz, however, said that the trustees claimed that such a decision was taken only after the authorities noticed that a woman came inappropriately dressed last year. The group now plans to write to Minorities Minister Arif Naseem Khan, the state minorities commission and the trustees of Haji Ali. "They need to intervene to curb such a regressive trend," she added. u00a0u00a0