The Jama Masjid administration in Delhi on Thursday evening withdrew a notice barring the entry of “unaccompanied women” into the mosque.
A notice restricting the entry of women, whether alone or in groups, was removed from gate number 3 of the mosque Thursday.
“There has been a ruckus since the news of the ban on the entry of girls, but in the midst of this, [Lieutenant Governor] VK Saxena spoke to the Shahi Imam and also asked to withdraw the decision. After this, the board has also been removed,” Jama Masjid’s public relations officer Sabiullah Khan said to ANI news agency.
Khan maintained that persons visiting the mosque will need to “maintain purity” there.
Earlier in the day, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid had told the news website The Quint that “there is no such restriction on women” but added that lone women who wish to enter the mosque by themselves “will be scrutinised to ensure they are only here to pray and nothing else.”
“They (lone women) can tell the guards at the gate that they are entering the mosque to pray and not for any other reason. If a lone woman comes to pray, she will be allowed to enter but there will be some scrutiny on them to ensure they aren’t meeting a boy or making videos but actually here to worship. But it’s not as if they cannot enter,” Bukhari had told The Quint.
