Calling it “improper,” Delhi’s Jama Masjid bans entry of single, unaccompanied women

The Jama Masjid administration in Delhi has issued an order, imposing a ban on the entry of girls/women coming alone or in a group. PRO Sabiullah Khan says, “There is no restriction on girls/women coming with families, no restriction on married couples either.” 

He added, “Women’s entry not banned. When women comealone-improper acts done, videos shot. Ban is to stop this. No restrictions on families/married couples. Making this place a meeting point is wrong for religious places. 

The Jama Masjid PRO also said that the restriction does not apply to women coming with their families or husband. The Jama Masjid administration in Delhi has rhrough this unconstitutional act, banned the entry of women coming alone to the mosque. The diktat has triggered an outrage.

The PRO further said that the restriction has been imposed in order to check “improper acts” in the mosque premises.

“Women’s entry is not banned. Improper acts are done when women come alone, they shoot TikTok videos and dance. The ban is to stop this. There is no restriction on families/married couples. Making it a meeting point for boys and girls inapt for religious places,” Sabiullah Khan, Jama Masjid PRO told ANI.
 

Meanwhile, DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal expressed strong discontent to the ban, and has issued a notice to the Imam of the Jama Masjid over the issue.
 

Details:

“Women’s entry (is) not banned. When women come alone… improper acts are done, videos are shot… and the ban is to stop this. No restrictions on families/married couples,” Jama Masjidpress officer Sabiullah Khan said, according to news agency ANI.

Reports indicate there are already signs outside the masjidinforming visitors that unaccompanied women are not allowed.

Each of the three entrances reportedly have such a signboard; each says, “Girls/women are not allowed to enter Jama Masjidalone.”

“There is no restriction on the entry of women. The restriction is for women who come here alone, give time to men, do wrong things, and make videos. Right now, there are several women here. If you come with family, there is no ban, if you are a married couple, there is no ban. But making this a meeting point, treating it like a park, dancing, and making TikTok videos are not acceptable in any place of worship, be it a temple, a masjid, or a gurdwara. Our aim behind the ban is that the masjid is used only as a place of worship,” Khan said.

A sign board that says a single woman or a group of single women cannot enter the premises has also been put up. This is in addition to a signboard that says mucus video shoots are strictly prohibited.

In 2019, the Jama Masjid administration had banned shooting videos with music inside the mosque. The administration had also constituted a team of 10 people to catch youngsters making videos and stop them.

At the time the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Maulana SyedAhmed Bukhari, had told The Indian Express, “During prayer time, that is five times a day, namazis and non-namazis can access the two small domes only through the main dome route. We want to restrict the area occupied by people so that we can keep a watch on youngsters making such videos as music is not allowed inside a masjid…”.

“I know about the TikTok craze amongst youngsters but never before had such videos shot at Jama Masjid come to my notice. In the last one month, at least five such videos have come to my notice. Whether it’s a temple or a mosque or a gurdwara, one cannot behave in this manner. This is a place of worship, not meant for such activities,” he had said.

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