There is a need to think about and look at laws to see where we are going wrong, senior advocate Indira Jaising today said while advocating the idea of a secular India which allows everyone to enter any place of worship without discrimination.
The activist lawyer was speaking on 'Right to Worship and Gender Discrimination at Religious Places' at a meeting organised by United Lawyers' Association (ULA) here in which some of the prominent persons -- former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, Rajya Sabha MP D Raja and senior advocate Salman Khurshid -- who were expected to grace the occasion were conspicuous by their absence.
Jaising, who has also moved an intervention application in the Supreme Court to argue that any form of discrimination against women is abhorrent to the Constitution, said, "We need to think about and look at the laws to see where we are going wrong. Lot of temple entry acts are there in the country which were enacted precisely to do away with discrimination in relation to entry in a temple."
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"The country is going through very critical times. We are being challenged today about what is the idea of India. The idea of India is secular and not where you prosecute people for eating beef. The idea is that which allows all of us to enter any temple, the idea which does not discriminate," she said.
The others present on the dais were Father Timothy Shaw from St Thomas Church and a priest from Mahabodhi Society who too advocated for equality of gender in places of worship.
The discussion, which took place at the Indian Law Institute here, came in the backdrop of the ongoing proceedings in the apex court on a plea seeking to lift restrictions on women from entering the Sabarimala temple.
