The Madras High Court on Thursday expressed its anguish over issues related to religious dress code being flared up to inflame communal passions.
The court was hearing two public interest litigation petitions which insisted that only Hindus should be permitted to enter temple complexes and that even they should be sporting distinct Sanathana Dharma marks on their forehead, besides wearing appropriate outfits, to prevent the entry of atheists.
The cases had been listed for admission before Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, and the litigant Rangarajan Narasimhan of Srirangam opposed the entry of non-Hindus and foreigners inside temples for sight-seeing. He said that Hindus too should be allowed inside temples only if they had taken a bath and were wearing proper outfits such as a dhoti, kurta-pyjama, sari, half sari, salwar kameez and so on.
Apart from prescribing a dress code for adults, the litigant also insisted that Hindu children must be made to wear “fully covered” clothing while visiting temples. During the course of arguments, the ACJ asked: “What is paramount? The country or religion? Really shocking that somebody is for Hijab and some for dhotis inside temples. What is the message you are sending? Is this one country or divided on the basis of religion?”
In reply, the petitioner told the court that there was no doubt about the oneness of the country but insisted that every function of a Hindu temple must be carried out as per the Agama Sastras which do not permit non-Hindus to enter temple precincts. Claiming that purity of the temples would be polluted if the Sastras were not followed, he accused the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department of violating the sastras.
On the other hand, Advocate General (A-G) R. Shunmugasundaram told the court that foreigners and non-Hindus were allowed only till the Kodi Maram (flag post) inside the temples and not till the sanctum sanctorum. He also stated that notice boards had been displayed at all temples prohibiting the entry of non-Hindus beyond a certain point and undertook to file a detailed counter affidavit on the issue.
Hence, the judges ordered a notice to the HR&CE department on the PIL opposing the entry of non-Hindus inside temples.
However, in so far as the other case related to imposition of dress codes for Hindu devotees, the ACJ said it was up to the individual temples to prescribe a dress code as per its customs. He pointed out that some temples in Kerala do not allow men to wear shirts or kurtas. The A-G told the court that a temple at Suchindram in Kanniyakumari district too follows a similar practice. He also brought it to the notice of the court that a single judge of the High Court had, in December 2015, prescribed a dress code for those visiting temples but when the matter was taken on appeal, a Division Bench led by Justice V. Ramasubramanian (now a Supreme Court judge), reversed the decision.
After hearing him, the first Division Bench led by the ACJ granted 10 days’ time for Mr. Narasimhan to produce any material that he may have to prove that a dress code could be imposed for temple visits.
