Darul Uloom lifts ban on women entry; no phones on campus, veils compulsory

The ban on the entry of women in Darul Uloom, an Islamic seminary here in Deoband, has been lifted. They will now be able to enter the campus, subject to some rules, the institution said.

Women will have to wear hijab and have to be accompanied by a family member to enter the campus, according to the rules that came into effect on Friday.

The management of the Islamic educational institution, which earlier this year banned the entry of women over complaints of "reels" being shot inside the campus, said videography would be completely prohibited and visitors would have to deposit their phones at the gate before entering.

Ashraf Usmani, media in charge at Darul Uloom, on Saturday said that after several rounds of talks, the management has issued rules for the entry of women coming from across the globe.

Following this, women will be able to enter the Darul Uloom campus, he said.

Usmani said the Darul Uloom management has appointed an officer to issue visitor passes, which will apply to both men and women, for entry into the campus.

Aadhaar card or voter ID or PAN card will have to be shown to the concerned officer for the visitor pass. Visitors' names, mobile numbers, addresses, number of men and women seeking entry, will also be recorded, he said.

Women will have to wear the hijab and will be allowed to enter the institution till sunset. Mobile phones of every person visiting the madrassa will be deposited at the main gate, which will be returned to them when they leave, Usmani added.

He said that the visitor pass will have a validity of two hours and it will be automatically cancelled after sunset.

The Darul Uloom management system banned the entry of women on May 17 over complaints that women without veils were taking photos and videos of the buildings of the institution and sharing them on social media.

According to the media in charge, students of the madrassa were also getting affected by it.