Thiruvananthapuram, Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday strongly opposed Sunni Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar’s remarks suggesting that women should remain confined to their homes, saying such a view was not in line with the progressive tradition of Keralam.
“We have absolutely no agreement with that statement. It is not a position that suits progressive Keralam. “They should participate in all spheres of life and play a central role in society.
We cannot agree with it in any manner,” Satheesan told a press conference after the state Cabinet meeting. He said women are not meant to live confined to their homes. That is our progressive position, without any doubt,” he said.
The chief minister also referred to an incident in which a woman questioned a decision regarding mahr during the time of the Caliphs. “These examples show that women had a place even in the royal court. Therefore, we cannot agree with such a position in any manner,” the chief minister said.
He was reacting to a query on the controversy that sparked after Kanthapuram, speaking at an Islamic conference in Kochi on Sunday, said bringing women onto public platforms would lead to “great destruction” and that Islam prescribed purdah for women to prevent this. The chief minister also said that such a view amounted to a misinterpretation of Islamic history. The ruler, he said, acknowledged that the woman’s argument was correct.
