A Kerala-based Sunni Muslim leader, 95-year-old Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar , ignited a controversy on Sunday by urging women to remain confined to their homes and claiming their entry into the public sphere would “lead to destruction”—remarks that were sharply condemned by the state ministers for home and women and child development.
To avoid this, Islam instituted the concept of ‘purdah’. The holy Quran states that women must remain confined inside their homes and avoid coming out in public. It was the right decision.”
Speaking at the event on Sunday, Musliyar said, ”If women enter the public sphere, it will lead to destruction.
The remark came days after a circular issued by the AP faction of Samastha that sought to restrict the participation of Muslim women in public events. We will continue to say it. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader and Keralam Local Self-Government Minister KM Shaji refused to comment on the remarks.
“Samastha has been studying Islam for over 100 years, and that’s why we have the right to say this to the Muslim community.
The circular said that “displaying young women among unrelated men on roads and public stages is not appropriate for believers and is not permissible. We are not the kind of people who get afraid and run away,” he said. “I don’t want to say anything,” he told reporters.
“Women in our society have equal rights under the Constitution. We are a country that upholds gender equality. “He (Kanthapuram) can say what he wants.
Women faced a dark age, but with the help of social reformers and others, we have fought our way in and become part of the mainstream,” Krishna said. Congress leader and home minister Ramesh Chennithala said he does not support restricting women in public spaces. But I do not conform to the idea of restricting women in the public sphere,” he said.
Responding to the statement, Kerala women and child development minister Bindhu Krishna on Monday said the Constitution allowed everyone to express their opinions, but such a stand was not fit to be propagated in Keralam, India or the rest of the world.
