Thiruvananthapuram, Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday asserted that there was no change in his stand on senior Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar’s remarks on women in public life, but made it clear that he had no objection to criticism of his position.
Addressing a press conference here after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Satheesan said he had not changed his position and would inform the media if he ever did so.
“I have taken a stand. Still I am on that stand. They have their freedom to make statements against me and to write articles against me.
Asked about the vehement criticism against him in Suprabhatam, the mouthpiece of the E K Sunni faction of Islamic scholars’s body Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, following his remarks against Kanthapuram, Satheesan said they had every right to criticise him. This is democracy,” he said. Satheesan said Keralam’s civil society was watching the position he had taken, but stressed that he did not believe that the CM was beyond criticism.
“If someone criticises me, they do not become my enemies. Sometimes, I may be criticised for the right reasons. Sometimes, the criticism may be wrong.
If it is correct criticism, I will correct myself,” he said. Satheesan said he did not question anyone’s right to criticise him and that he also did not question the language used by his critics. The editorial also alleged that those influencing Satheesan had failed to properly understand the Prophet, who, it said, had arrived as a liberator in an era when women were treated as slaves and baby girls were buried alive if they were born.
