Kerala Governor slams Muslim scholar in Kerala for remarks on girl receiving award on stage at event
A Muslim scholar allegedly reprimanding the organisers of an event in Malappuram for inviting a girl on stage has been criticised by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan who on Wednesday said it was another example of Muslim women being pushed into seclusion “in total defiance of Quranic commands”.
Khans criticism is one of many against the scholar after purported visuals of the incident aired on news channels went viral and sparked protests on social media.
In the video clip aired by news channels, M T Abdulla Musaliyar, a senior functionary of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, a body of Muslim scholars, is seen chiding one of the organisers for calling a Class 10 girl student on the dais to receive an award.
The incident occurred during the inauguration of a madrassa building in Malappuram district, where students were felicitated recently.
The memento was handed over to the girl by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader Panakkad Sayed Abbas Ali Shihab Thangal.
Soon after the award was handed over, Musaliyar questioned the organisers as to why the girl was invited on stage.
“Who invited a Class 10 girl to the stage? If you do this again… Dont call such girls here. Dont you know the rules of Samastha? Were you the one who called her? Ask her parents to come to the stage to collect the award. Dont do such things while we are sitting here. This will appear in photos and be telecast,” a visibly angry Musaliyar was seen telling the organisers, while Thangal was standing next to him.
The person who announced the name of the girl was seen apologising to Musaliyar.
Taking to Twitter to express his displeasure, Khan tweeted, “Sad to know that a young talented girl was humiliated on stage in Malappuram district while receiving a well deserved award simply because she was born into a Muslim family.” “This is yet another example of how Muslim clerics continue to push hard Muslim women into seclusion and suppress their personality in total defiance of Quranic commands and provisions of the Constitution,” he said.
The Governor further said the Holy Quran says that women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, but men have an added degree of responsibility towards them.
“Holy Quran says – ” And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them according to what is fair and reasonable, but men have an added degree of RESPONSIBILITY towards them -2.228,” he tweeted.
Kerala Womens Commission chairperson P Sathidevi termed the Muslim scholars remarks as disgraceful and said such conduct was not appropriate in a civilised society, especially in a state which was at the forefront of female literacy.
In a release issued by the commission, she said people should awaken their conscience against the actions of such religious leaders who want to turn the society backwards by centuries.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan also disapproved of what happened.
Speaking to reporters, he said that if what was shown in the visuals was correct, then neither the Congress nor UDF can accept or support such stands or remarks.
LDF MLA Mathew T Thomas, in a Facebook post, also criticised the conduct of the Muslim scholar.
Terming the remarks and the conduct of the scholar as unfortunate, he said it must have hurt the innocent mind of the child besides impinging upon the constitutional principles of gender equality.
In his post, he apologised to the girl and urged her to consider it as a challenge and not to be discouraged by what happened.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)
