Respect Constitution: Minister Bindu Krishnan to Kerala cleric on remarks about women

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 31
Kerala Labour Minister Bindu Krishnan on Monday criticised the now controversial remarks by Grand Mufti of India Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, popularly known as Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, on women, saying that while everyone has the right to freedom of expression, his views are not something that should be emulated.

Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, also known as Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, is regarded as one of the most senior and influential religious authorities of the Sunni Muslim community in India.

“The Constitution treats everyone as equal. The President of the country herself is a woman. One can follow one’s religious beliefs, but the Constitution must also be respected,” Bindu Krishnan said, responding to Kanthapuram’s remarks that women should remain confined to their homes and should not enter the public sphere.

Kanthapuram reiterated his position at the Hubbur Rasool conference of the Kerala Muslim Jamaath held in Kochi.

He said women should live within the confines of their homes and claimed that their entry into the public sphere would lead to “great destruction”.

Kanthapuram also said that preventing women from entering the public sphere was out of respect for them.

He claimed that Islam had prescribed the purdah system because women appearing in public would lead to undesirable consequences and maintained that this was what the Quran teaches.

His remarks come amid a controversy over a circular issued earlier by the Kanthapuram faction of Samastha, which instructed that women should not appear on public roads or at public venues alongside unrelated men.

The circular had triggered widespread criticism and social opposition, particularly after girls and women participated in Prophet’s Day celebration rallies.

Responding to those questioning his authority to make such statements, he said that he and those associated with him had studied religion thoroughly and that it was their obligatory responsibility to guide the Muslim community on matters concerning religious practice.

The issue is expected to generate further debate in Kerala's political and social spheres, particularly over the balance between religious freedom and constitutional guarantees of equality and individual liberty.