Kozhikode : IUML state president Panakkad Sadikkali Shihab Thangal on Tuesday defended Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar’s controversial remarks that women should remain confined to their homes, saying the religious scholar may have made the observation out of concern for women’s safety.
Thangal said Kanthapuram could have made the remarks against the backdrop of the current social situation, in which women were increasingly being targeted. He might have expressed the opinion for the sake of women’s safety,” he said. Thangal said IUML attached importance to both community and social unity and would continue to work towards maintaining both. The Muslim League, he said, functioned as a common platform for the advancement of society by bringing together people from all sections, and not merely Muslims.
“He might have stated it keeping all that in mind. He might be referring to a social condition in society as a whole.
Because the EK Sunni faction — a major supporting organisation of IUML — holds similar conservative views and the party does not want to provoke influential community groups at a time when it is facing criticism over Waqf Board, PM SHRI and other issues, iUML seems to have adopted a very soft approach towards Kanthapuram’s remarks, possibly. Because of vote-bank considerations, an LDF constituent party, the INL, publicly supported it,” Surendran said, alleging that both UDF and LDF leaderships were maintaining silence over the remarks.
Former minister K T Jaleel, who recently joined CPM, said Kanthapuram, as a religious scholar, was speaking from the perspective of religious jurisprudence. At the same time, no one can deny religious scholars the freedom to express their views,” he said, adding that progressive sections, too, had the right to oppose any statement that infringed upon rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Its leaders had so far refrained from commenting on the remarks, even as Congress ministers and CPM leaders came out against them. “There may be aspects of his views that are acceptable or unacceptable to wider society. That is natural. Hindu ascetics, Christian priests and Muslim scholars express their views with the aim of promoting the moral advancement of society. Modern society has every right to agree or disagree with such views. “Not a single leader in the ruling coalition has come forward to say that he should withdraw this ‘fatwa’. Pinarayi Vijayan has not spoken about it.
He said Kanthapuram might have been emphasising the need for discipline, particularly in situations that could potentially lead to anarchy in the community. However, having our own discipline is part of the religion’s framework,” Munawwarali Thangal said. Muslim Youth League state president Munawwarali Shihab Thangal also defended Kanthapuram’s right to express his views, saying religious scholars were entitled to express their opinions in a country that guaranteed freedom of expression. “Islam is a religion that teaches many rules. We are subject to these rules, but even so, there is no obstacle to freedom.