Sreemathy slams Kanthapuram's remarks that women should stay confined to homes

Senior CPI(M) leader P.K. Sreemathy Teacher has criticised Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar for saying women should remain confined to their homes.

Kanthapuram, speaking at an Islamic conference in Kochi on Sunday, Aug 30 said bringing women onto public platforms would lead to "great destruction," and that Islam prescribed purdah for women to prevent this. "It is precisely recognising that bringing women onto public platforms in this manner causes great destruction that Islam mandated purdah for women. The Holy Quran states that women should live confined within their homes and must not make public appearances," he said.

Reacting to the remarks, Sreemathy, also a prominent leader of the All India Democratic Women's Association, said: "Once again, misogyny is being spewed." She shared on Facebook a video of a young Muslim woman responding to Kanthapuram's comments.

Without naming Kanthapuram directly, Sreemathy said: "If such statements are dismissed merely as the ravings of old age, history will not forgive modern Kerala." She also shared videos of boys and girls from different religions taking part together in Onam celebrations at a higher secondary school. "They sing and dance. Who can stop these children? If one cannot recognise that times have changed and that ways of thinking have changed, it is indeed a problem," she said.

Kanthapuram's remarks came amid controversy over a recent circular issued by the Kanthapuram faction of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, Kerala's prominent council of Sunni-Shafi Islamic scholars. The circular, issued by Samastha president E. Sulaiman Musliyar and general secretary Kanthapuram, said women should not share stages with men or appear in public spaces alongside them, drawing criticism from several women political leaders.

In his speech, Kanthapuram said such views had been taught by knowledgeable religious scholars, particularly Samastha's leaders, for the past 100 years. "Therefore, you must understand that it is because all knowledgeable people, especially the leaders of Samastha, taught this here for 100 years that the women in this country have maintained their honour and dignity," he said. He added that religious scholars had an obligation to speak on the issue despite objections. "When this is said, if leaders of any other organisation or Samastha leaders object to or question it, we have studied the religion and therefore have an obligation to say it. We will say it and continue to say it. No one can make us stop," he said.