VHP hits out at Congress, Muslim bodies over scholar's remarks on women
The VHP on Friday slammed senior Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar over his alleged remarks against women, terming them "unconstitutional" and "despicable", and asked opposition leaders and Muslim organisations to clarify their stand on the issue.
The RSS-affiliated organisation also urged the Congress-led Keralam government and the National Commission for Women (NCW) to take cognisance of Musliyar's remarks and sought action against him.
The reaction came after Musliyar, while speaking at an Islamic conference in Kochi on Sunday, allegedly said that bringing women onto public platforms would lead to "great destruction" and that Islam prescribed 'purdah' for women to prevent this.
In a post on X, VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal alleged that Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, along with other "secular" political leaders and Muslim political parties, lack the courage to speak against the Islamic scholar.
He further alleged that the entire "secular fraternity" is "badly trapped in the clutches of these anti-women elements".
"The silence of the entire secular fraternity's leaders on the unconstitutional and despicable statement by Keralam's Grand Mufti, which betrays women, is clear proof that they too are badly trapped in the clutches of these anti-women elements," he wrote on X.
Bansal also asked Muslim organisations, including the Jamiat, Deoband and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), to clarify whether the views expressed by Musliyar are consistent with Islam.
"Is Islam really like this? he asked, while raising questions about the treatment of women under Islamic practices.
Bansal also questioned the silence of "ulemas, maulanas, muftis and Islamic institutions" and why they are "shying away" from speaking against such statements.
The VHP leader further said that if Musliyar and other clerics have indeed spoken wrongly or against Islam, there should be a demand for their arrest.
"We will urge the Keralam government to send such an anti-women character to jail, and the National Commission for Women should also take cognisance of the matter," Bansal said.
Musliyar on Thursday clarified his remarks on women, saying they were not the ones who advocate that women be buried or confined and asserting that several women were being provided education and opportunities.
"It is not correct to say that women have been given second place. We are not people who say women should be buried. Everyone should understand this," Kanthapuram said.
