Kozhikode(Keralam), Sep 13 (PTI) CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan on Sunday said that the Communists were always in favour of gender equality and will not accept any stand to the contrary by any person or organisation.
Govindan said that as far as the Communists were concerned, gender equality was very important and cannot accept anyone’s stand contrary or against that.
He said that while the CPI(M) might not boycott religious leaders who were against gender equality, the party will not accept their stand.
At the same time, he also said that no religious organisations can say women have to stay away from public life.
He said that be it the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the Jamaat-e-Islami or other Muslim organisations, they all bring together
women and children into political activities.
“While doing so, they also say that women should not enter those fields. No religious system or organisation has the right to say so,” he said.
The CPI(M) state secretary was responding to reporters’ queries regarding the recent alleged anti-women remarks by senior Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar.
Last month, Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama president E Sulaiman Musliyar and general secretary Kanthapuram directed in a circular that women should not share stages with men or appear in public spaces alongside them.
Kanthapuram had said that bringing women onto public platforms would lead to “great destruction”, inviting strong criticism from various quarters, including Chief Minister V D Satheesan.
On Saturday, he said that the decrees of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama cannot be altered for any individual or political party. PTI HMP SA
