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The mouthpiece of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama (EK), Malayalam daily Suprabhatham, published an editorial criticising Keralam Chief Minister VD Satheesan, comparing his criticism of Sunni scholar Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar to "blind man touching an elephant".
The editorial, published on Sunday, September 6, and headlined “speak with respect”, referred to the altercation between VD Satheesan and a local Congress leader in Thiruvananthapuram and criticised the Keralam CM.
The editorial said those who supported VD Satheesan did not properly understand the Islamic concept about women. “Satheesan’s response to the issue was based on an incomplete understanding, like that of the blind man touching an elephant, fed to him by some people from within the Muslim community itself. They have also failed to understand the Prophet correctly, as the liberator who came at a time when women were treated as slaves and baby girls were buried alive simply for being born,” the editorial said.
The editorial defended Kanthapuram’s statement that “women put on display cause great destruction" and said he made it at his own centre, surrounded by his own believing community, in a context that reminded people of the “immoralities caused by women’s supposed indecent behaviour”. “He has the freedom to say such things there, just as much as Satheesan has the freedom to call such a statement an uncivilised idea from the 19th century,” the editorial read.
The editorial stemmed from VD Satheesan’s strong rejection of Kanthapuram’s anti-women stance following a circular issued to Mahalls and madrasas urging them to “bar women from public space in Islamic celebrations.”
Satheesan called it a 19th-century mindset unsuitable for progressive Keralam. He also cited Islamic history, pointing to figures like Khadija and Ayesha, to argue that the scholar had misinterpreted Islam.
The editorial then said Satheesan had earlier opposed the entry of young women into the Sabarimala temple. “It is the very same Satheesan who opposed the entry of young women into Sabarimala who is now speaking at length about women’s freedom,” it reads.
Meanwhile, Kanthapuram backtracked on his remarks on women’s participation in public religious events, saying his organisation does not discriminate against women or advocate confining them.
