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CPI(M) distances itself from party leader’s remarks on Muslim girls not wearing headscarfs
After the comments stirred a row, various outfits like the Kerala Muslim Jamaath demanded an apology.
The Communist Party of India (Maxist) on Tuesday distanced itself from the remarks of the party’s state committee member K Anilkumar about the role of the party in persuading young Muslim girls not to wear headscarves in districts like Malappuram. The remarks did not go down well with Muslim leaders within the CPI(M) as well as external Muslim outfits.
Anilkumar, speaking at a conference of rationalists in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, had said, “Watch the Muslim girls in Malappuram today. We strongly believe that if Muslim girls today are refusing to wear headscarves in Malappuram, it’s because of the presence of the CPI(M) in Kerala and the rise of education. The role of this party in cultivating such independent thinking is not small.”
After the comments stirred a row and outfits like the Kerala Muslim Jamaath demanded an apology, CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan clarified that the party does not agree with the views of Anilkumar. “The choice of clothes is a citizen’s democratic right. It is guaranteed by the Constitution. When the hijab row surfaced, the party had made it clear that no one should interfere [in deciding what a person should wear]. We don’t desire to tell people what they should wear or criticize them on their choices,” Govindan told reporters on Tuesday.
“As the party’s official stand is different from what Anilkumar said, I would like to make it clear that such remarks shouldn’t come from a party leader. Such comments should not have been made,” he added.
KT Jaleel, a CPI(M)-backed MLA from Thavanur in Malappuram district and former minister, was one of the first leaders within the LDF to counter Anilkumar’s remarks. “Refusing to wear a headscarf is not the symbol of progressive thinking. The Communist party has not asked any Muslim girl not to wear a headscarf. The party for several years has sent a purdah-wearing Muslim woman as a councillor to Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. No one should misunderstand that independent thinking is akin to removing a headscarf and the CPM should not be blamed for this. It is stupidity to turn a person’s remarks as the stand of the party he belongs to,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
PMA Salam, state general secretary of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), said Anilkumar’s remarks were proof that the CPI(M) has been interfering in people’s religious clothing choices.
“Why is the party launching attacks on religious customs and beliefs? It has always interfered in Muslim customs. From time to time, what they are thinking is being revealed. These remarks confirm that the CPI(M) is a party opposed to religion,” said Salam at a press conference in Malappuram.
