'Bringing Women Onto Public Platforms Could Lead To Great Destruction': Kerala Islamic Scholar’s Remarks Draw Political Backlash

Kerala Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, also known as Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, has triggered a political and public backlash after saying women should remain confined to their homes and should not enter the public sphere.

What Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar said

Speaking at the Hubbul Rasool conference in Kochi on Sunday, August 30, Kanthapuram said, “Women should remain confined within their homes. They should not enter the public sphere. The Holy Quran says so.”

He argued that bringing women onto public platforms could lead to “great destruction” and said Islam had prescribed purdah, or seclusion and veiling, as a safeguard.

Using an analogy, the Islamic scholar compared women to a gold necklace that should be kept safely inside a box to preserve its beauty and value. He said exposing the necklace would allow anyone to touch it and diminish its value.

Kanthapuram maintained that the position was intended to protect women’s “honour and dignity” and said Samastha scholars had been teaching this view for around 100 years. He also said religious scholars had a responsibility to continue preaching these principles despite criticism.

Remarks follow Samastha circular on women

The comments came days after a circular issued by the Kanthapuram faction of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama.

The circular, signed by Samastha president E. Sulaiman Musliyar and Kanthapuram, directed that women should not share stages with men or appear alongside men in public spaces during religious celebrations and programmes.

The latest remarks have therefore intensified the debate over the role of religious institutions in determining women’s participation in Kerala’s public and social life.

CPI(M), Congress voices criticise remarks

The remarks drew sharp criticism from political leaders in Kerala, including CPI(M) leaders and women politicians, who described them as derogatory, misogynistic and regressive.

Kerala Labour Minister Bindu Krishna said such views could push women “centuries back” and argued that they were incompatible with constitutional equality and women’s freedom to participate in public life.

The criticism has also brought renewed focus on the tension between religious prescriptions and constitutional guarantees of equality and individual freedom.

On Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar’s remarks on women, All India Imam Association President, Maulana Sajid Rashidi said, "...until Islamic laws are implemented in the country, women will not be safe..."

BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar hits out

Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar strongly condemned both Kanthapuram’s remarks and the Samastha circular.

Chandrasekhar said every young woman in Kerala has a constitutional right to “learn, celebrate, lead, dream, and live with total freedom and dignity” without being subjected to “clerical diktats” or political compromises.

He said the BJP and NDA would oppose any attempt to push women into what he described as “medieval seclusion”, arguing that women’s empowerment means freedom, equal opportunity and full participation in public life.

BJP targets Congress, CPI(M)

Chandrasekhar also accused the Congress and CPI(M) of practising what he called decades of “extreme appeasement”, alleging that such politics had emboldened regressive voices on women’s rights.

BJP national leaders and social media figures, including party leader Amit Malviya, also amplified the issue and questioned the silence of opposition leaders, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

The controversy has now developed into a wider political debate in Kerala over women’s rights, religious authority, constitutional freedoms and the role of political parties in responding to conservative religious positions.