Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday said neither govt nor Congress supported Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar’s controversial remarks that women should remain confined to their homes.“We have no agreement whatsoever with that statement. It is not a position befitting progressive Keralam. We cannot agree with it in any manner,” he told a post-cabinet meeting press conference.The IUML, a leading UDF partner, had defended the remarks on Tuesday, saying the religious scholar may have made the observation out of concern for women’s safety.Satheesan said women should participate in all spheres of life. “Our position is that women should not remain confined to their homes. They should participate in all matters in the mainstream of life. This is the progressive position we have,” he said.The CM said Kanthapuram’s remarks amounted to a misinterpretation of Islam and Islamic history, which, he said, had several examples of women playing prominent roles in public life. Khadija, the Prophet’s first wife, was a major businesswoman, he said. “Aisha, another wife of the Prophet, participated in the Battle of Jamal and was the commander of an army,” he said. Citing Queen Bilqis as an example, he said Islamic history recorded her as a queen and businesswoman.Referring to an incident in the court of Caliph Umar, Satheesan said a woman had questioned a decision to reduce the mahr (dower). “When everyone opposed her, Caliph Umar, who was one of the most just rulers in the world, said the woman was right,” he said. The incident showed that women were present even in the Caliph’s court, he said.Vande Mataram protocolThe state govt will follow the prescribed Central protocol when President, Vice-President or Prime Minister attends a govt function, Satheesan said, while reiterating the Congress position on Vande Mataram. He was responding to a question about the full recitation of the national song at the valedictory function of the week-long Onam celebrations attended by Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan and governor Rajendra V Arlekar.“When President, Vice-President or Prime Minister attends a programme, the protocol is decided by the Centre. The state govt does not have the authority to reject that protocol,” he said.Satheesan said Congress had decided that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at party programmes. Clarifying that Vande Mataram had not been sung at any state govt programme on Aug 15, he said events attended by constitutional authorities were conducted across the country according to the prescribed protocol.Chenthi incidentReplying to a question about Congress workers allegedly blocking him at Chenthi in Thiruvananthapuram last week, Satheesan said he was invited to a Sree Narayana Jayanti programme there but he decided not to attend it after party workers told him it was being organised by a person with a criminal background.The organisers were informed two weeks earlier that he would not attend the function, he said. Satheesan said he stopped there while travelling to a programme at Chempazhanthy after seeing several party workers and leaders. None of them had stopped him, he said.He got down from his vehicle after party workers told him a floral tribute was to be offered there. However, one person spoke to him in an objectionable manner and prevented him from proceeding, he said. Anil Kumar alias Chenthi Anil, then a DCC member, was arrested last week for allegedly blocking the CM’s official convoy.Drug crackdownSatheesan accused CPM of using SFI activists to create confrontations and divert attention from political issues facing the party.He also referred to a DYFI protest over allegations that the phone of a person linked to the CM and involved in an MDMA case in Kasaragod had not been examined. Satheesan said the phone had been examined and the police subsequently arrested a woman from Gwalior. The accused remains in jail, he said.He said a former panchayat member and DYFI area secretary had earlier been arrested in an MDMA case, adding that several others had been arrested in similar cases. Satheesan praised the home department under minister Ramesh Chennithala and said police were carrying out an unprecedented drug crackdown in Kerala.
