The New Indian Express ·
'Fathima win in Perambra undercuts call to keep women at home': Minister Murali on Kanthapuram's remark
KOZHIKODE: Taking a dig at ally IUML, Health Minister K Muraleedharan said the victory of League candidate Fathima Thahiliya in Perambra showed that people had little regard for the view that women should stay out of public life. “Everyone should be ready to read the writing on the wall. Women and men have equal rights,” he told reporters on Thursday.
IUML state president Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal had defended Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar’s controversial remark that women should be confined to their homes, calling it “a scholarly opinion” aimed at ensuring their safety.
In the run-up to the assembly elections, IUML leaders had highlighted the party’s decision to field two women candidates for the first time — Fathima in Perambra and Jayanti Rajan in Koothuparamba. Their candidature was hailed as a “revolutionary change” in the outlook and approach of a party whose support base is predominantly Sunni, a section that has traditionally opposed women’s participation in public life.
