Muslim scholar in Kerala slammed for remarks on girl receiving award on stage at event

A Muslim scholar allegedly reprimanding the organisers of an event in Malappuram for inviting a girl on stage has been criticised by political leaders as well as the Kerala Women's Commission, which on Wednesday termed the same as disgraceful.

The purported visuals of the incident aired on news channels went viral and sparked protests on social media.

In the video clip aired by news channels, M T Abdulla Musaliyar, a senior functionary of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, a body of Muslim scholars, is seen chiding one of the organisers for calling a Class 10 girl student on the dais to receive an award.

The incident occurred during the inauguration of a 'madrassa' building in Malappuram district, where students were felicitated recently.

The memento was handed over to the girl by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader Panakkad Sayed Abbas Ali Shihab Thangal.

Soon after the award was handed over, Musaliyar questioned the organisers as to why the girl was invited on stage.

''Who invited a Class 10 girl to the stage? If you do this again... Don't call such girls here. Don't you know the rules of Samastha? Were you the one who called her? Ask her parents to come to the stage to collect the award. Don't do such things while we are sitting here. This will appear in photos and be telecast,'' a visibly angry Musaliyar was seen telling the organisers, while Thangal was standing next to him.

The person who announced the name of the girl was seen apologising to Musaliyar.

Terming Musaliyar's remarks as disgraceful, Kerala Women's Commission chairperson P Sathidevi said such conduct was not appropriate in a civilised society, especially in a state which was at the forefront of female literacy.

In a release issued by the commission, she said people should awaken their conscience against the actions of such religious leaders who want to turn the society backwards by centuries.

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan also disapproved of what happened.

Speaking to reporters, he said that if what was shown in the visuals was correct, then neither the Congress nor UDF can accept or support such stands or remarks.

LDF MLA Mathew T Thomas, in a Facebook post, also criticised the conduct of the Muslim scholar.

Terming the remarks and the conduct of the scholar as unfortunate, he said it must have hurt the innocent mind of the child besides impinging upon the constitutional principles of gender equality.

In his post, he apologised to the girl and urged her to consider it as a challenge and not to be discouraged by what happened.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)