Thiruvananthapuram | Keralam Women and Child Development Minister Bindu Krishna and senior CPI(M) leader P K Sreemathy on Monday criticised Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar over his remarks that women should remain confined to their homes.

Kanthapuram, speaking at an Islamic conference in Kochi on Sunday, had said bringing women onto public platforms would lead to "great destruction" and that Islam prescribed purdah for women to prevent this.

"It is precisely recognising that bringing women onto public platforms in this manner causes great destruction that Islam mandated purdah for women. The Holy Quran states that women should live confined within their homes and must not make public appearances," he had said.

Reacting to the remarks, Krishna said such an approach was not something Keralam, the country or the world could emulate.

"Our country is a country that moves forward legally in accordance with the values of the Indian Constitution. In this country, people belonging to all religions can practise their faith. Everyone also has freedom of expression.

"But in this country, the Constitution views all human beings as equal, irrespective of gender. It is a country that upholds gender justice," she told reporters.

Krishna said women in the country had gone through a dark period and had reached the mainstream through sustained struggles by progressive sections of society.

"From that period, it was through the continuous struggles of progressive brothers and sisters, including the leaders of the renaissance, that women reached the mainstream today," she said.

The minister, who also holds the Labour, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Milk Co-operatives portfolios, pointed out that President Droupadi Murmu, the first citizen of the country, is a woman.

She also recalled that India was led for a long period by former prime minister Indira Gandhi, whom she referred to as "Indira Priyadarshini".

Sreemathy, a prominent leader of the All India Democratic Women's Association, questioned whether women could be denied their rights as citizens of India.

"Is a woman not a citizen of India?" she asked, pointing out that women, like all other citizens, are entitled to the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

"Indian women, as citizens of India, have certain rights -- fundamental rights: the right to move around, the right to speak, the right to wear clothes, likewise the right to basic education, the right to healthcare --all these are fundamental rights," the senior CPI(M) leader said.

"No one has the right to deny these fundamental rights to anyone, saying that it is their custom or that it is the practice of a particular religious group. That shows a disregard for the Constitution," she said.

According to her, the Islamic scholar's remarks were "insulting to women".

"It has become a remark that greatly shames and insults Keralam's women, or India's women, or women across the world." Sreemathy said those working for women's rights could not remain silent when their constitutional rights were questioned.

"When that right is questioned, and when they say that women should not do these things, how can public activists like me, who work for women, remain silent? We cannot do that," she said.

Referring to Onam celebrations in schools across Keralam, including Malappuram, she said girls from different communities had participated in dance and other programmes.

"In higher secondary schools and vocational higher secondary schools, girls, including Muslim girls and girls belonging to all religions, danced and sang as part of Onam celebrations," she said.

Sreemathy said young people today see such occasions as an opportunity to express their happiness and that they could not easily be prevented from doing so.

"I don't think anyone can stop them from doing that in today's times, even if they want to," she said.

Kanthapuram's remarks came amid a controversy over a recent circular issued by the Kanthapuram faction of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the state's prominent council of Sunni-Shafi Islamic scholars.

The circular, issued by Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama president E Sulaiman Musliyar and general secretary Kanthapuram, had said women should not share stages with men or appear in public spaces alongside them.

The circular had drawn criticism from several women political leaders.

Kanthapuram, in his speech, said such views had been taught by knowledgeable religious scholars, particularly the leaders of Samastha, for the past 100 years.

"Therefore, you must understand that it is because all knowledgeable people, especially the leaders of Samastha, taught this here for 100 years that the women in this country have maintained their honour and dignity," he said.

He also said religious scholars who had studied Islam had an obligation to speak on the issue despite objections.

"When this is said, if leaders of any other organisation or Samastha leaders object to or question it, we have studied the religion and therefore have an obligation to say it. We will say it and continue to say it. No one can make us stop," he said.