A Muslim cleric who recently made sharp, unwaned comments about a Muslim school girl who had stepped on stage to receive an award, was himself schooled by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan. Governor Khan, on Thursday, tweeted that he was “sad to know that a young talented girl was humiliated on stage in Malappuram district while receiving a well deserved award simply because she was born into a Muslim family.”

Hon’ble Governor Shri Arif Mohammed Khan said: “Sad to know that a young talented girl was humiliated on stage in Malappuram district while receiving a well deserved award simply because she was born into a Muslim family”:PRO,Keralarajbhavan(T 1/ 3)

— Kerala Governor (@KeralaGovernor) May 11, 2022

The tweets signed by PRO, Kerala Raj Bhavan, stated, “Muslim clerics continue to push hard Muslim women into seclusion and suppress their personality in total defiance of Qur’anic commands and provisions of the Constitution.” 

According to news reports, the Governor told the media that he would not even have commented if this “would have become a protest,” but he regrets that the cleric reacted the way he did in “a society like Kerala, which is known for gender equality, which is known for protecting the dignity and honour of women… If that protest had come, possibly there would have been no need for me to speak.” Khan said that the schoolgirl was wearing a hijab and asked, “Why were they insulting her? Because, your ultimate purpose is not hijab. They are the people who are responsible for creating Islamophobia. I have a fear that if they had an upper hand, they would have imposed their code on every woman.” 

Brief background

A recent viedo from Malappuram showed Sunni Muslim scholar M T Abdulla Musaliyar scolding organisers of a Madrasa at Perinthalmanna for inviting a Class 10 girl student to the stage to receive an award she had won. “Who called her on stage? She is a class 10 child… don’t you know this is not proper…” were some remarks the cleric can be heard making. An organiser is heard mumbling something in response. The video went viral. The cleric goes on and asks the organisers, “Are you not aware of the decision of Samastha on such matters… you should have just called her parents.” The schoolgirl is then seen quietly leaving the stage.

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