PUNE: Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Sunday said the practice of giving education to women stopped during the Mughal era out of security concerns and they had to start wearing 'ghunghat' (veil) for safety reasons.
He was speaking here during an event organised by members of the Jain community.
"During the Mughal era, in order to save the lives of women, they were not given education as there was fear that if they step out, then the Mughal rulers or Muslims would abduct them. That is why, they were kept at home protected. But even after India got freedom, we forgot to bring them out of the four walls," Patil said.
"Ghunghat came into practice during the Mughal era, because there was a fear that those rulers would kidnap beautiful women. But ghunghat remained a part of life even after the Independence," he said.
He said that after India's partition in 1947, several members from the Muslim community moved to Pakistan and settled there, but still their population in India is 23 crore.
Patil praised the Jain community for giving 'sanskars' (value education) to their daughters and making sure that they get married within the community only.