KOZHIKODE: Why does Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan insist that his wife should wear pants when they go abroad and why can’t he wear saree instead of dictating on his wife’s dress, asked IUML state secretary Dr M K Muneer.
Addressing a session on ‘Religion, Marxism and Atheism’ at the Veru (Roots) programme organised by the MSF here on Sunday, he said anti-religion ideology is being smuggled in schools in the name of gender neutrality. This is similar to the introduction of the text ‘Mathamillatha Jeevan’ in the school curriculum when the LDF government was in power earlier, he said.
“As part of introducing gender neutrality, boys and girls at the school in Balussery were asked to wear pants and shirt. Why can’t this be the other way around and why can’t they ask the boys to wear churidar,” he asked. There is patriarchy even in places where gender neutrality was brought in. “This is the Marxist strategy that are being planned behind the curtain,” he said.
In his address, social activist Aasif Mujtaba said Muslims in the country are thrown into ‘electoral irrelevance’ to the extent that the largest political party at the Centre doesn’t have a single representative in both houses of Parliament.
He said the BJP had not fielded not even a single Muslim candidate in the last assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the largest Muslim-inhabited state. “What has started as the electoral marginalisation has resulted into electoral irrelevance,” he said.
Inaugurating the conference in the morning, IUML general secretary P K Kunhalikutty said the LDF government has become thoroughly unpopular as proved by the result of the Thrikkakkara bypoll. The LDF could manage a win in the last assembly elections cleverly utilising the situation during the Covid pandemic.