Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan has condemned what he called the move by certain Muslim organisations to bring down the marriageable age of Muslim girls.
In a statement issued here on Monday, he said that the Muslim organisations under the patronage of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) were challenging the law of the land which stipulated that the marriageable age of girls should not be less than 18 years. He asked the Congress leadership to make its stand clear on the issue.
Bringing down the marriageable age limit to 16 years will tantamount to promoting child marriages. If the age limit is reduced, the girls will also be sexually harassed and their lives will be in peril, the Opposition Leader pointed out. Achuthanandan said that there had been instances of young girls being sexually exploited in the recent past. The fact that the Muslim League, the second largest coalition partner of the UDF, is leading the cause of the Muslim organisations is adding to the gravity, he said.
Achuthanandan condemned the ‘silence’ being maintained by the Congress leaders on this issue. He said the efforts of the Muslim organisations to challenge the law of the land will further widen the existing rift
between various religious communities. In view of this, it was high time for the Congress to intervene in the issue, Achuthanandan said. He alleged that the BJP and the Sangh Parivar organisations were trying to create communal tension while the Congress party was maintaining silence on this issue.