Even as prominent Muslim religious body Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama is hell-bent on lifting the restrictions on marriage age of Muslim girls, a survey conducted by the Muslim Education Society (MES) among Muslim students of its educational institutions in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts has revealed a totally different story.
According to the MES, nearly 99 per cent of the students said ‘no’ to the attempts to lower marriage age. Of the 5,139 Muslim girls who took part in the survey from 16 institutions, all except 67 maintained that the marriage age should be at least 18 years. All the girl students belonging to Muslim community at MES Raja School, Pavangad; MES Raja School, Chathamangalam; B Arch College, Kakkodi; MES Women’s College, Nadakkavu, and MES Arts and Science College, Chathamangalam, were against the move of the religious outfits. “Out of 432 students of MES Arts and Science College, Villiapally, 31 did not object to lowering the age limit,” MES district president C T Zakir Hussain said.