The National Commission for Women (NCW) has served a notice on Sunni leader Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliar for his controversial remarks on women, Chief Lalitha Kumaramanglam said today.
At an event in Kerala last week, Musliar had described as "un-Islamic" the concept of gender equality and said that women could never equal men as "they are fit only to deliver children".
"Suo motu notice has been served on the man and a copy of it was sent to the organisers (of the event) also. We have given them one working week's time to reply," Kumaramanglam said.
It is very unfortunate that such senior people are giving anti-women remarks, she said.
"It is a very ill-educated statement. He does not know what reality is and it's unfortunate that such a senior person in such a senior position of influence has this very backward anti-women opinion.
"We have started writing to the state governments saying that they should also be more proactive in discouraging such statements," she said, at the conclusion of a national consultation on 'Expanding Opportunities for Women with Disabilities'.
Musliar, the chief of All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, said women have no mental strength and the power to control the universe, "which lies in the hands of men".
"Gender equality is something which is never going to be a reality. It is against Islam, humanity and was intellectually wrong," he said while speaking at a camp of Muslim Students Federation (MSF) in Kozhikode.
Following outrage over his remarks, Musliar claimed that his statement has been "deliberately distorted and misinterpreted".
"Islam stands for the safety of women in a milieu of extreme feminism and misogyny. A fair approach is one that empowers them through education and social upliftment and in this sense we are implementing systematic and wide establishments under Markaz and Sunni organisations," he later said in a release.
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The consultation was held to identify challenges and issues being faced by women with disabilities and emphasis was laid on the need for sensitisation to create wider appreciation and greater sensitivity among all sections.
The NCW chief urged the government to include the concerns of disabled persons, particularly women, in the 'Swacha Bharat' campaign.
"There is a question mark on accessibility of toilets for women, especially who are disabled, in both urban and rural areas. We have written to the Urban Development Ministry on this issue," the NCW chief said.
A national audit will be conducted by the Commission to check the compliance with law providing three per cent reservation to the differently-abled people.
"Any department in the government or in the state will be able to tell that there is 100 per cent compliance. We are planning to conduct an audit in states to check whether the reservation law for disabled people actually exist or not. A physical audit of accessibility will also be done," she said.
Three per cent of Group C and D vacancies in government jobs are mandated to be reserved for disabled persons.
Kumaramanglam said the reforms that are needed in this sector depend on the policy makers and at the bureaucracy level.
