In the clip, the person who invited the girl on stage looked visibly upset and pleaded for mercy, while others on the dais did not intervene in the issue.A video has emerged from Kerala’s Malappuram district which shows a Muslim scholar publicly scolding organisers of an event for inviting a girl on stage to receive an award.
The scholar, M T Abdulla Musaliyar, was attending the inauguration of a madrassa building at Ramapuram in the district when one of the organisers invited a girl, Mashida P V, to the dais to receive an award, as seen in the video. Several other Muslims scholars were also present on the stage.
After Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader Panakkad Sayed Abbas Ali Shihab Thangal handed over a memento to the girl, Musaliyar criticised one of the organisers, saying: “Who told you to invite a Class 10 girl to the stage… If you do this again… I will show you… Don’t call such girls here… Don’t you know the decision of the Samastha? Did you call her?… Please ask her parent to come to the stage.”
In the clip, the person who invited the girl on stage looked visibly upset and pleaded for mercy, while others on the dais did not intervene in the issue.
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Musaliyar is a senior functionary of Samastha Kerala Sunni Vidyabhyasa Board, which regulates madrassa education in Kerala.
The incident has triggered widespread protests on social media with many pointing out that community leaders should encourage girls to utilise their talents for the betterment of the society. However, several netizens also supported Musaliyar saying that it was his job to guide the faithful.
Samastha Kerala Jam-iyyathul Ulema is a prominent body of Muslim scholars. It is close to the IUML, which is a Congress ally in Kerala.
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