THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a stark example of sexism, a leader of the Muslim League, Kamarunissa Anwar was told she could not make a speech as she is a woman. The 60 year old president of the political party's women's wing was on the dais along with several male leaders of the party when state secretary MC Mayin Haji told her, "it's not in the League's tradition for women to speak to men."
The incident came to light after an audio recording of the conversation was leaked. Also, Haji stood firm on the statement saying, "Women do not address public gatherings. Women are given much more respect than men, the reason why we don't encourage them to be part of processions or late night events." He added that women "were welcome to speak to a specific audience like a delegation, but must not address public gatherings." Haji also furnished a picture of another prominent woman leader of the party addressing a delegation with him on stage, in a bid to prove he wasn't against the gender.
Kamarunissa has been working for the political party for the last 20 years and said, "she did feel sad". Out of the 140 MLAs in Kerala, only eight are women. The Opposition led by Congress has no women legislators in the current Assembly. Muslim League is an important ally of the Congress in Kerala and has 18 MLAs in the Assembly, but not one woman.
