Kerala Opposition Leader rejects IUML leader P.M.A. Salam’s line that gender equality is ‘a misbelief’

Kerala Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan (file)
| Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT

Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has rejected the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) State general secretary P.M.A Salam’s claim that gender equality is a mistaken belief.

Speaking to journalists in Malappuram on Thursday (January 30), Mr. Satheesan said Mr. Salam was “entitled to his personal views.”

However, Mr. Satheesan said that the Congress has stood at the forefront of gender justice and equality struggles. “We will not compromise our party’s core values”, he added. 

On Wednesday, Mr. Salam ignited a politically and socially touchy debate by stating that the IUML’s political and social line was gender justice for men and women, not gender equality.

He said he clarified the IUML’s line on the controversial “gender neutral” multi-exercise combination-7 (MEC-7), which has a considerable following among outdoor workout enthusiasts, chiefly in north Kerala, despite doctrinal opposition from leading Muslim clerics and organisations.

The Muslim leaders found fault with the format for allowing men and women to exercise together in public places, “compromising the modesty of women and contravening Islam’s basic tenets”.

The MEC-7 format endured its share of controversies after it became a fad among many physical activity enthusiasts in north Kerala.

For one, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) K. Surendran alleged that MEC-7 was a front for divisive forces to recruit impressionable persons, particularly youth, to their radical course. 

Notably, Congress leader K. Sreekandan, MP, signalled he was an early endorser of the group exercise format by inaugurating a local MEC-7 chapter in Palakkad.

Mr. Satheesan did not mention MEC-7. However, he appeared to endorse the universal principle of gender equality in all walks of life, including outdoor physical activities.