Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan deleted a social media post that sharply criticized remarks made by Grand Mufti of India Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar. The cleric had told a religious gathering in Kochi that women entering public life would lead to “great destruction,” comparing them to jewelry that loses its shine in the open. Satheesan had initially rejected the framing as an outdated, nineteenth-century view with no place in modern Kerala, but later took down the post without an official explanation.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party mocked the reversal, accusing Satheesan of trying to have it both ways and prioritizing vote-bank considerations over women’s rights. Congress functionaries rejected the charge, calling it an attempt to distract from the cleric’s remarks. Meanwhile, women’s rights activists urged all political parties to take unambiguous positions rather than calibrating responses to communal sensitivities.