'Muslim women' not invited to speak at CPM's seminar against Uniform Civil Code

Kozhikode: The CPM's much-awaited 'people's seminar' in protest of the proposed implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will be inaugurated by its general secretary Sitaram Yechury in Kozhikode on Saturday.

The mega event to be held at Swapna Nagari will have 28 speakers in attendance but not a single Muslim woman figures is the list, Onmanorama has found.

Kozhikode mayor Dr Beena Philip and Kerala Women's Commission chairperson P Sathidevi are among the invitees.

'Why seminar on UCC must include Muslim women'
Writer Dr Khadeeja Mumthas said she was approached by the organisers but they did not extend a formal invite as some of her views on the matter were in contrast with the CPM's.

“They (the organisers) asked me about my willingness to speak at the seminar during a meeting ahead of the programme. As I opened up about my stand at the time, their response was not positive,” Dr Mumthas told Onmanorama.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board has contended that the UCC will put the shariat (Muslim personal law) in peril. Social critics argue the shariat rules concerning marriage, divorce and inheritance among other matters are liberal towards men and restrictive to women.

“Muslim women are facing difficulties resulting from the Muslim personal law,” said Dr Mumthas, the chairperson of 'Forum For Muslim Women's Gender Justice'.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken about implementing the UCC; that said, the issues faced by Muslim women are still a reality. In this context, a seminar to discuss the UCC must include Muslim women as speakers at the least,” the doctor said.

However, she is not in favour of the UCC: "...because of my anxiety over the Sangh Parivar agenda,” she says.

"I stand for reforms in Muslim personal law. The rules must be reformed. I told them (CPM seminar organisers) that if I'm speaking, I will raise this issue. I wanted to speak on a stage as a Muslim woman.”

Fear of Samastha
V P Zuhara, the founder of NISA, a movement for reformation of Muslim Personal Law, shared the opinion of Dr Mumthas. But she added a political angle: “They can't invite Muslim ladies on stage, as they want to appease Samastha (Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama) leaders,” said Zuhara.

“They could have invited leaders like Kanathil Jameela MLA or other orators from their own organisations,” she added.

Zuhara said NISA had been calling for the implementation of the UCC. “But under the present political scenario, we are anxious about the Central government's agenda. Now we demand inclusion of Muslims under the Indian Succession Act.”

Writer and social critic Dr Hameed Chennamangaloor spoke about the absence of Muslim women in the CPM seminar in a recent interview. That's for Samastha,” he said, 'to avoid upsetting its leaders'.

Samastha, the largest organisation of Sunni Muslims in Kerala, has prominent Indian Union Muslim League leaders among its members. Besides Samastha leaders, Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar, the leader of the A P Sunni faction, will also speak at the seminar.

All prominent left allies, including Kerala Congress (M) and Janata Dal (Secular), will attend. MES president Dr Fazal Gafoor and representatives of KNM and Markazu Da'wa are also among the guests. Former MP of the CPI, Pannyan Raveendran was invited as well, but someone else will take his place as he has other engagements, a source said. The seminar is scheduled to start at 4 pm.