Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] appears to have stepped unwarily into a political minefield by wading into the hijab dispute that has of late become a flash point in the highly emotive social struggle to protect Constitutionally guaranteed minority rights in the country.
Singed by intense criticism from Muslim social organisations, opinion leaders and Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition, the CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan hastily disavowed CPI(M) State committee member K. Anil Kumar’s theory that the Communist party’s progressive influence emboldened Muslim women in north Kerala to abandon the hijab.
Mr. Govindan told reporters in Kannur that Mr. Kumar’s statement at a rationalist meeting in Thiruvananthapuram did not hew to the CPI(M)‘s stated line. The CPI(M) respected the right of individuals to wear religious garments or sport symbols of faith in adherence to their beliefs.
