A mahal committee of a Muslim Jama-Ath in Kottayam district is facing criminal proceedings on charges of alleged caste discrimination and ostracism, the first such instance in Kerala.
The Kerala State Waqf Board has decided to initiate legal action against the Puthoorppally Muslim Jama-Ath of Changanassery for socially ostracising and discriminating against the members of the Ossan community, who were traditionally engaged as barbers. The board held that the decision of the mahal committee went against the tenets of Islam and provision of the Constitution. The mahal committee violated the basic human rights of the committee members. Islam doesn’t promote any caste discrimination among Muslims, it held.
Petition by 12 members
The case against the mahal committee members is that they prevented the first petitioner Aneesh Sali and others from taking part in the general body meetings of the committee stating that they belonged to the Ossan community. Twelve members of the community had moved the board against the discrimination.
Earlier, Mr. Sali had taken part in the general body meeting of the committee on July 2, 2023, and marked his attendance in a register. However, the mahal committee leaders warned him that he had no right to take part in the meeting as his predecessors belonged to a barber family. The committee quoted the provisions of the by-law of the committee to prevent him from attending future meetings as well.
The petitioner approached the Waqf Board to initiate criminal proceedings against the mahal committee as it refused to comply with the earlier directions of the board to end the discrimination. Even after the board’s intervention, the discrimination continued and the petitioners were not invited to the meetings, they complained.
The board, which met last week in Kochi, decided to initiate criminal proceedings against the mahal committee under Section 61 of the Wakf Act, said M.K.. Sakeer, board chairman. The convicts can get imprisonment up to six months and a maximum fine of ₹10,000. The case will be filed at the jurisdictional Judicial First Class Magistrate Court.
The board had issued a general circular to mahal committees against excommunication, denial of marriage registration, burial and Madrasa education, and cancellation or denial of mahal membership. The board had also emphasised that such acts violated the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the Waqf Act and rules, he added.
