New Delhi: Shahi Imam of Ahmedabad Jama Masjid, Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui, on Sunday slammed women who contest in elections. He said those who give tickets to Muslim women are against Islam and are responsible for “weakening the religion”, news agency ANI reported.
The remarks of the chief cleric come just a day ahead of the second phase of polling for the Gujarat Assembly elections.
Voicing his dissent on the issue, the Shahi Iman said, “If it was justified in Islam for women coming out in the open, then they wouldn’t have been stopped from visiting mosques for prayers. Those giving election tickets to Muslim women are against Islam and are weakening the religion. Are there no men left?”
“There was an uproar about the hijab issue in Karnataka a few days back. Now it is obvious that if you make your women MLAs and councillors then what will happen to them? We will not be able to keep the hijab safe. If you want to contest the elections then give tickets to the male candidates. There is no compulsion that only a woman can contest from a particular seat. To contest the elections, the women candidates have to go from door to door. I am strongly against it,” the cleric further said.
Notably, the first phase of polling was held on December 1 on 89 Assembly seats in Gujarat. A total of 788 candidates have contested of which 70 are women.
In the second phase elections on Monday, votes are to be cast on a total of 93 seats. A total of 833 candidates are in the fray of which 69 are women.