'Violation Of Religious Freedom': Kudumbashree's Gender-Neutral Oath Draws Flak From Islamist Bodies

Kudumbashree, a women empowerment initiative implemented by the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM) of the Government of Kerala, recently made the headlines for a gender-neutral oath they had published. While it was published in goodwill, recognising all genders and their rights, the oath instantly drew flak from conservative bodies.

Among those at the forefront with criticisms were Koodathai and other Muslim clerics, who had recently courted controversy over their opinion of "hero worship and addiction to soccer" being against the tenets of Islam.

Oath For A Future Of Equality

Nayi Chethana, the nationwide campaign, was launched a week back to enable women to acknowledge gender-based violence and have them raise their voices against it by educating them about their rights. The gender-neutral oath by Kudumbashree, written as a part of this campaign, pledged to provide an equal standing to all genders. However, specific ideas conveyed through the oath did not sit well with certain Islamist organisations and kicked up a row.

Scholars warned that circulars would surely invite protests, as they spoke for equal rights for women, even in terms of property rights, as opposed to many religious beliefs. Rightly enough, this aspect was picked by the religious bodies and demanded Kudumbashree to remove the particular portion from their oath. Hopping onto the bandwagon, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State President K. Surendran claimed that the Kudumbashree has decided to remove those portions of the oath.

A report by the Hindustan Times quoted an anonymous Kudumbashree official saying that they got a directive from the ministry not to proceed with the pledge and that a corrected oath would be made available to them shortly. However, on December 4, the Kudumbashree clarified that they had not yet withdrawn the portions from the oath. The nodal agency of the gender campaign further stated that they would be organising activities to raise gender-related issues for the next four weeks.

Equality As Proposed By Religion

Koodathayi, leader of the Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyathul Qutba Committee, and Ilyas Moulavi, Jamaath-e-Islami leader, were among those who raised objections against the oath. They stated that matters relating to succession should be left to those from the respective religions and that the oath challenges the ideas and principles laid out in the Islamic religious text Quran. Taking strong exception against Kudumbashree's resolve to ensure equality in property rights, Koodathayi claimed that the oath interferes with their religious freedom granted by the Constitution.

A report by the Indian Express quoted him saying that the Holy Quran gives men a share of property equal to that of two women, and the female member has been allowed half of what a male member gets from the father's property. He adds that this could not be considered gender discrimination since the man in the family is endowed with complete responsibility of fending for the family. Conveying this idea through a Facebook post, he said that the government has been organising commendable projects with the Kudumbashree, but the recent one violated their beliefs.

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