By TCN Staff Reporter
Kozhikode: The move by the Centre to take for consideration the recommendation of the Pam Rajput Committee has drawn criticism from the All India Sunni Jameyatul Ulema, which has termed it as “anti-constitutional”.
The Pam Rajput committee, constituted by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Welfare to assess the living condition of the women and children in the country and extend recommendation to improve their living status, had submitted its report in 2014. But it was on July 21 that the recommendation were taken up for consideration by the government following a workshop at New Delhi.
Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar addressing a conference
The Pam Rajput Committee – officially the High Level Committee on Status of Women – had presented its first copy of the Preliminary Report to Krishna Tirath, the then Minister for Women and Child Development in February 2014. The Committee had identified ‘Violence Against Women’, ‘Declining Sex Ratio’ and ‘Economic Disempowerment of Women’ as three key burning issues which require immediate attention of the nation and action by the government.
After the July 21 workshop at Delhi, Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar, general secretary of the All India Sunni Jameyatul Ulema, in a statement on July 23, noted that some of the recommendations made by the committee in the long report contradicted to the basic tenants of Indian constitution and other existing law and orders of the country.
“The report, through its several recommendations, attempts to subvert the constitutional validity to personal laws. “The spirit behind giving constitutional validity to the personal law is meant to protect the cultural distinctiveness of minority communities. The minorities are apprehensive as the committee attempts to sabotage the personal law,” the report said.
“The attempt by the committee to reform the marriage laws, followed by the Muslims in the country is the mere denial of the constitutional rights to the Muslim community in the country. This will help people to raise question against the personal law, ensured by the constitution, in courts and constitutional bodies,” the statement pointed out.
Adding further, the statement alleged that it was an attempt to divert the policy maker’s attention from basic issues, being faced by the country.
However, the statement welcomed the recommendations by the committee to withdraw AFSPA saying the controversial law is leading to rampant human rights violations against women in Kashmir and North East.
“The committee’s suggestions such as to build necessary sanitation facilities for girls in primary schools expose the fact that we have not been able to address even the very basic issues concerning lives of women and children . It’s a shame on all of us to note that half of country’s population has been living such a miserable life even after six decades of independence,” the statement said.