Kerala Sunni leader Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar has stoked controversy with his latest remark that gender equality is against Islam, reports said.
The All India Sunni Jam-Iyyathul Ulama general secretary said the idea of girls and boys sitting together to study is against the Islamic culture, supporting Kozhikode Farook College management's instruction that boys and girls should sit separately in classrooms as well as canteen.
"Gender equality is not practical; women can only give birth, while the world is under the control of men," Kanthapuram said, while addressing the study camp of Muslim Students Federation in Kozhikode.
He went on to add that women do not have the guts to perform complicated surgeries and that only men are able to face a crisis.
Kanthapuram, who was one of the first Indian Muslim leaders to speak against militant outfits like the Islamic State, is widely known for his conservative views.
The Sunni leader had earlier supported polygamy and remarked that Muslim women's legal age for marriage should be reduced to 16.
