The Thrissur Government Medical College hosted an Islamist conference where male and female students were separated by a curtain. Ironically, gender politics was the topic of the Taliban-style gathering. According to a report by the Organiser Weekly, Abdulla Basil, a controversial Islamist, organized this meeting under the banner of the extremist group Wisdom.
The program was titled ‘The Lives and Ideals Behind Gender Politics’. Lectures on gender politics and discrimination were delivered in this program, which were attended and listened to by both male and female medical students. In these lectures, a curtain was used to separate the female students from the male students. This was revealed by a photograph of the program that quickly went viral on social media. Clearly, this is an adoption of the Talibani model in which male and female students are separated by curtains in classrooms in a similar manner.
#Kerala: Taking a cue from the #Taliban, an Islamist group organised a meeting in the Govt medical college, #Thrissur in which male and female students sat separately from male students with a curtain between them. #Exclusive https://t.co/ITPrPNlPQ0
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) July 8, 2022
The Taliban-ruled Afghanistan was the cause of headlines in September 2021 when classroom partitions or curtains were used to isolate the male students from the female students. Because the decision amounted to gender-based discrimination, the Taliban government had drawn criticism from a variety of social media users.
Abdullah Basil said that the meeting in the medical college was organized to discuss ‘gender politics’. He added that he feels pity for those who can’t digest the standpoint of religion towards gender discourse, which is quite different from that of liberalism.
The incident came to light after an officer bearer of the group that organised the event posted the photographs on social media. When netizens objected to the segregation of students based on gender, the officer bearer defended the act and said that people were just showing their frustration. The group also defended its action saying there was nothing wrong with a curtain being put up segregating the students on the basis of their sex.
In the meanwhile, the College Union of the medical college has distanced itself from the event, saying that the college has no links to the programme. “It is not the stand of our college to encourage such activities. This college always stands with progressive thoughts,” a statement issued by the union said.
Growing Islamic radicalization in Kerala has been a cause of worry in the recent few years. A report from September 2021 led to a rise in suspicions about the existence of Islamic State sleeper cells operating in the state. While following this Talibani practice, Kerala’s state medical education policy has been particular in preaching anti-Indic agenda. In October 2020, Kerala State Medical Education Director Dr. Ramla Beevi issued a diktat stating that the Raksha Bandhan festival will not be celebrated in government medical colleges.
