Prominent Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali on Thursday said nobody has the right to object to wearing burqa and appealed to everyone to follow their religion while respecting others’ faith.
The statement comes a day after UP minister Anand Swarup Shukla said Muslim women will be freed from the practice of wearing burqa, which he described as an evil custom and compared it to the banned triple talaq. On Tuesday, the minister had also written to Ballia district magistrate, complaining that he is facing difficulties in discharge of his duties due to loudspeakers at mosques and said their volumes should be fixed according to court orders. Shukla is an MLA from Ballia Nagar constituency.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the cleric said, “A UP minister first raised some concern over azan, and now over burqa. His claims are completely wrong and baseless, and we oppose it strongly. Nobody has the right to make statements about religious practices. As far as the issue of purdah is concerned, it is part of the Sharia laws. Nobody has the right to object to it.”
He added, “Hence, my appeal to everyone is that while following their religion, they should respect other religions and their practices. This has been the fantastic tradition of this country and we should follow it. Today during the Covid-19 pandemic, when everyone has been forced to wear masks saying such things is wrong and disappointing.”