Governor slams weak protest from society

Thiruvananthapuram: Governor Arif Mohammed Khan slammed the Samastha leader who insulted a girl student in Perinthalmanna in Malappuram after being invited to the stage for receiving a reward for educational excellence. The governor told reporters on Thursday that he had to comment on the matter because he was disheartened by the weak protest from the state’s society in response to the incident.
“If it would have become really a protest, then possibly I would not have commented on it. I regret the kind of reaction that should have come from a society like Kerala, which is known for gender equality, known for protection of the dignity of women. If that protest had come, possibly there would have been no need for me to speak,” he said.
The governor said that the girl and her parents kept their nerve and responded sensibly to the insult that they had to face. “I would like to compliment and congratulate this brave girl for the kind of emotional resilience that she displayed, because I feel that a girl of that age, if she had a weak nerve, would have collapsed on the stage itself. I would also like to compliment her parents, that they did not respond in an unbecoming manner to this highly insulting and humiliating behaviour,” Khan said.
Lashing out at Samastha, he said that it is seen from the developments that the intention of those who are crying for hijab, is actually to take the women back to the dark age.
“If you are fighting for hijab, then why are you objecting to it and insulting her... I have been right from the beginning saying that they are not campaigning for hijab, but this is a conspiracy to push back women into the four walls of the house,” the governor said. tnn