Kozhikode: The President of Muslim educational group Muslim Educational Society’ (MES) Fazal Gafoor, claimed on Saturday that he got "death threats" for prohibiting face veils on campuses.
The Kozhikode-based Muslim Education Society (MES), which runs several educational institutions and is among the country largest, had issued a circular that banned its students from attend classes wearing any face-covering outfit.
Gafoor in his complaint to police said, “I received a phone call from a mobile on Friday, threatening to kill me. It was a male voice and he used very harsh, threatening and demeaning words on me.”
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“He seemed to have very agitated and furious over the issuance of circular banning face veil in MES institutions,” Gafoor added.
As the dress code triggered protests from traditional Muslim organizations and scholars, the MES maintained that covering women's faces was a new trend and had not been in practice in the community in the state earlier.
In the April 17 instruction, Gafoor said the move should be applied from the 2019-20 academic year without triggering any controversy.
The circular said, “Without creating any controversy, the institutions must make sure to implement from 2019-20 academic year that students do not come to the class wearing any attire covering their face.”