Kerala leader sparks controversy after calling girls, boys sitting together in classes against Indian culture

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Kochi, Aug 29:
With
ongoing
debates
on
gender-neutral
uniforms
and
converting
single-sex
classrooms
to
co-educational
ones,
Leader
of
Kerala’s
numerically
strong
Hindu
Ezhava
community
Vellappally
Natesan
has
said
girls
and
boys
sitting
together
in
classrooms
was
“against
Indian
culture”
and
“breeds
anarchy”.
He
was
responding
to
queries
from
media
persons
here
on
Sunday
regarding
the
LDF
government’s
gender
neutral
policy
of
same
uniforms
for
both
girls
and
boys
and
in
co-ed
schools
where
students
of
both
sexes
are
taught
together.

Natesan,
considered
to
be
very
close
to
Chief
Minister
Pinarayi
Vijayan,
said,
“We
(SNDP)
are
not
in
favour
of
girls
and
boys
sitting
together
in
classrooms.
We
have
a
culture
of
our
own.
We
are
not
living
in
America
or
England.”

“Our
culture
does
not
accept
boys
and
girls
hugging
and
sitting
together.
You
do
not
see
this
happening
in
educational
institutions
of
Christians
and
Muslims,”
the
SNDP
general
secretary
said.
He,
however,
said
such
things
are
happening
in
educational
institutions
managed
by
the
Nair
Service
Society
(NSS)
and
Sree
Narayana
Dharma
Paripalana
Yogam
(SNDP).
NSS
and
SNDP
are
two
major
Hindu
caste
outfits
in
the
state.

Such
behaviour
“breeds
anarchy”
and
you
can
see
that
in
the
colleges
managed
by
Hindu
organisations,
he
said
and
added
that
it
was
one
of
the
reasons
why
such
institutions
do
not
get
good
grades
or
funding
from
the
University
Grants
Commission
(UGC).

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He
further
said
that
those
below
18
years
of
age
or
young
adults
in
colleges
should
not
be
sitting
together
and
hugging
each
other
when
they
are
still
studying.
Once
the
children
grow
up
and
attain
maturity,
they
can
do
whatever
they
want,
Natesan
said.
However,
children
sitting
together,
and
hugging
each
other
is
not
desirable
in
India
and
it
is
dangerous,
he
said.

Natesan
also
said
that
it
was
unfortunate
that
the
LDF
dispensation
was
succumbing
to
religious
pressure,
despite
calling
itself
a
secular
government,
and
not
sticking
to
some
of
its
decisions
oft
late.
“It
sends
a
wrong
message
to
society,”
he
said.
He
was
referring
to
the
recent
government
announcement
that
it
was
not
going
to
decide
what
uniforms
children
should
wear
or
whether
they
should
attend
mixed
schools
after
facing
criticism
from
various
Muslim
organisations
regarding
their
gender
neutral
education
policy.

Earlier,
the
Kerala
Indian
Union
Muslim
League
(IUML)
general
secretary
PMA
Salam
also
said
that
he
considers
it
“dangerous”
to
have
boys
and
girls
sit
beside
each
other
in
classrooms
and
believes
that
it
would
“deviate”
their
focus
from
their
studies.