An Islamist group organised a conference at the Government Medical College in Thrissur, Kerala where male and female students sat apart from male students with a curtain in between them, taking a lead from the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Abdulla Basil, an Islamist who represents the organisation Wisdom, organised the gathering. A curtain is used to separate the female pupils from the male students in a photograph that quickly became popular on social media.The Taliban-ruled Afghanistan was the source of headlines in September of last year, when classroom partitions or curtains were used to segregate the male students from the female students. The Taliban government had drawn criticism for the decision on social media from a variety of sources since it represents gender-based discrimination.

It’s interesting that Abdullah said the purpose of the medical college gathering was to discuss “gender politics.” Abdullah, an Islamic preacher, said he felt sorry for people who couldn’t understand how religion differs from liberalism in its perspective on gender dialogue.

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