The woman nominated by India’s ruling Congress party to become the country’s first female president was at the centre of a national furore yesterday after she urged Muslims to throw away their veils.

Pratabha Patil appeared relatively uncontroversial when she was put forward by Congress last week for the largely ceremonial but symbolically important post. Seen as a moderate Hindu, the only criticism levelled at the 72-year-old governor of Rajasthan was that she lacked national stature.

By yesterday, however, Mrs Patil’s name was on the lips of Muslim leaders, who accused her of insulting Islam. Outraged by her comment that the veil has been imported to India by Muslim invaders, they are calling on Congress to ditch her and choose a more secular presidential candidate.

The controversy so far seems unlikely to spark the sort of violence between Hindus and Muslims that has so often racked India since it won independence from Britain in 1947. It shows, however, how sensitive such issues remain and it threatens to derail the Congress-led coalition Government’s plans to install its candidate in Rashtrapati Bhawan, the presidential palace in Delhi.

The president, who is elected by the national and state legislatures, has few actual powers — although he or she is supreme commander of the armed forces and can declare a state of emergency.

However, this year’s poll on July 19 is regarded as the big test of Congress’s apparently waning popularity before the next general election in 2009.

Mrs Patil, who is a member of Congress, made her remarks about the veil, or “purdah”, at a conference in Udaipur over the weekend. “Women have always been respected in the Indian culture. The purdah system was introduced to protect them from the Muslim invaders. However, times have changed. India is now independent and hence, the systems should also change,” she said.

“Now that women are progressing in every field, we should morally support and encourage them by leaving such practices behind.” Muslims make up nearly 14 per cent of India’s 1.1 billion people and many Indian Muslim women still wear headscarves and veils. Orthodox Hindu women also cover their faces before elderly male relatives although it is not an obligation of their religion.

Maulana Khalid Rashid, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said God had asked women to wear the veil and that the tradition was enshrined in the Koran.

Yahya Bukhari, a member of the consultative committee of the Jama Masjid, Delhi’s largest mosque, called Mrs Patil’s remarks “anti-Muslim”.

“It is a purely religious matter and she has no right to interfere in matters of any religion,” he said. “Pratibha Patil is an educated woman but her statement reeks of ignorance.”

Maulana Mehmood Madani, general secretary of Ulema-i-Hind, another Muslim organisation, accused her of trying to rewrite history. “She must apologise and withdraw her observations,” The Times of India quoted him as saying.

Historians also criticised Mrs Patil, saying that Indian women started wearing the veil long before the Muslim Mughals invaded in the early 16th century, led by the Timurid prince, Babur. Satish Chandra, in his book Medieval India, said that the practice became widespread in the 13th century.

B. P. Sahu, a historian at Delhi University, said: “People are not historically aware that the veil existed in early Indian society.

“It was a way to show respect to the elders. But the idea that the ‘purdah’ system started as a result of the invasion by the Mughals is one of the stereotypical ideas that have been taken from the works of British historians.”

Congress leaders said that Mrs Patil was simply expressing her concern for all women in India. Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born Congress leader, and Manmohan Singh, the Sikh Prime Minister, confirmed yesterday that Mrs Patil was still their nominee.

Opposition leaders, meanwhile, tried to exploit the opportunity to promote their candidates as more secular alternatives. They remain divided, however, with some backing A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the current President, and others promoting Bhairon Singh Shekawat, the Vice-President.

Mrs Patil would be India’s first female president but the country has already had a woman Prime Minister in Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1984.

Role of religion

85% of India’s Muslim men believe women should wear the purdah

83% of Muslim women share that view

41% of Indian Muslims believe religion is more important than nationality, compared with 33% of Hindus

4% of Indian Muslims consider attacks on their religious freedom to be their most serious problem

29% of India’s Muslims believe that they face a great deal of discrimination in religious matters

Source: Centre for the Study of Developing Societies State of the Nation Survey 2006

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