'Are there no men left?': Ahmedabad's Shahi Imam on women getting poll tickets

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], December 4 (ANI): Close on the heels of AIDUF chief Badruddin Ajmal's controversial remarks against Hindus, the Shahi Imam of Ahmedabad's Jama Masjid, Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui, stroked a fresh controversy on Sunday saying women are contesting the Gujarat Assembly elections as "there are no men left".
"Those giving election tickets to Muslim women are against Islam, as they are weakening our religion. Are there no men left?" the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Ahmedabad said.
The remarks come a day ahead of the second and final phase of Gujarat Assembly polls on Monday.
He said there is nothing more important for Muslims than offering Namaz and there is a reason why women aren't allowed to offer Namaz in the open.
"If you talk about Islam, there's nothing more important than offering Namaz. Have you seen any women offering the Namaz in public? If it was okay in Islam for women to come out in public and offer Namaz, they wouldn't have been stopped," Ahmed said.
He said that women in Islam have a certain position and therefore, giving poll tickets to women is completely unjustified.
Ajmal had earlier said that Hindus, like Muslims, should get their children married at a young age.
"Muslim men marry at the age of 20-22 while Muslim women marry at 18, as stipulated by the government. However, (Hindus) have one two or three illegal wives before marriage. They don't give birth to babies in order to save costs," the AIUDF chief said.
Ajmal said, "They (Hindus) should also follow the Muslims in getting their children married at a young age. Get the boys married at 20-22 and the girls married at 18-20 years and then see how many children are born."
He later issued an apology, saying, "I had no intentions of hurting the sentiments of any community. I deeply regret my statement. Being a senior leader, I should not have made such comments. I apologise to everyone hurt by my remarks. I am ashamed of the statements. All I want is for the government to do justice to the minorities and give them education and employment." (ANI)