Muslim leaders criticise Patil for veil remarks

Lucknow: Muslim leaders yesterday demanded India's governing coalition replace its presidential nominee after she urged women to stop wearing veils, which she said were introduced to protect women from Muslim invaders centuries ago.

Several Muslim leaders called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to find a new candidate for the largely ceremonial post of president, accusing Pratibha Patil, a moderate Hindu, of insulting Islam.

The controversy over Patil's remarks erupted even before she filed her nomination for the presidential election, due in July. The cut-off for nominations is June 30.

Maulana Khalid Rashid, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said it was God who had asked women to wear a veil and that this was enshrined in the Quran, the Muslim holy book. The board is the highest body of Muslims in India on laws governing personal matters.

"Any statement against the veil means an opinion against Allah and the Quran which no Muslim will tolerate," Rashid told The Associated Press.

Addressing a conference in the northwestern city of Udaipur over the weekend, Patil claimed women started using veils in India to save themselves from Mughal invaders in the 16th century, and that it was time to drop the practice, The Times of India newspaper reported.

Patil, 72, is a member of the moderate Congress party, and a governor of the state of Rajasthan.

Parliament and state legislatures choose the president, and the ruling coalition has enough votes to get her elected.