Denial of rights to women against Sharia: MJ Akbar

New Delhi: Denial of gender rights is against the Sharia law and no state can be modern without gender freedom, Union Minister M J Akbar said on Thursday.

"You cannot deny gender equality to any being. Denial of gender rights is against the Sharia. Anyone who has a deep understanding of the Koranic law will never have the courage to argue. He will simply not," he said.

"What you have done is, you have turned the law into male aggression, something which the Koran specifically forbids. No state can be modern without gender freedom and progress. It is simply not possible," Akbar said.

The Union Minister of State for External Affairs was speaking on the occasion of SAARC Charter Day at the SAARC University in Delhi.

He said apart from gender equality, freedom of thought, expression, political articulation or non-political articulation is essential for a modern state.

"Freedom of faith includes the freedom to be non-faithful, it includes the freedom of atheism,” he said.