Clerics say tying 'rakhi' by Muslim girl 'un-Islamic'

Uttar Pradesh police's 'RakhiwithKhaki' (tying rakhi on the wrists of cops) campaign triggered a controversy with  clerics saying tying of rakhi by Muslim girls was ''un-Islamic''.

A prominent cleric from an Islamic seminary at Deoband said that Muslim women were not allowed to ''touch'' strange males.

''Muslim women should always wear the veil...they are not allowed to touch the body of any strange male....the women, who tie rakhi, will have to touch the wrist and as such it is un-Islamic,'' Maulana Nazif Kasmi said.

The remarks by the clerics came after several women, including some Muslim women, celebrated the festival of 'raksha bandhan' with the cops in different parts of the state on Sunday.

In Deoband also a Muslim woman tied rakhi on the wrist of the station in-charge of Deoband police station. In Meerut, a few Muslim women tied rakhi on the wrists of the cops.

Rising crimes

The state government had asked the cops to launch 'rakhiwithkhaki' campaign with the objective of instilling confidence in women in the wake of rising crimes against them in the state.

The cops invited the women from their areas to the police stations and had them tie rakhi on their wrists.

The Muslim clerics, however, asked the Muslim women, who had tied rakhi to ''atone'' for doing so, though it was not clear how they would do it.