Professor's sexist remarks incites 'watermelon' protest in Kerala

A professor in Kerala landed himself in a major trouble over alleged sexist remarks on outfits of Muslim women.

Professor Jouhar Munavvir T of Farook Training College reportedly stated that Muslim girls are not wearing dress as per their religion as they are not covering their chests with hijab.

As per the viral clip, Jouhar said, "I am teacher of a college where 80 per cent of the students are girls and of that, majority are Muslims. These girls are not wearing dress as per the religious tradition. They are not covering their chests with hijab. But showing part of it is like a slice of red watermelon being displayed".

Reportedly, a clip of professor Jouhar Munavvir T's statement has gone viral. While his remarks didn't go down well with the students across the state, it triggered 'watermelon' protests in Kerala.

The reports suggest, students of Farook Training College held a 'watermelon march' under the banner of SFI in the institution by holding watermelons in their hands and demanded strict action against assistant professor Jouhar Munavvir T.

This is not all. Several women took it to social media to condemn Jouhar's remarks and shared pictures with watermelon on social media.

As per a report published in NDTV, a twenty-five year old lady Arathy SA  along with her husband posted nude pictures on social media to mark their protest against Jouhar's derogatory remarks.

Talking about the incident, Arathy stated, "I am upset with hypersexualisation of breasts by people. Whether it be professors in college or social media users seeing a model breastfeed and pose for a magazine. So I and my husband posted pictures of me nude".

She further added, "Just because people may find my breasts attractive, doesn't mean they are entitled to violate me or my body".

On the other hand, a Kochi-based activist too shared pictures of a topless woman holding watermelons as a part of the protest.

Reportedly, Facebook has pulled down the nude pictures and has blocked the accounts of the users.

Notably, it has been a while when Malayalam actress Gilu Joseph was criticised for her breastfeeding picture as a cover photo of a Malayalam magazine.

However, according to reports, Facebook has removed the pictures and has blocked the accounts of users posting such pictures in protest.