New Delhi/Lucknow/Udaipur, Jan. 11 (ANI): Taking potshots at a Muslim Panchayat that has asked families of the minority community not to allow girls to carry cell phones and prohibit them from dancing at wedding processions in public view, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shahnawaz Hussain on Friday said that nobody had given them the permission to impose such age-old restrictions.

"I don't know anything about the organization, but by banning cell phones and imposing restrictions on dress code, they are trying to misuse the mandate and enforce it on the Muslim community," said Hussain.

"If this is any organisation's demand, then they should enforce it in their own house, on their own children. Who has given them the permission to impose such restrictions on the nation? Has the society given them the permission?" he asked.

Samajwadi Party leader Kamal Farooqui also lashed out at the Muslim village council for prohibiting usage of mobile phones, and said that technology comes in handy to ensure security of women and young girls.

"In fact, there are two things in it. One is that Islam does not prohibit the use of technology. We cannot run away from technology, whether it is a cell phone or any other gadget. So, it would be advisable for any village council to advise the girls and boys together to use the mobile phone properly and not to get into video-clippings and such stuff," said Farooqui.

"But, banning mobile phone use for girls is absolutely wrong, both from the Islamic point of view and security point of view. If the girls are carrying the phone and if there is any problem, this mobile can safeguard them," he added.

Former MP and well-known Urdu journalist Shahid Siddiqui on his part said that such feudal bodies were anti-modern and anti-progressive.

"Look, this is nothing to do with Muslims or Islam. This is a product of Indian society, feudal Indian society, where a Muslim village councilman or any other religious councilman thinks similarly, where a Jamaat-e-Islami man and a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh man think similarly," said Siddiqui.

" They are two sides of the same coin. They are basically anti-women, anti-modern, anti-minority; they are against anything, which is different. Therefore, they are anti-progressive," he added.

Slamming the diktat, Muslim cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mehli said that it was inappropriate to impose restrictions on the dress code.

"The diktat announced by the village council-no one can impose restrictions on anybody's dress code. It is right that we have our own Indian tradition and culture, which is respected all over the world. So, the youth must definitely follow these traditions. The westernisation in villages and cities is definitely not beneficial for society," he told the media in Lucknow.

A member of the Anjuman Muslim Panchayat that issued the diktat, however, on his part justified the decision and explained the frequent incidents of elopements and similar cases as cause for the imposition of the ban.

"Nowadays, the atmosphere is unhealthy. We have imposed a ban on girls using mobile phones, while going to college. They can use mobile phones at home in the presence of their parents. There are several cases of elopement, so as to put a stop to such cases. We are trying to improve the society," he told the media in Udaipur. (ANI)