The Bar Council today took PAS president and Terengganu Menteri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang to task over his controversial statement that women were not suited for certain positions such as judges.

"It is shocking and sad that a state leader has made the remarks, which tend to put the clock back," its president Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari said in a statement.

Contrary to Abdul Hadi's views, he said the success of women in diverse fields was testimony to their ability to assume and fulfill an equal role in all aspects of society.

"Such a narrow view has disrespectfully ignored centuries of contributions made by women to all societies. The menteri besar needs to be sensitised on gender issues of the modern era," he added.

Kuthubul said women both in Malayssia and abroad had excelled in the judiciary, public administration, sciences and other fields of work.

"Many heads of state are women who are certainly not second to men in handling the pressure of top jobs," he added.

The Bar Council chairperson said Malaysians should join in the struggle for a truly gender-equal society and not rekindle some 'medieval and baseless' notion of gender equality.

Unjust prejudices

On Monday, Hadi told a forum on the well-being of Muslim women that he did not think women should hold judicial and administrative positions as certain jobs posed a threat to them while others were just to stressful.

The parliamentary opposition leader added that women by nature had to go through menstruation cycles and pregnancies, which would affect their ability to withstand pressure.

He added that working in the welfare and education fields suited women more. His remarks ignited a blaze of protests and criticisms from various quarters.

Women and Family Development Minister Sharizat Abdul Jalil said the PAS leader had failed to give credence to the role of women as homemakers and a career women.

"I hope Hadi can show us where in the Quran, Hadith or Sunnah does it mention that a woman's contribution to the family and country was limited to being a teacher or social worker," she was quoted as saying in news reports today.

She added that menstruation and pregnancy were God-given features and should not be used as reasons to marginalise women.

Also joining the fray was Women's Aid Organisation executive director Ivy Josiah.

"Pregnancies and menstrual cycle do not hold women back. It is the attitude like the menteri besar's that reinforces these unjust prejudices against women," she said.