Khatna after adulthood, says Syedna title challenger

Even as the Supreme Court is hearing the case on female genital mutilation (FGM) or khatna or khafz, Taher Fakhruddin, challenger to the Syenda title, has reiterated that it should be done only after a woman reaches adulthood.

A press statement issued late on Thursday night by public relations office of Fakhruddin, said, "Khafz should only be done after a girl reaches legal adulthood. In the early 1900s, the 51st Dai al-Mutlaq... seeing the law of the land and the needs of modern society clarified several temporal traditions of the faith. For example, he gave clear instructions to the community that men and women should be allowed to marry only after they reach legal adulthood, even though the faith tradition allows them to be married after attaining physical maturity."

The statement further reads, "In view of the trauma that many girls undergo, in keeping with the law of the land, and following the precedents set by the previous Dais, Syedna Taher Fakhruddin Saheb says khafz should only be allowed after they attain legal adulthood, after which they are free to make their individual decision whether to do the medically, legally and religiously sanctioned procedures. FGM is a horrific and un-Islamic practice and Syedna condemns it."