Ahead of Palakkad bypoll, UDF counters Kerala CM’s alleged attempt to question secular credentials of IUML leadership

Sharply critical editorial in Chandrika, IUML’s mouthpiece, slams Pinarayi Vijayan’s accusation that Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal had forsaken Panakkad’s secular legacy and gravitated towards ideology of allegedly radical Jamaat-e-Islami

As the public campaigning for the Palakkad Assembly bypoll draws to a close on Monday (November 18, 2024), the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala has sought to counter Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s purported attempt to question the secular credentials of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) State president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal. 

In a sharply critical editorial in Chandrika, the IUML’s mouthpiece, the party has slammed Mr. Vijayan’s accusation that Mr. Thangal had forsaken the Panakkad’s secular legacy and gravitated towards the ideology of the allegedly radical Jamaat-e-Islami.

At a campaign speech in Palakkad on Sunday (November 17, 2024), Mr. Vijayan also seemed to rub salt into the wound by alleging that Mr. Thangal did not seem to sport the secular qualities of his late elder brother, Syed Mohammed Ali Shihab Thangal.

He also suggested that a section of the IUML rank and file appeared disenchanted with the party’s alleged drift from its “historically progressive, reformist and anti-imperialistic” moorings. 

The editorial said Mr. Vijayan had “no political or moral grounds” to question the Panakkad family’s secular legacy.

Thrissur Pooram row

It accused Mr. Vijayan of shielding a high-ranking officer suspected of stoking Hindu majoritarian resentment ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by “derailing” Thrissur Pooram to aid the BJP. The editorial said Mr. Vijayan sought no action against the official for “secretly liaisoning” with the top Sangh Parivar leadership.

 The editorial accused Mr. Vijayan of seeking to create political space for the Sangh Parivar by allowing the communally delicate Munambam issue, precipitated by Waqf Board’s litigated claim over 400 acres of densely populated land occupied predominantly by Christians in Ernakulam district, to fester. 

In contrast, the Panakkad family were ambassadors of amity. The IUML welcomed BJP leader Sandeep Varier’s abandonment of the Sangh Parivar’s politics of hate and the embrace of the UDF’s politics of love and tolerance in keeping with the secular traditions of the Panakkad family, the editorial said, adding that, ideally, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) should welcome Mr. Varier’s change of mindset. 

Meanwhile, Muslim Youth League (MYL) State president K.M. Shaji accused Mr. Vijayan of “sporting a Sangh Parivar viewpoint.” He said Mr. Vijayan’s “targeting” of Mr. Thangal indicated the CPI(M)’s secret accord with the BJP to undermine the UDF in Kerala. He said the Youth League would “resist attempts to demean” Mr. Thangal.

Rahul Mamkootathil, State Youth Congress president and UDF’s candidate for the Assembly bypoll in Palakkad, termed Mr. Vijayan’s “tirade” against Mr. Thangal as a personal attack. He said the CPI(M) and Mr. Vijayan had degenerated into being a catspaw for the Sangh Parivar.

CPI(M)‘s earlier stance

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] had in the past sought to question the current IUML leadership’s secular credentials.

In 2020, the CPI(M) slammed the IUML for sanctioning an article in Chandrika supporting the Turkish government’s “secular norm-breaking” decision to change the status of the iconic Hagia Sofia in Istanbul from a historical museum to a mosque.

The CPI(M) alleged that the IUML had embraced the “spiritual leadership” of the Jamaat-e-Islami to bolster the party’s “increasingly shaky” electoral base in north Kerala. 

Political criticism: M.B. Rajesh

Minister for Local Self-Government M.B. Rajesh said Mr. Vijayan’s words were “political criticism”, and the IUML had misleadingly portrayed them as a personal censure. He said Jamaat-e-Islami had evolved into the nerve centre of the IUML.

The byelection in Palakkad will be held on November 20.

Published - November 18, 2024 11:15 am IST