KOZHIKODE: The Communist Party of India's (Marxist) (CPM) move to invite the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second-largest partner in the UDF, to a seminar on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has deepened divisions within the League, with a group strongly reacting against the CPM’s alleged ulterior motives.
While the state general secretary P M A Salam stated that the party would carefully consider the pros and cons of the invitation, the national organising secretary E T Muhammad Basheer outrightly rejected it as ‘ill-motivated’.
Samastha’s decision to cooperate with the seminar has also put pressure on the IUML and caused unease within the Congress leadership. Salam told reporters in Malappuram that the party will consult the UDF before taking a decision to cooperate with the CPM in the seminar. “We received CPM’s invitation yesterday and we will take a decision soon,” Salam said.
“We are a partner in the UDF. We will discuss the issue in the UDF and will consider all the consequences before making a decision. We will see whether there is any political agenda or any move to capitalise on the issue,” he said.
Salam clarified that the withdrawal of cases against individuals who participated in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was not a precondition for participating in the seminar. “Not withdrawing the cases is a breach of promise and we will raise our protest against it,” he said.
However, E T Muhammad Basheer expressed his belief that the CPM’s invitation was ill-motivated. “CPM has never taken any sincere stand on any issue. If you examine every single development in Kerala, the CPM has taken decisions only to protect its political interests,” he said. Both the CPM and BJP are trying to portray the UCC as a Muslim issue.
“Narendra Modi has a political agenda in making it a Muslim problem and the CPM also has its interests. We have decided to expose the CPM in this issue and the party can never take a positive decision on the CPM’s invitation,” Basheer said, adding that the party should not fall prey to the CPM trap.
It should be noted that a faction led by K M Shaji and M K Muneer has been fiercely opposing any engagement between the IUML and the CPM. This faction believes that the CPM is using the UCC as a tactic to further its agenda, with the support of certain individuals within the IUML, including the party’s national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty. More senior leaders within the IUML are expected to openly oppose aligning with the CPM.
Meanwhile, the Congress expressed hope that the IUML would reject the CPM’s overture. UDF convener M M Hassan said that IUML is an integral part of the UDF.
“What is the purpose of the CPM state secretary repeatedly inviting the IUML when the election approaches? The party should make it clear whether it changed the position taken on UCC from the days of E M S Namboodirippad,” he said.AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the IUML has already clarified its stand on UCC and the Congress is satisfied with the reaction.