MALAPPURAM: Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) state president Panakkad Muhammadali Shihab Thangal, who strode the political scene of Kerala for over three decades as a powerful but sober player, died tonight.
Thangal (73), also a spiritual leader, had been under treatment for diabetes for some time. He was taken to the hospital this afternoon after collapsing at home. He is survived by three daughters and two sons.
Thangal, who succeeded his father Panakkad Pookoya Thangal as IUML state president in 1975, had been a key factor of the Congress-led UDF coalition in the state.
The Panakkad Thangal family, held in high esteem by the Mappila Muslims in Malabar, traces their ancestry to the family of Prophet Muhammad.
Thangal's role in keeping religious and social harmony even at trying times like the post-Babri Masjid demolition had been recgonised by all sections in Kerala, including the Left and the BJP.
Cutting across political and religious lines, people from all walks of life expressed grief at the death of Thangal.
An Islamic scholar who specialised in Arabic literature and philosophy in Cairo University in Egypt, Thangal was also well versed in English and French. .