THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: PDP chairman Abdul Nasser Madani has said that the Muslim League is the real communal party in the State.
Addressing a news conference here on Saturday, Madani said that both the Muslim League and the Congress were trying to create a communal polarisation by depicting him as a Muslim extremist. Coming down heavily on the League, he said that the Muslim League was behind all the communal clashes which had occurred in the State.
Communal riots erupted in Thalasserry, Poonthura, Chalai and Marad when the Muslim League was in power.
He challenged the League leadership to point out if there was any PDP worker got imprisoned in connection with communal riots. Madani said that the Muslim League leaders had been exploiting the backwardness of the Muslim community and religious faith for political gains. Some of them had even used the name of Prophet to defend themselves in cases linked with immoral activities.
He said that the Muslim League had no moral right to criticise PDP. PDP workers had not removed the national flag from the airport. Muslim League’s flag had no difference from the Pakistan flag. Muslim League had been instrumental in the partition of the country, he said.
Madani said that the people should inquire whose phone number was 9847027010. Many calls had come to this phone number after the Marad riots, he said. The PDP leader said that they had collected copies of FIRs from many stations and would publish it if they were forced to do so. Swearing by democracy Madani said that he would never go back to his old ways and promote terrorism and extremism.
“My speeches in the beginning of my public life had been emotionally charged. It may have hurt the sentiments of many people belonging to the majority community. I have openly apologised many times,’’ he said. But he added that he had not exhorted the people to attack Hindus or their temples even in the aftermath of the Babri Mazjid demolition. He said his criticism of the Sangh Parivar also had been political.
Referring to the reports appearing in the newspapers about his alleged link with terrorists, Madani said mere newspaper reports could not be considered as evidence to grill him.
He also produced Mani alias Yousuf who is said to have undergone training along with the Malayalee youths who were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Kashmir and Noushad, allegedly involved in the Kozhikode bus burning case, in his effort to prove that they were innocent and in no way involved in the terror activities.