KOZHIKODE: Faced with the possibility of former PFI workers getting closer to the CPM, the IUML has reworked its strategy and held that mainstream political parties should not let the cadres of the banned organisations in the lurch. “The leadership of PFI may be extremists but the workers in the lower rung of the organisation are efficient,” party state secretary K M Shaji said.
He said that the cadre should be utilised for the nation-building process and should not discard them by branding as terrorists. “All political parties should engage in a debate with the workers and bring them to the mainstream. IUML will take the lead in the initiative,” Shaji said.
Supporting Shaji’s line, MLA Najeeb Kanthapuram said the former PFI cadres should be treated as citizens of the country who happened to have just strayed. “What Shaji said need not be dismissed. It would be great if we can correct those who chose the wrong path,” he said.
IUML has realised that PFI cadres and supporters are getting closer to the CPM after the party took an unequivocal stand that the ban on the organisation was wrong. The CPM central and state leadership demanded a ban on the RSS also if the government is serious about eliminating terrorism in India.
Supporters of PFI on social media had blasted IUML leader M K Muneer who welcomed the ban on PFI, which was projected as the official stand of the party.
Though Shaji is also a strong opponent of the PFI, he realised that the position taken by Muneer after the ban was a tactical blunder. To set things right, party general secretary P M A Salam said on Friday that IUML has serious suspicion about the government’s intention behind the ban.
Sources said that the IUML shifted to the new line after an informal consultation among the party leaders.
What complicated the issue was Salam’s remarks that Muneer had corrected his earlier stand. Meanwhile, an enraged Muneer retorted that he is not a person who says one thing in the morning and corrects it in the evening.