KOZHIKODE: Submitting before pressure of the Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema, the members of the Panakkad family finally decided to stay away from the tenth Mujahid conference, which is being held here. Panakkad Syed Rasheed Ali Shihab Thangal and Syed Munvvar Ali Shihab Thangal were scheduled to address different sessions at the conference on Saturday, but they informed the organisers their inability to attend.
Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM), the organisers of the conference, had invited IUML president Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal too, but he declined the invitation that time itself.
There was strong resentment in Samastha over the members of the Panakkad family attending the conference of a group, which is branded by the Sunnis as a ‘deviant sect.’
Samastha had organised various programmes ‘exposing the dangers of Wahhabism.’ And the Mujahids continued to attack Sunnis, alleging that elements of polytheism are present in their practices. Sunnis recalled a video allegedly brought out by the Mujahids which portrayed the Panakkad family as the propagators of superstition. Sunnis say it is improper for the Panakkad family to attend the meeting conducted by the same Mujahids. Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS) leader Abdul Hameed Faizi Ambalakkadavu said in a Facebook post that the Wahhabis are trying to cash in on the popularity of the Panakkad family.
The speech delivered by Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai at the conference, in which he said there are no major problems for the Muslims in India under the BJP rule, had ignited a controversy. LDF leaders including Binoy Viswom and John Brittas had refuted Pillai’s claims.
Meanwhile, various party leaders including Minister V Abdurahman, M K Raghavan, MP, P K Abdurabb and Shakkil Ahamed attended various sessions at the conference on Saturday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the valedictory session on Sunday.