KOCHI: Recognising the role played by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in returning the UDF to power in the state, Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Sunday termed the party “the strength” of the ruling front.
Addressing a massive rally organised by IUML’s youth front, the Muslim Youth League (MYL), at Marine Drive, here, Satheesan said, “The Muslim League is the strength of the UDF. Many opposed the front’s decision to keep the party in its fold.
We asked them who would fill the gap if the League were kept out. They had no answer.” “There has been much talk about communalism and the hatred that it has engendered. However, the UDF has not strayed an inch from its secular stance. This is our strength,” he added.
Karnataka’s Home Affairs Minister Priyank Kharge held aloft the preamble of the Constitution and urged all to follow and understand it well. “Read up on your history, and you will know what the RSS was and what it stood for. The BJP is the political wing of the RSS. Those who don’t follow their ideology are branded anti-national,” he said.
Inaugurating the public meeting, IUML state president Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said, “The Youth League is rewriting history here. Following protests by young people, a minister had to step down from the central government. Young people and students are among the victims of state terror. Today, the youth and adolescents are the country’s hope.”
A rally of MYL volunteers was held from Bolgatty Palace to Marine Drive marking the end of a three-day conference. MYL state general secretary P K Firoz, IUML MPs P V Abdul Wahab, E T Mohammed Basheer, Haris Beeran were among those present.