KOZHIKODE: While the state Congress leadership is striving to transform the party into a semi-cadre-based outfit, its ally in the UDF, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), is busy updating its cadre on the more recent exposition of Indian history, sociology and political science.
An army of IUML cadre, who are ideologically equipped to take on political adversaries, will come out of the Seethi Sahib Academia on Saturday with an updated outlook on various facets of Indian polity and culture.
The brainchild of the state committee of the Muslim Youth League (MYL) under Panakkad Syed Munavvar Ali Shihab Thangal, the party school was set up to ensure that its cadre is not eclipsed by more informed political opponents.
Over the past six months, select ed party functionaries from across the state have been attending classes on various subjects including communism, fascism, democracy, secularism, dangers of extremism and ecology under the institution set up in the name of former speaker K M Seethi Sahib, one of the founders of the party.
“We instituted the programme after realising that the current situation demands such an initiative. Gone are the days when it would suffice to learn the Constitution and history in classrooms. Now, there is a concerted effort to obliterate certain segments of our history,” said Ismail P, MYL state treasurer and co-ordinator of the academia. Panchayat committees were tasked with organising the classes at the grassroots level.
Classes focused on country’s unique nature: MYL leader
“The participants have imparted a total of six classes. We gave classes to select trainers who in turn conducted training at the panchayat level. Party leaders including E T Muhammad Basheer, M K Muneer and P M A Salam besides scholars from respective fields acted as master trainers,” Ismail said.
The classes mainly concentrated on the unique nature of the country, its cultural diversity and its democratic system. “We thought it would be relevant to educate our cadre on the democratic process and the Constitution when they are facing threats from fascists. The Indian concept of secularism is a unique one and so is our election process, which is the only method to register dissent under a democratic system,” the MYL leader said.
One component of the syllabus was coalition politics in Kerala, of which the IUML is an integral part. “We also included classes on the educational and social empowerment Kerala witnessed with the intervention of the party,” Ismail said.
The timing of the classes was decided according to the convenience of the participants, which included people from all sections of society, including homemakers.
“The first batch of those who have successfully completed six classes will take part in the convocation on Saturday. Party leaders Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, P K Kunhalikutty, M K Muneer and P M A Salam will attend the programme where certificates and medals will be distributed,” Ismail said.
