Muslim groups miffed by bid to give Jaleel issue a religious colour

They feel all parties, media and minister himself are trying to derive political mileage out of it
Kerala Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel (Facebook photo)
Kerala Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel (Facebook photo)

KOZHIKODE: Muslim organisations are peeved at the bid to divert the suspicion on Higher Education Minister KT Jaleel’s role in the gold smuggling case by giving it a religious colour. They point to the ongoing discussions focusing on the Holy Quran and Zakat as an example. The organisations feel that all political parties, the chief minister, media and Jaleel himself are trying to hit upon the religious angle to derive political mileage out of the issue. The latest is CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who brought in the religious angle in his write-up  in the party mouthpiece on Friday to defend Jaleel. 

The Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF), student wing of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulema, which is the top body of EK Sunni faction, on Friday issued a statement  condemning the deliberate attempt to focus on the Quran. The statement warned against playing into the hands of communal forces.  “The issue is a violation of diplomatic protocol or gold smuggling and let the discussion focus on that. Why should the discussion focus on the Quran or Zakat? Would this be an issue even if the baggage contained non-Quran stuff? All political parties should desist from this,” urged Sathar Panthaloor,  state general secretary, SKSSF. EK Sunni faction has traditionally been IUML supporters and it has come against the IUML itself for giving a religious colour to the issue. 

Meanwhile, the Kanthapuram Sunni faction has apparently thrown its weight behind Jaleel in the matter. In an article in Siraj daily, the Kanthapuram faction mouthpiece ,  O M Tharuvana said the LDF is all set to return to power in the state next year. He alleged that a  Congress-IUML-BJP alliance can be seen in the protests demanding the resignation of Jaleel. Mujahid leader Hussein Madavoor also pointed out that the Quran and Zakat are unnecessarily being dragged into the issue. “All parties are guilty of this,” he told TNIE. 

Ashraf Kadakkal,  Islamic scholar,  said the BJP is likely to project Jaleel issue as an instance of Left-jihadi nexus at the pan-India level, especially in the backdrop of the upcoming Bihar assembly polls. “They would love to play it up as an instance of  how a Left government had compromised diplomatic safety  to propagate Quran,” he said.

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