KOZHIKODE: It was stiff resistance from the group led by senior leader and national organising secretary E T Mohammed Basheer that forced the IUML leadership to decide against participating in the seminar on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) being organised by the CPM.
The group conveyed the strong sentiments of the party cadre against any truck with the CPM at this juncture and convinced party president Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal that attending the seminar would amount to sailing on two boats.
This poured cold water on the plans of party national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty and state general secretary P M A Salam to begin a process that would ultimately lead the party into the LDF camp. Speaking to reporters after a crucial meeting at his residence in Malappuram, Thangal said the party cannot accept the CPM invitation as the IUML is an integral part of the UDF. “There was no invitation to any other UDF constituent and in these circumstances the IUML has decided not to cooperate with the CPM on the seminar,” Thangal said.
“It is the Congress that can effectively resist the move to implement UCC in Parliament and at the central level,” he said, adding that all sections of people should be united against the proposal. Kunhalikutty said the various seminars on UCC should not create more division as this “will only help the BJP. We need seminars that foster unity in Delhi,” he said. IUML leaders including Basheer, K P A Majeed, M K Muneer and K M Shaji were against participation as it meant closely affiliating with the CPM with an eye to taking the party to the LDF. They were of the opinion that CPM was not sincere in opposing the UCC.
This opposition compelled Kunhalikutty and Salam to shelve their idea of associating with the seminar.
There was also pressure from the Congress ‘not to fall prey to the divisive tactics’ of the LDF. UDF leaders warned against being party to CPM’s efforts to sow confusion and damage Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, the Sunni organisation that is close to the IUML, had decided that it will associate with UCC programmes organised by all parties, including the CPM.
Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen to attend meet
Kozhikode: Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM), the major Salafi group in Kerala, will attend the seminar on Uniform Civil Code organised by the CPM in Kozhikode on July 15. “The campaign against the UCC should be done by everyone. The CPM is a major political force in the country and the ruling party in Kerala. The party invited us and we accepted the invitation,” said T P Abdullakoya Madani, the state president of the KNM. KNM is a member of the Muslim Coordination Committee and had attended the meeting of the forum convened by the IUML on July 4.