MALAPPURAM: In a remarkable shift within the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the young women of Haritha once pushed out of League’s political arena have now returned as some of the party’s most prominent candidates in the local body election.
Three former Haritha leaders—Fathima Tahiliya, Mufeeda Thesni, and T Najma Tabsheera—who were sidelined after they filed a sexual-harassment complaint against MSF state president P K Nawas in 2021 are now being fielded by the IUML in key wards. Once blacklisted and removed after the party dissolved the Haritha state committee for taking their complaint public, the trio has now re-emerged at the very centre of the League’s new political messaging.
Fathima Tahiliya is contesting from the Kuttichira division of the Kozhikode corporation, where the party is even considering her for the deputy mayor’s post. Mufeeda Thesni has been fielded from the newly formed Tharuvana division of the Wayanad district panchayat, and Najma Tabsheera is contesting from Valampuram in the Perinthalmanna block panchayat, where she is the presidential candidate.
“This change began after Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal took charge as state president. The party made a conscious decision to ensure more representation for women across all wings,” said Fathima. “This transformation is organic -- it would have happened even without the protests.”
Najma, who previously won from Tirurkkad and now serves as chairperson of the block standing committee, calls this shift historic. “If you look closely at the IUML list this time, many highly educated women are being considered for chairperson and president posts. That itself is a big message,” she said.
For Mufeeda, the 2021 crisis was the turning point. “It changed the trajectory of the Muslim League,” she said. “We were not the only ones who fought -- many Haritha members stood with us and pushed the party to rethink. The results are visible now: young candidates are everywhere in the list.”
Two years after the party action, in 2024 Haritha’s members were given key positions in the party. Fathima was selected as Youth League state secretary, Mufeeda is the national vice president, and Najma is the national secretary. From dissolution to elevation, their return signals not just personal vindication but a deeper ideological shift within the Muslim League itself.