Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday arrived in Kerala to meet prominent Sunni scholar and Indian Grand Mufti Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar, ahead of Malaysia’s general election scheduled for 2027.
Ibrahim was received at Karipur airport in Malappuram district by state Agriculture Minister T Siddique on behalf of the state government, according to a statement issued by the district administration.
MP E T Mohammed Basheer, MLAs T P Ashraf Ali and T V Ibrahim, Chief Secretary A Jayathilak, Malappuram District Collector Vinay Goyal, District Police Chief Chaitra Teresa John, Vijayakumar, IFS, and State Protocol Officer Aravind B S were also present, the statement said,
Ibrahim will hold discussions with Kanthapuram at the Markaz campus in Kozhikode and attend a special reception at the Markaz Convention Centre, followed by a dinner hosted by the scholar.
A discussion on education, knowledge and social development, involving prominent figures from religious, political and social spheres, will also be held at Markaz, organisers said.
Markaz is the headquarters of the Sunni faction led by Kanthapuram in Kozhikode
The Malaysian Prime Minister will later visit the Madavoor C M Valiyaullahi Maqam, a prominent pilgrimage centre, along with Kanthapuram, organisers said.
He is scheduled to return to Malaysia via the Maldives on Monday.
This is Ibrahim's second visit to Keralam to meet Kanthapuram.
His first visit to Markaz was in September 2022, a few weeks before he became Malaysia's prime minister, organisers said.
The visit comes as Malaysia is preparing for its next general election, expected in 2027.
The country has a sizeable Muslim population and a significant ethnic Tamil community.
The Malaysian government conferred the Hijra Award, its highest honour for religious scholars, on Kanthapuram in 2023.
(With inputs from PTI)
