Various Muslim leaders in the State have come out openly against the election manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that it is an open declaration that the party was trying to drag the country once again into a state of communal conflict. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) State president Panakkad Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal said that the BJP’s plan to introduce a common civil code was cause for anxiety. Secretary of Samastha Kottumala T.M. Bappu Musliar alleged that it was an intrusion into the Constitutional right of citizens. National general secretary of Sunni Jamyathul Ulama Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar said a secular government should come into power.
He alleged that the move could only spoil the ‘unity in diversity’ concept of the country.
Kerala Nadvathul Mujahiddeen president T.P. Abdul Koya Maudani said personal laws did not cause discomfort to others and hence should not be opposed.
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Kerala Nadvathul Mujahiddeen president E.K. Ahmed Kutty, Assistant Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Kerala Sheik Muhammad Karakkunnu, Muslim Educational Society president P.A. Fazal Gafoor, and Muslim Service Society general secretary P. Mammad Koya expressed their discontent over the manifesto.
Dr. Gafoor said uniform civil code was being stressed as a threat to Muslims by the BJP, while, in fact, it was a threat to many other communities in the country. However, it was an empty threat and would not happen any time in future, he said. He advised the community members to better maintain silence instead of crying out over something irrelevant, a press release said.
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