The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has proposed Supreme Court lawyer Haris Beeran as the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha.
IUML leader Saddiq Ali Shihab Thangal announced Mr. Beeran’s name at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on June 10.
Mr. Beeran said the party had given him a huge responsibility during a trying time when “the secular, democratic and federal fabric of the Constitution faced severe stress.”
Mr. Beeran is spearheading the IUML’s fight in the Supreme Court against making religion a criterion for citizenship as envisaged in the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The IUML feared that the law, which grants citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, could be turned against naturalised Muslims in India when implemented in conjunction with the National Citizenship Register (NCR).
The IUML felt the NCR could close the door to citizenship to naturalised Muslims who failed to produce proof of citizenship while opening it to refugees from other religions who could avail themselves of the protection under the CAA.
Given the uphill legal and political battles in the national capital and the Supreme Court, the IUML had chosen Mr. Beeran. The IUML leadership had reportedly considered giving the UDF’s Rajya Sabha seat to the Muslim Youth League (MYL) but finally settled on Mr. Beeran.
IUML leader P.K. Kunhalikutty and other leaders were among those present.
