IUML treading a cautious path

Party waiting for January 22 Supreme Court decision on CAA

UML general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty categorically stated that the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Centre though the apex court had refrained from staying the order.

Even as protests continue to mount across the country, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has adopted a wait-and-watch policy over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) after the Supreme Court decided to examine the constitutional validity of new legislation on January 22.

However, the party leadership will back the organisations, including Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, in the ongoing campaign against the CAA that grants citizenship to non-Muslim illegal immigrants.

That was why the IUML decided to fight the issue democratically and legally instead of vitiating the volatile atmosphere in the State and stayed away from the hartal called by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Welfare Party of India (WPI), Jamaat-e-Islami and other organisations on Tuesday.

Leadership’s stance

IUML general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty categorically stated that the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Centre though the apex court had refrained from staying the order. The party did not want to communalise the law as a Muslim or anti-Muslim issue even as Hindu organisations such as the NSS and SNDP had maintained a stoic silence over the protest.

The IUML leadership holds that joining hands with Islamic outfits would defeat the purpose of a political party in the fight against law that they believe is anti-Muslim. No wonder the party had intervened to stall a crucial meeting of Muslim organisations called by the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama on the act last week.

Incidentally, IUML State president Panakkad Syed Hyder Ali Shiab Thangal is also the vice president of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, one of the largest Muslim organisations in Kerala. Not just that, the party leadership persuaded other Muslim organisations to stay away from the proposed meeting.

Besides, Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar of All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, another influential Sunni leader, came out with a statement that the hartal was unnecessary and such a step would help to rouse religious animosity. At the same time, Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen, another Islamic organization, is organising a campaign on Friday.