Samastha trains its guns onyoung Sayeds of Panakkad

Warns them against attending Mujahid State meet beginning today

The Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the biggest body of Sunni Muslims in Kerala, has trained its guns on two young members of the Panakkad Sayed Shihab family for their readiness to attend the ninth Mujahid State conference beginning at Kooriyad near Tirurangadi on Thursday.

It is the first time in recent memory that the Samastha has turned against the Panakkad Sayed family, whose members have long been on the forefront of both the Samastha and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leaderships.

In a statement issued at Samastha headquarters at Chelari on Wednesday, top leaders of the Sunni body reiterated that there was no change in its policy of non-cooperation with Muslim groups such as Mujahid and Jamat-e-Islami.

Samastha president Sayed Mohammed Jiffri Muthukoya Thangal, general secretary K. Alikutty Musliar, treasurer C.K.M. Swadik Musliar, and Samastha education board general secretary M.T. Abdulla Musliar said that nobody from Samastha could cooperate with the Mujahids who were considering the vast majority of Sunnis in the State as “polytheists.”

They said the Mujahids had destroyed the Islamic cultural legacy by demolishing shrines and disowning Madhabs and Imams.

Rahmathullah Qasimi, a young leader of the Samastha, went a few steps further and launched a scathing attack against Panakkad family members Rasheedali Shihab Thangal (who is Wakaf Board chairman) and Munawwarali Shihab Thangal (who is the youngest son of former IUML leader Sayed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal).

Mr. Qasimi reminded the Panakkad family not to forget the legacy of Islam they got and not to ignore the path shown by their forefathers.

“The Mujahids consider you kingpins of polytheists. They call you Mushriks. How can you attend their meeting even when they don’t consider you Muslim?” he asked.

Mr. Qasimi reminded them that none of their fathers or grandparents had attended a meeting called by the Mujahids.

Mr. Qasimi also attacked the IUML leadership, particularly its MPs, for falling prey to the temptations of the temporal world. “Stay away from luxury. Come down to feel the misery of the poor. That’s what your forefathers did,” Mr. Qasimi told the Sayeds.