On Tuesday (10th October), the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) announced its support for Palestine while asserting that Israel’s ‘occupation’ of the state of Palestine is the main cause of the surging tensions in West Asia.
In its resolution, IUML stated, “It is a hot reality that Israel’s occupation of Palestine is the root cause of the entire West Asian tensions.
Moreover, the League claimed that Israel’s ‘encroachment’ of Khuds Mosque is “extremely unjustified”.
Interestingly, while it was the Hamas terrorist organisation that launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli civilians this week, the IUML asserted that Israel is “not just against Palestine but against the entire global human community.” The IUML termed the Israel-Hamas conflict as a human rights issue.
Furthermore, the IUML urged the United Nations to bring up a peaceful solution to the ‘Palestinian issue’ adding that India has always stood with Palestine.
The party offered its “strong support to the Palestinian people and also expressed its protest over the “unfair developments” in Palestine.
When Rahul Gandhi called IUML ‘secular’
It is worth noting that the IUML which is an offshoot of the Muslim League that played a significant role in the partition of India is an ally of the Congress party. While the IUML has links with Jammat-e-Islami and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), both accused by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of spreading radicalism in Kerala, Rahul Gandhi had called the IUML a ‘secular’ party.
During his controversial US visit in June this year, Rahul Gandhi asserted that the Muslim League, a Muslim political party in India which played a vital role in the partition of India on religious lines, was “completely secular”. The interviewer asked him, “You talked about secularism and democracy while opposing the Hindu party BJP, however, the Congress in Kerala has been in alliance with the Muslim party, the Muslim League in Kerala, the state from which you were an MP”. To this, Rahul Gandhi said, “Muslim League is a completely secular party, there is nothing non-secular about the Muslim League. I think the person has not studied the Muslim League”.
Notably, while the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) claims to be born after Indian Independence in 1948, is actually an off-shoot of Pakistan founder and Islamist Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s All India Muslim League (AIML). The All India Muslim League was succeeded by the Muslim League in Pakistan and the Indian Union Muslim League in India. While the IUML on its website claims that it is “uncompromisingly anchors the nationalist and secular principles”, the party’s activities have been in sharp contrast to this.
Congress backs Palestine
The IUML backing Palestine is not surprising since a Muslim party’s leaders feel religiously obligated to stand with the Ummah. On 9th October, the Congress party passed a resolution backing the Palestinian people while raising concerns over the situation.
“The Indian National Congress has always believed that the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a life of self-respect, equality, and dignity must be fulfilled only through a process of dialogue and negotiations while ensuring the legitimate national security interests of the Israeli people. Violence of any type never provides a solution and must stop,” the Congress party said.
Interestingly, the Congress party’s resolution did not even mention the words Hamas or Israel. Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a conversation with IndiaToday said that “Hamas cannot be called a terrorist organisation”. He asserted that while the US has labelled Hamas as a terrorist organisation, the government of India has not made any such classification. Tharoor’s assertion comes even when Prime Minister Modi has explicitly termed the attacks on Israel as “terrorist attacks”.
Tharoor says- "Can't label Hamas as Terrorist Organisation" pic.twitter.com/BDOgZNfXat
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) October 10, 2023
Perhaps out of political imperative to avoid upsetting the ‘vote bank,’ the Congress party cannot comprehend that Hamas holding innocent Israeli people hostage, killing children and families, and raping numerous civilians is terrorism.
The recent Israel-Hamas war began on Saturday (7th October) when the State of Israel was attacked by the Palestine-based Islamic terror group Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya commonly known as Hamas, resulting in the deaths of over 1000 Israelis. Nearly 2400 people have been wounded, with dozens are still being held captive by the Hamas terrorists.
