Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year, both Congress and the communists seem to be competing to woo the Islamic extremist outfit, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), in Kerala. IUML, an off-shoot of Jinnah’s Muslim League, has significant influence in several seats in Kerala and both CPI(M) and Congress are competing with each other to ensure that IUML supports them in 2024. The IUML, on its part, is now using its position to ensure that both parties take more hardline Islamist positions in exchange for their support in elections.
With the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony scheduled for 22nd January, IUML is now threatening Congress to toe its line entirely in exchange for their support. Muslim outfit Samastha, closely associated with IUML, has now slammed Congress for its ‘non-commital’ stand on attending the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya. In an editorial in its mouthpiece Suprabhaatham, the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama (SAMASTHA) said: “The Congress stand that the party can attend the ceremony is only meant to prevent depletion of Hindu votes in North India. It is the soft Hindutva approach of the Congress that has taken the party, which ruled the country for 36 years, to the present situation.’’ Asking Congress to review its stand, Samastha threatened Congress saying that if they remain non-committed, BJP would win Lok Sabha in 2024 – essentially saying that if Congress does not explicitly state that they will not attend the Pran Pratishtha like CPI(M), they would alienate their Muslim vote bank in Kerala.
Samastha, it is to be noted, is seen as the backbone of IUML and is an influential Muslim body in Kerala with several prominent clerics and Imams being a part of it. While Samastha has threatened Congress, IUML has come out against the party as well.
IUML state general secretary P M A Salam said: “Before every election, it has been the practice of BJP to whip up communal sentiments. In the past, there has been communal violence. Even now, exploiting communal agenda is the BJP’s strategy. None should fall into that trap. It is our stand,” he said.
The Muslim body in its editorial also hailed CPI(M) for toeing their line and refusing to attend the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony. “Leaders like CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury have the wisdom to understand that the January 22 ceremony is a litmus test to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra. Hence, Yechury has shown the courage to openly state that he would not take part in the event. The secular democratic people of the country expect that courage and tenacity from Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi,’’ the editorial said.
The editorial, while hailing CPI(M) and slamming Congress, also screeched about Congress attempting to take a “soft Hindutva” approach and failing miserably in front of BJP’s “hard Hindutva”. It pointed out that while in Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath had sent silver bricks for the building of Ram Mandir and promising the building of a Hanuman temple – something that did not help Congress retain power in the state.
Essentially, the editorial in the IUML mouthpiece alluded to the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya being built after the demolition of the illegal structure called Babri and threatened Congress, that if they don’t take the hardline Islamist approach, they will fail to not only get their support, but also not have any hopes of coming back to power.
Interstingly, Congress has been speaking against the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, however, those statements have not assuaged the insecurity of IUML. Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress Sam Pitroda had said that “too much importance is being given to religion through the Ram Mandir and that democracy is being undermined”.
Sam Pitroda added, “So there are signals I’m getting which says we are in the wrong direction. When a nation is involved in Ram Temple, that bothers me. To me, religion is a personal thing. Don’t confuse it with the national agenda. The national agenda should focus on education, employment, growth, economy, inflation, health, environment, and pollution. Nobody talks about that.”
In a direct attack on the people of India, Pitroda added, “Everyone is talking about a Hindu temple. Everyone talks about Lord Ram. This is not how you build a modern nation.”
Even after such statements, it is evident that IUML and the Muslim bodies from Kerala want the party to take a far more hardline stand. The message to Congress by the IUML and its ally Samastha was simple – Hindus are consolidating to vote for BJP and if Congress has any hopes to come back to power, they need to pander, unabashedly, to the Muslim sentiment and toe their hardline approach.
Interestingly, earlier in November as well, the battle for IUML’s attention had come to the fore. E. P. Jayarajan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had slammed Congress’ position on the Israel-Palestine conflict. “When Aryadan Shoukath held a pro-Palestine rally in Malappuram, the Congress opposed it. The Congress stance has generated a dissent within the IUML.”, the leader had said.
The ties between Congress and the Muslim League
Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the United States this year made an astounding statement by calling the Indian Union Muslim League “completely secular.” He claimed, “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,” in response to a question about his party’s alliance with IUML in Kerala.
The Congress has received “unconditional support” from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) for the upcoming Telangana assembly elections. IUML national general secretary PK Kunhalikutty wrote to the Wayanad MP and asserted that the party would work closely with Congress to build a new government against the governing “fascists.”
The Congress and the IUML allied to run in the Kerala general elections of 2019. There were thousands of Muslim League flags flying during Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow in Wayanad. Their inclusion in the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar road show takes on additional significance because it was reported that the Congress party strictly instructed its ally not to deploy the flags for fear that it would damage their chances of winning elections in North India. Rahul Gandhi was allegedly at Wayanad with radical Muslims, per the CPI(M).
Muslim League – Indian branch of Jinnah’s party
The All India Muslim League (AIML) founded by Pakistani ideologue and founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah is the parent organisation of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) which claimed to have emerged upon Indian independence in 1948. The Muslim League in Pakistan and the Indian Union Muslim League in India succeeded the All India Muslim League. IUML states that secularism and communal harmony are its two guiding principles on its website, yet it has frequently engaged in overtly pursuing goals that run counter to these statements.
Pakistan successfully prompted the British Empire to divide British India in 1947, despite the Muslim League’s vigorous advocacy for the creation of a distinct nation-state with a majority of Muslims. The goal to preserve the spirit of the All India Muslim League led to the founding of IUML in December 1947.
M. Muhammad Ismail was a strong advocate for Pakistan’s creation and actively participated in the country’s partition process. He served as the founder and first President of the Indian Union Muslim League following the league’s separation from Jinnah’s Muslim League. Importantly, he contended that the IUML was a secular group, however, it had in fact backed the Constituent Assembly’s decision to uphold Sharia law for Indian Muslims upon India’s independence.
He launched the first Muslim political party in the newly formed state of India and even negotiated with Congress to “recognize the League as the sole representative of Muslims.” This is comparable to the policies of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who had consistently maintained that he and his party, the AIML, were the only delegates of Muslims in undivided India.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru teamed up with the IUML in Kerala after independence. Jinnah had proposed a coalition government with the Muslim League in 1937, however, it was refused by the Congress. Political Islamists like the IUML were further pushed to turn to greater communal politics under the pretext of defending the rights of Muslims in the nation by the opportunistic policies of Congress.
UML was allegedly founded on his guidance immediately before Jinnah departed the nation after the split of the country. He had infamously declared, “There must be a Muslim league in Hindustan.” The AIML had also noted that Pakistan’s might affected India’s ability to defend its minorities and had pledged that it “would do all to protect them.”
