UDF slams CM Vijayan over remarks on IUML chief; CPI(M) hits back

Thiruvananthapuram: With just a day left for the Palakkad assembly bypoll, the Congress-led UDF opposition on Monday targeted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his remarks about IUML supremo Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal. The opposition accused him and the CPI(M) of having a nexus with the Sangh Parivar and communal forces.

Both the CPI(M) and the BJP hit back at the UDF, stating that the Muslim League leader was not beyond criticism.

While addressing a bypoll campaign meeting for LDF candidate P Sarin in Palakkad on Sunday, Vijayan criticised Thangal, who is the spiritual leader of a significant section of Sunni Muslims in Kerala, saying he was acting like a worker of Jamaat-e-Islami.

The IUML leadership alleged that the statements of the chief minister reflected the CPI(M)'s close ties with communal forces.

Strongly supporting Thangal and the League on the issue, the Congress accused Vijayan of attempting to promote majority communalism in the state.

Responding to the CM's remarks, the IUML, the second-largest coalition partner in the Congress-led UDF, launched a strongly worded attack against him through an editorial in the party mouthpiece "Chandrika".

The editorial said that the people of Kerala fondly call Panakkad Thangal the brand ambassador of communal harmony, and CM Vijayan should not attempt to "assess his qualifications." "Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's attempt to evaluate Thangal's qualifications reflects his and his party's close ties with communal forces," the mouthpiece alleged.

At a time when the Sangh Parivar forces are making all attempts to destroy the communal harmony of the state and try to create communal polarisation by raising various issues, CM Vijayan and the Left government have been constantly doing things that support them, it claimed.

The attitude towards top police officers who were facing allegations in the disruption of Thrissur Pooram and the stand in the waqf land issue in Munambam was an example of this collaboration, it further alleged.

By targeting Panakkad Thangal and his Kodappanakkal family, who have played a key role in fostering the communal harmony of the state, Vijayan has given strong support to the interests of Sangh Parivar forces, the editorial said.

The IUML mouthpiece also sought to know why the chief minister had become disturbed and intolerant when a former leader of the BJP came to the secular fold without any conditions and sought the blessings of Thangal.

"If it is not the reflection of Sangh Parivar connections, what else?" it asked.

The editorial also said it could not be viewed as a coincidence that the Babri Masjid demolition issue was used by Vijayan to criticise Thangal.

Addressing reporters in Palakkad, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan on Monday accused the CM of making "insulting" remarks against Thangal and said he was trying to "please" the Sangh Parivar through this.

"Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal is an exemplary model of secularism and humanity. The CM has insulted a person who has adopted such a strong secular stand," he said.

Alleging that both the CM and BJP state president K Surendran were criticising Thangal in a similar manner, the LoP further accused Vijayan of supporting the divisive politics of the Sangh Parivar.

After the last Lok Sabha election, Vijayan has been trying to foster majority communalism in the state, and his remarks against Thangal were a part of that, the Congress leader added.

When IUML leader K M Shaji asked CM Vijayan not to "assess the qualifications" of Thangal, Congress leader and the party's Palakkad bypoll candidate Rahul Mamkootathil said the remarks were part of his "Sanghi nature." However, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan dismissed the opposition's allegations, claiming that Vijayan's remarks were merely "political criticism" on the IUML chief.

"What the chief minister said was political criticism. Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal is the president of the political party IUML. What we criticised was the politics adopted by the IUML president," he said.

Govindan further alleged that certain people were now attempting to create communal polarisation by giving the CM's political criticism a religious connotation.

He also accused the IUML of being influenced by Jamaat-e-Islami and the SDPI.

BJP state president K Surendran said that it was unacceptable to suggest that Thangal is beyond criticism.

He pointed out that Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Lord Shri Ram, Sree Narayana Guru, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are all subject to criticism in the country.

"So how can anyone claim that Thangal should not be criticised?" he asked.

"Nobody is beyond criticism in a democratic system," the BJP leader said.

CM Vijayan on Sunday criticised the meeting of BJP leader Sandeep G Varier and the top leaders of Indian Union Muslim League, a day after he joined the Congress party, saying the workers and supporters of the IUML won't accept this.

Vijayan said that news of Varier's visit to IUML leaders brought back memories of an election held in Ottapalam, in this district, soon after the demolition of the Babri Masjid many years ago.

The CM alleged that, although the masjid was demolished by the RSS-led Sangh Parivar, it was the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and the Congress-led Central government who had extended full support for it.