By TCN News,
Kozhikode: The relations between the Muslim League and its major supporting religious organisation Samastha Kerala Jamiyathul Ulema (EK faction) have been deteriorating lately, after the Kanthapuram AP Sunni group supported the League in the last elections. The solution that the government found in the Nirmal Madhav issue of Kozhikode was to be a new wound in the scars, but the issue has been mildly sorted out by the League leaders by the decision to give admission for Nirmal Madhav in a college in Thrissur district.
Nirmal Madhav, a student who was earlier studying in a self-financing engineering college, was given admission in the Kozhikode Govt Engineering College after the UDF government came to power. The opposition parties and their student wings protested against the decision of the government as the student did not have a good rank in the entrance exam to get admission in any Government College. The protest programme organised by the SFI in front of the Kozhikode Govt Engineering College campus last Monday turned violent and the police resorted to firing. Several students as well as policemen were injured in the clashes held on Monday and Tuesday, when the SFI protested against the police firing. The government tried to solve the problem by giving admission for Nirmal Madhav in a college in Malappuram district which was run by the Samastha. But the college management reportedly opposed the decision, saying it was not consulted while making the decision and that the college was not of the Muslim League but managed by the Samastha Kerala Islam Matha Vidyabhyasa Board.
Muslim league president Hyderali Shihab Thangal is the chairman and Kottumala Bappu Musliyar is the general secretary of the MEA Engineering College at Perinthalmanna in Malappuram, in which Nirmal Madhav was to get admitted. The College is run by the Samastha and the Jamia Nooriya Arabic College, Pattikkad. Joint secretary K Mammad Faisy reportedly said that the college authorities or even the general secretary was not consulted with regard to giving admission to Nirmal Madhav.
The Muslim League soon explained the decision was not final, and that discussions were going on only. An emergency meeting of the college management committee was held at Thangal’s residence at Panakkad in which the Samastha leaders reportedly again opposed the unilateral decision of the League. It is also reported that there were no seats vacant in the college for Nirmal Madhav to study. Finally, the party had to drop the MEA College and select the Malabar Engineering College at Desamangalam in Thrissur instead.
Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary in charge of Home Affairs, K Jayakumar collected evidence in the Nirmal Madhav issue last day in Kozhikode. He is expected to submit his report within two days.
Even though the Nirmal Madhav issue has been sorted out in the open, problems are still soaring between the League and the Samastha. The new problems have occurred when the League has been reportedly holding conciliatory talks with the Samastha leaders, under the leadership of ET Muhammed Basheer MP.
The problems between the League and the Samastha came out in open when the Samastha Mushawara held in Kozhikode last month warned the Muslim League against its relations with the Kanthapuram group. The Mushawara reportedly opined that the new trend of the League leaders attending programmes and visiting the centres of the Kanthapuram group was unacceptable. The Kanthapuram group was using this relation with the League to oppose the Samastha more strongly, it added. In a recent issue of the ‘Sathyadhara’ magazine published by the SKSSF, students’ wing of the Samastha EK faction, there were articles reminding the Muslim League of its position and how it achieved the power it has today, and warning against getting close to Kanthapuram AP Aboobaker Musliyar and his AP Sunni faction.
Meanwhile, Kanthapuram Musliyar responded to the warning of the Samastha asking the Muslim League whether it was functioning as per the directions of the Samastha EK faction. He said that his organization did not control and nor was it controlled by any political party. Rather, those including the ministers of the League came to the Markaz (centre of the organization) attracted by the organization’s activities, he added.
However, the Muslim League is trying not to anger the Samastha further while at the same time going together with the Kanthapuram group. Party president Hyderali Shihab Thangal had reportedly refused to respond on the issue. And later, Industries Minister and League senior leader PK Kunjalikkutty explained that the problems with the Samastha would be solved soon. He said that the issue was not to be made a controversy or discussed in public, but would be discussed in the definite places for it. The Muslim League now has the support of all groups in the society. The party has made its stand clear in the matter of relation with the Kanthapuram group, he added.
The Kanthapuram group was formed by Kanthapuram AP Aboobaker Musliyar when a group led by him left the Samastha Kerala Jamiyathul Ulema in the 1980s. The Samastha continued to be a strong supporter of the Muslim League, with many in the Panakkad Thangal family occupying important positions in both the League and the Samastha. Whereas, the Kanthapuram group supported the Left parties mainly the CPI (M). However, the trend saw a change in the recent elections, when the Kanthapuram groups reportedly supported the Muslim League in the local body elections and the Assembly elections. This has been evident in the huge margin that the League secured in several places. The League leaders also began to cooperate with the Kanthapuram group and attend its public programmes. However, this has now led to the new problems.