By Rasheed PP for TwoCircles.net,
Calicut: Retaining unending hope and inspiration to millions of Muslims and asserting the need for political empowerment, National Muslim Youth Meet concluded with a massive public conference here in Calicut on February 21. The innovative national conference of the Muslim youth was organised by the Muslim Youth League (MYL) Kerala State unit, the youth wing of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
More than a hundred youth delegates from 17 states – students, professionals, research scholars and laymen – attended this five-day multi-purpose conference under the theme of “Honourable Existence”. Selected students from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Hamdard and Jamia Millia Islamia were also included in the delegates.
“The focus of the entire programme was to showcase the unique Kerala model of Muslim socio-political life to young delegates from North India. Kerala has a long history of communal co-existence between Muslims and Hindus. Muslim League’s policy to be in mainstream politics has been instrumental in giving an honourable existence to the Muslims here. We thought our institutions and public life could be inspiring for Muslim youngsters from other states. That was how we thought of taking a cream of best possible minds to Kerala and familiarise them with our leaders, thinkers, activists, institutions and historical places. We found it hugely rewarding,” said an obviously pleased KM Shaji, the state president of MYL to this reporter.
As part of the meet, a political awareness expedition was organised from Ernakulum to Calicut. Teesta Setalvad, eminent civil rights activist and editor of Mumbai based Communalism Combat magazine inaugurated the yathra and lauded the service of madrasas in Kerala to the community and the nation. She said the Madrasa system in Kerala has merged modern education with the traditional religious teaching and called for copying the system in the rest of the country. The expedition was welcomed at different stations where the delegates were given opportunity to interact with community leaders, activists, writers, media persons and locals. Historical places as the first Muslim mosque in India, the famous Kodungallur Cheraman Mosque; Thali Temple at Angadippuram, a remarkable place of communal harmony; reputed educational institutions set up by former Muslim League leaders etc were selected as places of visit. Kerala’s high-profile intellectuals and historians like Dr. M Gangadharan, P Surendran, Adv. Jayasankar, Jane Menon and others interacted with the delegates at various stations.
The five-day meet underlined the urgent need for political as well as educational empowerment to be achieved as early as possible, for Muslims outside Kerala. Some delegates even requested the Kerala leaders to expand their realms of socio-political activism to outside Kerala by giving leadership and guidance to them. Each visit to prominent educational institutions run by Muslims was felt like an eye-opener for many delegates.
“Our leadership should stop indulging in sensitive and emotional issues. What we need is long-term strategy and agendas for all levels of empowerment”, said an inspired delegate from West Bengal. They realized, not merely emotion can lead to empowerment and blamed those who impose foolish fatwas on the community. Certain delegates opined that an Ulema-Umera (scholar-leader) companionship is what we lack in the broader Indian Muslim context to work on with vision.
Personalities like Zafar Agha, eminent Journalist and Padma Shree Dr. Sayyid Iqbal Hasnein, renowned Glaciologist and former Vice Chancellor of Calicut University spoke to the audience at the valedictory session. Dr. Sayyid Iqbal Hasnein said, “Unlike Kerala, minorities in the rest of the country have been suffering with unknown fears and inferiority complexes. Fortunately, here Muslim League party could give safety and security to the Muslims through the coalition politics”. Along with a massive conference of the locals, exclusive cultural programs like ghazal mehfils were organsied for the delegates.
No doubt, the event was the first of its kind organized by IUML to streamline the party across the length and breadth of the country. The party state General Secretary PK Kunhalikkuty assured the audience that the party leadership will seriously take initiative to bring all like-minded Muslim organisations who have influence in certain pockets of different states under the IUML and he hoped it can then become a major political power by the next decade. Earlier Panakkad Sayyid Hyderali Shihab Thangal, President, IUML, Kerala state committee inaugurated the valedictory session of the meet and KM Shaji, the President of MYL, Kerala state committee presided over.
The organisers are planning follow-up actions. They are overwhelmed by the feedback from the delegates. They hope for more transformative journey across the country. What they have concrete in mind is this: they have assigned the delegates to organise smaller gatherings of at least 50 members in every state in a three months time. Such meetings will brainstorm for strategies and agendas that could probably work out for educational and political empowerment of the community.