By TCN News,
Kochi: Yet another political party has taken birth in Kerala for Dalit-backward-minority sections. The National Secular Conference (NSC) was formed under the leadership of PTA Raheem, Muslim League rebel MLA. The official announcement of the party would take place on February 3 in Kozhikode, said PTA Raheem in a press conference held in Kochi yesterday.
Mr Raheem said that the NSC was a totally secular and democratic party and that it wished to cooperate and work with the Left Democratic Front in the state. It is the need of the time that a political party should come up to protect the rights of Dalits, religious minorities and other backward sections of people. The party would function as the refuge of the marginalized and the destitute. The new party was formed by those who left the Muslim League fed up of its treachery towards minorities, those who left the INL dissatisfied with its decision to cooperate with the UDF and the Kerala Latin Catholic Association (KLCA), he added.
January 27 would be observed as the flag day of the party. The office-bearers would be announced in the conference to be held in Kozhikode on February 3. The Election Commission would be approached for license and other formalities after the official announcement of the party.
PTA Raheem presided over the meeting held in the Ernakulam Guest House. Felix J Pulloodan (KLCA president), Abdulla Yusuf (INL general secretary), NK Abdul Azeez, Benny Joseph, Joseph Velivil, KG Hameed, Jaleel Punaloor, ER Joseph, Moideen Shah and Divakaran Pallath spoke.
The party is seen as a platform for minorities, especially Muslims, who wish to cooperate with the Left Front but do not want to join the CPI (M) or any left parties. Besides, it is seen as a way for the LDF and the CPI (M) to ensure Muslim votes in the coming Assembly elections. It is said that the CPI (M) had given instructions to the new party regarding even the distribution of membership. Minorities including Muslims had supported the LDF in the last Assembly elections which gave the front a huge victory over the UDF and the Muslim League. In the last general elections, Abdunnasir Maudany’s PDP and the INL were with the LDF, but the front could not make much progress. The PDP gradually went away from the front and the rift became complete when Maudany was arrested by the Karnataka police from Kerala. The INL which had been with the LDF ever since its formation recently left the camp as the front refused to take the party into the alliance. The intellectuals and cultural think-tank of the party also involved themselves in a controversy regarding identity such as religious and caste identities. All these affected the poor performance of the front in the recently held local body polls.
In the meantime, internal strife led some leaders to leave the PDP with their followers. The INL also is in two camps, with the group led by PMA Salam favouring a merger with the Muslim League and the other led by SA Puthiyavalappil opposing it and favouring to stand independent of the UDF. Mr Salam was last day removed from the post of state general secretary by the president Mr Puthiyavalappil. The problems in Kerala have also led to a split in the party in the national level. However, the Muslim League, the strongest and oldest Muslim political party in Kerala, is going stronger with the remarkable victory in the recent Panchayat elections. The Jamat e Islami’s experiment of local alliances was not a success in the Panchayat elections, as it won only nine seats in village panchayats. However, the SDPI marked its presence by winning 12 seats in block and village levels.
The new political party is coming in such circumstances when there is total confusion among the Muslim political parties other than the Muslim League and when there is no Muslim representation in the LDF. However, it is yet to be known how far the party would be accommodated in the LDF, considering the example of the INL which was not taken in by the alliance even though the party was formed by the blessings of the CPI (M)’s national leaders.