IUML proximity to Sunni faction raises hackle

KOZHIKODE: Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema, the body of Sunni scholars, has sent strong signals to the IUML leadership against the latter's 'hobnobbing' with the rival Sunni faction led by Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar.
The meeting of the Samastha Mushawara (the consultative committee) held here on Wednesday expressed its dissent over the IUML leadership's drift towards the Kanthapuram faction.Sources said the forum has set a timeframe to address the issues it has raised.
Samastha, which has a pro-IUML lenience, is disturbed to find that many IUML leaders have started developing cozy relationship with Kanthapuram, who is perceived to be close to the CPM.IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty had attended the the swalath meeting organized by the Kanthapuram faction in Malappuram in the month of Ramadan. Some of the League leaders also participated in the function at Markazu Ssaqafathi Ssunniyya, the headquarter of Kanthapuram Sunnis.
The forum sees this as a violation of the promise given by the IUML leaders. Samastha had expressed concern when the IUML came close to Kanthapuram during the run up to the Assembly elections.
They even summoned Kunhalikutty to register their protest. The IUML leadership had promised that it will take any decision on the Kanthapuram issue only after consulting the Samastha Mushawara. But the forum feels that the IUML continued to furtively keep in touch with the Kanthapuram faction using the alibi of working towards the unification of Sunnis.
This is happening at a time when the different organs of the Samastha are actively engaged in 'exposing' the Kanthapuram factions' motive behind building a mosque to preserve the holy hair of the Prophet.
The relationship between the two factions of the Sunnis has vitiated after the campaign.
At the meeting on Wednesday Samastha leadership wanted an unequivocal declaration on the part of the IUML on the issue. The IUML state president Panakkadi Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, who is a member of the Mushawara, also attended the meeting. It is learnt that the meeting set a deadline for the IUML to set things right.
The IUML has been following a policy of not antagonizing other Muslim religious organizations, barring the Jama'at-e-Islami and SDPI, which it considers as extremist outfits.
But its overtures towards the Kanthapuram faction has always created problems. All its attempts to broker peace between the two rival Sunni factions had ignited strong response from the Samastha.