‘No one can hijack Samastha’

Kozhikode: Samastha president Syed Mohammed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal said that no one can hijack Samastha. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Thangal, who had distanced himself from the anti-Communist resolution passed by Malappuram conference of the organization on Sunday, said the president and general secretary are supposed to spell out the official stand of the organization.
Though he didn’t respond to questions on how the resolution was adopted at the conference without his knowledge and approval, Thangal said that it was not Samastha's job to enlist people to political parties.
When asked about the statements made by Samastha secretary and Kerala Islam Matha Vidhyabhyasa Board general secretary MT Abdulla Musaliyar that IUML was the party of Samastha, Thangal said that he cannot respond to individual statements but added that he had spelt out the official stand of the organization about relationships with political parties.
“I had made the official stand of Samastha at the meeting and it has been the stand the organization has been following traditionally without causing inconvenience/problems to any party or politicians,” he said.
Though Samastha was traditionally aligned to IUML, it took an independent stand on Waqf board issue with Thangal coming out against IUML’s move to hold a campaign inside mosques against LDF government’s decision on entrusting Waqf board appointments to PSC. Following this, CM Pinarayi Vijayan held talks with Samastha leaders and assured that the matter can be resolved through talks