Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Central committee member A.K. Balan has signalled that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) appeared to be on the cusp of crossing a political Rubicon by “deciding” to participate in the upcoming Left Democratic Front (LDF) rally in Kozhikode on November 11 to voice solidarity with the Palestine people.
Speaking to journalists outside the CPI(M) Kerala headquarters at the AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram on November 3, 2023, Mr. Balan said the IUML’s “resolve to march in lockstep” with the CPI(M) on various national issues, including opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government’s move to draft a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) that “seeks to trample” on the personal laws of Muslims, will have “far-reaching consequences” in Kerala’s coalition politics.
Mr. Balan said the IUML displayed an “increasing affinity” to the CPI(M)‘s political positions. For one, Mr. Balan noted, IUML Kerala general secretary P.M.A. Salam had said there was no equivalency between Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s “incendiary comment” that cast a particular minority community under a cloud of suspicion in the aftermath of the Kalamassery blasts and CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan’s preliminary observation that the explosions at the evangelical meeting could be a nefarious attempt to divert public attention from Kerala’s solidarity with Palestinians.
