Can the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, mononymously known as the Samastha, the biggest body of traditional Islamic clergy in the State, prove its hegemony over Muslim community matters? It is time, if the Samastha thinks that the Islamic body is more important than the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in community matters.
The standoffish relations between the Samastha and the IUML, especially in recent months, have left some bad blood within the top body of clerics as well as its subsidiaries. There is a section within the Samastha that firmly believes that the IUML should not be allowed to outweigh the Islamic body led by Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal.
Although silent, some whisperings are heard from the anti-IUML lobby known as the Shajara group in the Samastha that it is time to teach the IUML a lesson. Will they vote against E.T. Mohammed Basheer and M.P. Abdussamad Samadani, the IUML candidates in Malappuram and Ponnani respectively?
The anti-IUML group in the Samastha has quite a few axes to grind. The Samastha standoff with the Coordination of Islamic Colleges (CIC) and the IUML’s attempts to put its young State president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal above the venerable Samastha president are some of them.
The well-organised rival Sunni body led by Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar has been closely watching the Samastha-IUML faceoff without making any comments. The more orthodox Kanthapuram Sunni group has its tacit support for the anti-IUML group. One cannot rule out the possibility of these two Samastha groups joining hands against the IUML in the ballot.
But the IUML is least bothered. The Kanthapuram faction has been known for its anti-IUML stance, in spite of the repeated utterings by its leaders that they are politically neutral. Mr. Kanthapuram is well-known for his election-time statement: “we will help those who help us”.
The Kanthapuram Sunni leaders secretly say that they got more help from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) than from the IUML. During the Left Democratic Front (LDF) rule, the State Haj Committee chairmanship has been given to the Kanthapuram group. Whereas when the IUML was in power, the Sunni leaders had to fight discrimination from the League.
The upcoming election will prove how strong the anti-IUML faction within the Samastha is.
