The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) proposal mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought the rival Muslim groups to a platform of unity where they share a single agenda: to oppose the UCC. Never before did the Muslim groups, particularly the rival Sunni sects led by Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal and Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar, come so close to share a single agenda concerning the community.
In separate statements in recent days, both leaders as well as the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) supremo Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal called for the necessity of standing together to resist the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) move to impose the UCC. And all of them welcomed one another’s statements, sending home overtures of organisational reunion.
The statement of Mr. Aboobacker Musliar that he would be happy to cooperate with the rival Sunni group and the IUML sparked a wave of positive reactions from the community. It was widely perceived as a rare gesture by Mr. Aboobacker Musliar, whose unproclaimed allegiance to the CPI(M) is no secret in the community politics of Kerala.
Although there had been a few occasions before when both the Sunni groups came to discussions of cooperation, bringing cheers and hopes to the cadres, the reality never brought them to the idea of a Sunni reunion.
Leaders of both groups admitted that a Sunni reunion was nearly impossible because of the organisational and ideological drifting they experienced in the wake of the historic split of the late 1980s.
Both the IUML and the CPI(M) had carefully used the rival Sunni groups for political and electoral mileage. And the Sunni factions too had used their bargaining advantages by flagging their political affiliations.
The UCC is bringing the Sunni groups so close that their political affiliations become insignificant before their common objective. Both the IUML and the CPI(M) are making their moves on the UCC with an eye on these two Muslim groups. There are jitters within the IUML and the CPI(M) vis-à-vis their relations with the groups.
Both of them are aware that the Sunni unity can fetch more bargaining power to the two Samasthas in the State. The key leaders of the IUML, the CPI(M), and the Samasthas are circumspect about potential twists in relations in the wake of the unity brought about by the UCC.
The IUML stands at an advantage by claiming legitimacy to spearhead the Muslim community’s anger against the UCC. The CPI(M) too does not want to fall behind in taking the issue to the frontline.
