Muslim organisations such as the Samastha are claiming that IUML foolishly invited Shashi Tharoor to be the rally's primary guest.
The IUML rally in solidarity wth Pakisthan in Kozhikode. Photo: Supplied
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is a steadfast ally of the Congress and the second-biggest member of the Congress-led Opposition UDF in Kerala.
However, it is currently in a difficult situation because Shashi Tharoor, a former diplomat who is now a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), has used the organisation’s platform to term Hamas of Palestine a terrorist outfit.
Speaking at a massive pro-Palestine protest that the IUML organised in Kozhikode on Thursday, 26 October, with over a lakh of its cadres in attendance, Tharoor blamed the current violence in the Middle East on the 7 October terrorist attack by Hamas on Israeli towns and cities.
He claimed that the most deadly Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory in the previous 15 years was brought on by the Hamas strike that murdered over 1,400 Israeli residents.
“I have always been with the people of Palestine,” Tharoor said in a brief video released by the KPCC.
“This could be one of the largest political demonstrations in favour of human rights and peace that the world, if not just India, has ever seen,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP had claimed about the event. “This is a rally for peace.”
He emphasised the necessity of stopping this catastrophe and mentioned the innocent women and children that have perished, first in Israel and subsequently in Gaza.
India has a long history of fostering peace, going all the way back to Mahatma Gandhi’s day, Tharoor stressed. “We have always stood for a permanent solution to this crisis,” he said.
In addition to voicing their disapproval of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, the IUML had strategically positioned the Palestine solidarity rally to show its power within the Muslim community — especially in light of their ongoing dispute with the Sunni religious organisation Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama — and to send a message to the LDF government in Kerala.
Muslim organisations such as the Samastha are claiming that IUML foolishly invited Tharoor to be the rally’s primary guest.
Meanwhile, using the same platform, IUML leaders MK Muneer, MLA, and MP Abdussamad Samadani distanced themselves from Tharoor, stating that the party believed Hamas was not a terrorist organisation and that it stood for the liberation of the long-oppressed Palestinian people.
They did this because they recognised the trouble that such a statement would cause among party cadres and other minority community members.
They both referred to Hamas’ opposition as “legitimate resistance” to Israel’s expansionist policies in the West Bank and Gaza.
Similar remarks made by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vice-president VT Balram and LDF MLA and former health minister K K Shailaja had also sparked an uproar in the past.
Shortly after delivering his speech, Tharoor encountered the wrath of several Muslim organisations on social media as well as the ruling LDF in Kerala.
He was also accused of being pro-Israel by CPI(M) leader and former MLA M Swaraj, who claimed that the Congress MP had refused to recognise Israel as a “terrorist” nation.
CPI(M) State Secretariat member Swaraj stated sarcastically that Tharoor, a Lok Sabha member from Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, had staged an Israel support event at the expense of the IUML.
Even after Israel had taken control of more than 90 percent of that country, Tharoor was certain that the events coming from the Palestinian side were a “terrorist strike”, Swaraj wrote on Facebook.
The Left leader continued that Tharoor was positive that Israel’s post-7 October activities constituted its “reply”. He said: “Tharoor is not a man who cannot understand words.”
Swaraj also stated, “On 27 October, Tharoor clarified his position, saying that he has always supported the Palestinian people and that he disagreed with the spread of a single statement from his speech that he gave at the IUML demonstration in response to a fierce backlash on social media from Left activists and pro-Hamas organisations.”
He added: “It is evident that he is aware that history began on October 7.” Still, the Congressman won’t admit that Israel is a “terrorist nation”, said Swaraj.
The former MLA continued by claiming that Tharoor was attacking Palestine from the IUML rally, while Israel was doing so from Tel Aviv.
Tharoor also came under fire from KT Jaleel, an independent LDF MLA who had previously been expelled from the IUML.
Jaleel said that Tharoor’s speech would give the impression that the gathering was a pro-Israel protest.
In a Facebook post, he claimed that the IUML gathering was organised in favour of Israel and that anyone who listened to the keynote speaker’s speech would understand this.
But IUML general secretary PK Kunhalikutty chided the Leftist groups for allegedly trying to incite controversy surrounding the demonstration.
He asserted that Tharoor had previously expressed his sympathy for the Palestinian cause, and that the IUML’s large-scale rally had helped turn public opinion in the cause’s direction.
The demonstration, which featured 25,000 women, called attention to the alleged indiscriminate killing of civilians — including women and children — during Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.
Tens of thousands of people attended the Palestine Solidarity Human Rights demonstration, which was inaugurated by IUML state president Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal.
Meanwhile, the march was criticised by the BJP, which blamed Tharoor for participating in what it said was a “pro-Hamas” event.
Kerala BJP president K Surendran expressed the concern that communal tensions in the state were being heightened by the events in Palestine.
IUML protesters in Kozhikode were “pro-Hamas”, and anti-national chants were heard during the event, he claimed.
The BJP leader asserted that Tharoor’s attendance at the demonstration went against the country’s long-standing position on the issue.
Surendran declared that Tharoor’s attendance at the function was a ruse to appease various sectarian groups. He called it a betrayal to support Hamas, which he said provides support to organisations that are antagonistic to India.
He also accused Tharoor of trying to exploit communal discord ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “It is now evident that their desire is votes rather than peace,” Surendran said.
The BJP spokesperson went on to accuse MK Munner, an MLA and prominent figure in the IUML, of drawing parallels between “Hamas terrorists” and freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose.
(With PTI inputs)
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