Clerics pick Congress, kick Left

The apex body of Muslim clerics in Kerala exhorted the community to defeat both fascists (read BJP) and atheists (read communists).

The winner, naturally, is the Congress-led United Democratic Front, which has been consistently losing its bastions in Muslim-dominated areas.

Samastha Kerala Jum-iyyathul Ulema, the supreme body of religious scholars, urged its followers to defeat those parties which propounded communalism, at a mammoth meeting at Kottakkal in Malapuram district on Wednesday.

Though the clerics warned against BJP, which has vowed to introduce a uniform civil code if it comes to power, the real target was the Left, hoping to repeat its surprise wins at Manjeri LS seat in 2004 and Kuttipuram assembly seat in 2006. The Muslim League forts fell when a confederation of Muslim groups backed LDF.

“The Muslim community has to enlighten its members against atheism spreading through textbooks,” said Sainudeen Musaliar, general secretary of the organisation. The LDF government had to dilute a class-seven social science textbook, which was perceived as a study in atheism.

The cleric also attacked the Left for changing madrasa timing and introducing co-education. “We are forced to enlighten the community against introducing co-education where a boy is forced to sit beside a girl,” he added. The community is also peeved at the appointment of an “atheist” as the chairman of Waqf Board, which manages the community’s property.

The CPI(M) has fielded giant killer TK Hamza against Union minister E Ahmed in Malapuram while opting for a college principal — Hussein Randathani — to rake in Muslim votes in adjacent Ponnani. The Left has roped in Abdul Nasser Madhani’s People’s Democratic Party apart from long-standing ally Indian National League, which broke away from Muslim League in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition.