Vellappally Natesan hits out at IUML

In a scathing attack on the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan has called it one of the biggest “secular comedies” in Kerala politics.

In an editorial titled “The secular facade of the Muslim League” in Yoganadam, the mouthpiece of SNDP Yogam, Mr. Natesan said there was no other political party in Kerala as deeply infused with religion. The IUML’s aim, he said, is to secure the rights of Muslims, not to protect the rights of all people. The party continues to follow the path of the All India Muslim League, which played a major role in paving the way for the partition of India, he said.

“The IUML, in the past and even today, has several leaders with humanity who can feel the pain of others. Yet, the secularism of the new generation of its leaders is nothing more than a coat of paint that will wash away in a light drizzle. How can one not laugh when hearing the ‘secular’ speeches of League leaders like K.M. Shaji,” Mr. Natesan asked.

He said that leaders and workers who are IUML members by day become Popular Front of India members by night. “The IUML is playing a secular drama by fielding two or three poor Scheduled Caste candidates and getting them elected to the Assembly, because Muslims cannot contest from reserved constituencies,” Mr. Natesan said.

The SNDP Yogam general secretary said that IUML leaders were spreading the poison of hatred and communal venom. Through Mr. Shaji’s communal speech, the hypocrisy of the Muslim League and its allies is exposed. People like me, who speak about the discrimination, oppression, and suffering faced by the majority and marginalised communities in Kerala are portrayed as communalists and anti-social elements.

The IUML, he claimed, aims to capture power and “regain the losses Muslims have faced over the past nine-and-half years and to capture new batches and seats in aided and unaided schools.”

‘Double standards’

The majority community has forgotten that the IUML is a party that emerged from the land where the Malabar Rebellion took place, he said. Mr. Natesan added that the silence of IUML leaders on Muslim issues affecting the broader society in Kerala — from the hijab and Zumba dance to changes in school timings — is proof of their double standards. “Leaders of the League, who brand those highlighting social realities as communalists, should remember that they themselves are drowning up to their noses in a sea of communalism,” he said.

The SNDP Yogam general secretary warned that it would not be surprising if the Muslim League,“ apostles of opportunistic politics, joins the Left Democratic Front (LDF) tomorrow.” “The Muslim League, which once described Jawaharlal Nehru as a ‘dead horse,’ is now trying to gain the Deputy Chief Minister’s post through the funnel of communalism. In Kerala, we understand that your dream is the establishment of a religious State,” he added.