The stand-off between the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama (SKJM) and the Coordination of Islamic Colleges (CIC) is heading for a showdown with dozens of CIC leaders, including general secretary Abdul Hakeem Faizy Adrisseri, quitting their positions en masse.
Mr. Faizy, who had been declared persona non grata by the Samastha, tendered his resignation on Wednesday on a request from CIC president Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, who is also State president of the Indian Union Muslim League. Thangal was under pressure from the Samastha to remove Mr. Faizy from the post of CIC general secretary.
Following Mr. Faizy’s resignation, 117 of his colleagues too quit their positions in the CIC.
The CIC is umbrella body of eight dozen Islamic colleges offering a synthesis of spiritual and temporal education. It has been spearheading a reformist movement within the orthodox Muslim community in Kerala by laying stress on education, especially for women.
Addressing the media at Wafa Campus, Pangu, on Wednesday evening, Mr. Faizy said his resignation would be subject to the approval of the general body. He added that he was a victim of witch-hunt by a section within the Samastha. “Until this moment, they [Samastha] have not told me what mistakes I have done to invoke such a punishment,” he said. “It is a pity that a body like the Samastha is resorting to such an act. Shame on it. It is an imbecile act,” he added.
Mr. Faizy, in his resignation letter, said he was a victim of a ceaseless witch-hunt by a section within the Samastha who are either intolerant or jealous of the progressive achievements he had made in the educational firmament of the Sunni community. He further said that they were jealous of the Panakkad Syed Shihab family as well.
Persistently targeting Mr. Faizy, the Samastha last week had issued a diktat against sharing platforms with him. A recent meeting of the CIC held at Nadapuram, in which both Mr. Faizy and Mr. Thangal shared the stage, had sparked a furore within the Samastha.
“I bow in shame for the Samastha diktat against sharing a platform with me. In this modern age, imposing a ban on sharing stage with someone is ridiculous and stupid,” Mr. Faizy said, adding that the CIC belonged to the new generation.
However, he said a caretaking system would be in place to manage the affairs of the CIC and its institutions. “We will not shirk our responsibilities. It is like a family. We can’t doom them. We will take care of them,” he said.
