The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a constituent in the Congress-led UDF in Kerala, on Saturday decided not to participate in the CPI-M’s Palestine solidarity rally scheduled to be held on November 11 in Kozhikode.
The decision was announced by the IUML national general secretary PK Kunhalikutty at a press conference in Kozhikode after a high-level meeting of the party on Saturday.
Kunhalikkutty said the IUML extends its support to the solidarity rally but noted that it cannot “technically” participate in it because of its association with the UDF.
“We thank the CPI-M for the invitation. But, being a constituent of the United Democratic Front (UDF), due to technical reasons, we are unable to attend the event,” he said.
The Kerala unit of the CPI-M has decided to organize a Palestine solidarity rally in Kozhikode on November 11, the death anniversary day of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The CPI-M has invited leaders of various Muslim organizations, including the Samastha Kerala Jem Iyyathul Ulema, the influential body of Sunni religious scholars, and the Kerala Muslim Jama’ath and Mujahid factions for the rally, which is seen as an attempt by the Left party to reach out to the Muslim community.
The CPI-M leadership, which was deliberating whether to invite the IUML or not, lost no time to respond. The CPI-M Kozhikode district secretary P Mohanan officially invited the IUML to the rally over the phone on Thursday itself.
The CPI-M invite to the IUML did not go down well with the Congress whose leaders have expressed their displeasure with the IUML leadership.
The UDF camp felt uneasiness as the IUML expressed its willingness to attend the CPI-M rally finding itself in a spot, while the Congress has launched efforts to prevent the IUML from attending the rally.
KPCC President K Sudhakaran has said the UDF has commonly decided not to share any stage with the CPI-M. In this circumstance, deciding on the official invitation of CPI-M has become a political dilemma for the IUML.
Following this, the issue was taken up by the top IUML leadership, A meeting of the senior party leaders held in Kozhikode on Saturday decided not to participate in the Palestinian solidarity rally being organised by the CPI-M.