Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was responding to a question on the Congress alliance with the Kerala-based IUML during an interaction with reporters in Washington. (Image: PTI/File)
Soon after the BJP attacked the Congress, party leaders responded by saying that the Indian Union Muslim League was separate from Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Muslim League and was a party registered in India, even contesting elections. Was.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has once again courted controversy with his statement that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is a secular party. The former MP was responding to a question on the Congress alliance with the Kerala-based party during an interaction with reporters in Washington. He said that the Muslim League is “a completely secular party and there is nothing non-secular about them”.
Within no time, a war of words started between the BJP and the Congress. Jinnah’s Muslim League, the party responsible for the partition of India on religious lines, is a ‘secular’ party according to Rahul Gandhi. BJP’s IT chief Amit Malviya said on Twitter, Rahul Gandhi, though ill-educated, is simply hypocritical and devious here… Remaining acceptable in Wayanad is also his compulsion.
To this, several Congress leaders reacted by saying that IUML was different from Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Muslim League and was a party registered in India and even contesting elections.
As the controversy rages on, here’s what you need to know about the Indian Union Muslim League:
The party, mainly in Kerala, is recognized as a state party with the Election Commission of India.
IUML is a long-time ally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and has been a part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) since its inception on March 10, 1948.
IUML currently has four members in Parliament – three in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha. It has 18 MLAs in Kerala.
Whenever the UDF has come to power in Kerala, the IUML has got major cabinet portfolios.
ET Muhammad Basheer, an MP from IUML said, “It is the BJP which is the most controversial party, indulging in all kinds of communal agenda. They have no moral right to say anything about our party. They are secularists. There are opposing symbols.
Basheer said the IUML has been an ally of the UDF for a long time and is in power in Kerala. “When I was the education minister of the state, the Sanskrit University was established here. So on the practical side, we have proved that we are a secular organization. The people of Kerala know us,” he said.
The IUML MP said his party was formed after Independence and Malviya’s statement that it was part of Jinnah’s Muslim League was “silly and has nothing to do with facts”.
Basheer further said that the people of Kerala know how cordial the Muslim League is and how it has upheld communal harmony. He said that the BJP was trying to use this propaganda for a long time, but it did not have the desired effect.
He said the party has MLAs and even district panchayat presidents who are not from the Muslim community.
Senior Congress leader and former Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said he supported what Gandhi had said. Jinnah’s Muslim League and IUML are different. IUML is working under the constitution of India and fighting against fascist forces. If we look at the candidates of the party in Vidhansabha and Panchayats, a large number of Hindus contest elections on their symbol. They are working for the betterment of the country and always maintain secular credentials.”
Political analyst and former head of the Department of Political Science, University of Kerala, Dr J Prabhash said, “After the demolition of the Babri Masjid, there was no untoward incident in Kerala. A major reason for this was the Indian Union Muslim League.
He said that due to the presence of IUML, Muslims were able to enter the system and the government. “A political party encourages the people of its community to have democratic and harmonious relations with other communities. In that sense I definitely feel that IUML is a secular party.
