The leadership of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the largest body of traditional Islamic scholars in Kerala, has initiated a firefighting move to forestall any possible split within the organisation over the dominance being exerted by a section that prefers the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) to the Samastha.
Sources close to Samastha State president Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal said that he would soon hold a discussion with IUML State president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal to address the growing discord within the largest Sunni body.
Mr. Shihab Thangal too is learned to have been favouring the rapprochement move especially as the IUML is running up to the Lok Sabha elections being held in a few months.
The 1989 split
Leaders say that neither the Samastha nor the IUML can afford a break-up now, and any split can be potentially harmful for the Muslim community with far-reaching consequences. The repercussions of the 1989 Samastha split are still felt among the traditional Sunnis, who comprise 80% of the Muslim community in Kerala.
Sources said that Mr. Jifri Thangal and Mr. Shihab Thangal would reach a consensus on the importance of bridling the social media groups that support both of them. When one group named ‘Save Ummah’ promotes the dominance of the IUML and its leaders within the Samastha, the other group speaks up for a Samastha independent of any political affiliations or subservience.
Shajara group
Although there is nothing official about it, their detractors now address the anti-IUML lobby within the Samastha as Shajara group. “Both should be bridled. There can be differences of opinion within an organisation. But people should not stretch them to social media platforms to create a divide,” said a Samastha leader close to Mr. Jifri Thangal.
Even when Mr. Jifri Thangal sticks to his stand that Samastha is an independent organisation and not a ‘B-team’ of any political party, particularly the IUML, the IUML leadership too appears to be realistic about the current political situation. The Samastha has long been a vote bank of the IUML, and any rupture within that will be beneficial for the CPI(M).
