Kanthapuram calls for Samastha reunification, IUML backs move

All India Jamiyyathul Ulama general secretary and Kerala Muslim Jamaat president Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar has called for the reunification of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, one faction of which he has been leading since 1989.

Declaring the finale of the centenary celebrations of the Samastha in Malappuram on Saturday night, Mr. Kanthapuram said that the reunion of the Samastha factions was the need of the hour. He urged Sunni workers to pray for the unity and merger of the factions and cautioned them against any actions that might jeopardise the reconciliation efforts.

Mr. Kanthapuram announced that the finale of the Samastha centenary celebrations would be held in Malappuram from January 28 to 31, 2027. An eight-pronged action programme would precede the mega conference.

However, Mr. Kanthapuram responded to a ‘ghar vaapasi’ call made last week by rival Samastha president Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal, asserting that neither he nor his team had ever walked out of the Samastha.

Samastha (Kanthapuram faction) secretary Ponmala Abdul Khadir Musliar addressing the Samastha general body at Kottakkal on Saturday.
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SAKEER HUSSAIN

“MPs and MLAs walk out of Parliament and the Assembly in protest. That does not mean they cease to be members of those Houses. Similarly, we walked out of a Samastha meeting (in 1989) in protest against the proceedings. But we never walked out of the Samastha itself. New members have no idea on what transpired at that meeting,” he said, referring to Mr. Muthukoya Thangal.

In a statement on Sunday, Indian Union Muslim League State president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal welcomed the Samastha reunification move. He said it was the need of the hour and that it involved no politics. He promised that his Syed Shihab family of Panakkad would make every effort to help achieve Sunni unity.

An annual general body of the Samastha (Kanthapuram faction) held at Kottakkal earlier on Saturday warned the political parties against giving shelter to political Islamists, referring indirectly to Jamaat-e-Islami and its subsidiaries.

Samastha president E. Suliaman Musliar presided over the meeting. Secretaries Syed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari, Ponmala Abdul Khadir Musliar and Perodu Abdurahman Saqafi; Muslim Jamat secretary Sulaiman Saqafi Maliyekkal; and Sunni Yuvajana Sangham State president Mohammed Abdul Hakeem Azhari spoke.

The Sunni cadres swiftly began writing graffiti across various parts of Malappuram on Saturday night, announcing the grand finale of the Samastha centenary celebrations just hours after it was officially declared.