The Indian Union Muslim League has removed its local leader from his post for visiting BJP General Secretary Sobha Surendran at her hunger strike venue in Thiruvananthapuram. Mohammed Haji, the ward president of Mangalpady Panchayat in Kasargode, was removed on Thursday by the party’s local leadership. The party has chosen UK Ibrahim to replace Mohammed Haji.
“He visited Sobha Surendran without informing or without the knowledge of the party. Hence, we decided to remove him from the post,” said MB Usuf, IUML president of Mangalapady president. Mohammed Shaji visited Sobha Surendran on December 24, much to the embarrassment of his party colleagues and leaders.
“We had convened a ward committee meeting, where we made the decision. The decision of the committee was approved by the Panchayat Committee,” said Shahul Hameed, another local leader.
The action against Mohammed Haji came after his visit and a picture of him sitting near Sobha Surendran at the protest venue emerged on social media. He made the visit on the day when the Yuvajana Yathra (youth rally) of IUML's youth wing was concluded in Thiruvananthapuram.
BJP leaders are on a relay hunger strike in front of the Secretariat, opposing the entry of young women into Sabarimala.
IUML is a political party having strong roots among the Muslim community people in the northern districts of the state. It's the largest ally of the Congress in the United Democratic Front (UDF). The UDF is the opposition of the state, which is ruled by the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front. Both the LDF and UDF are staunch rivals of the BJP in the state.
In December, the party had expelled senior leader C Shukkoor for his Facebook post supporting the Women's Wall, a proposed human chain to be formed by women to gather support and establish the government’s stand on the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple.
In March 2017, the party's women's wing, Vanitha League state president Kamarunnisa Anwar was sacked for her remarks that the BJP was a growing party in the state as well as outside. She even contributed Rs 2,000 to the BJP's state fund.