IUML wants KT Jaleel to resign, but tread carefully on the Quran issue

It’s a tricky situation that the IUML finds itself in.
PK Kunhalikutty
PK Kunhalikutty
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Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leaders in Kerala are excercising caution in their calls for the resignation of Kerala Higher Education Minister KT Jaleel. While party leaders have made it clear that the CPI(M) Minister, who is being quizzed in connection with the gold smuggling case, must resign, they have been careful to do so without upsetting their vote bank in north Kerala.

KT Jaleel has been in the thick of controversy after the Enforcement Directorate and the NIA quizzed him in connection with the gold smuggling case. The Higher Education and Minorities Minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government was first questioned by the ED for distributing consignments of the Holy Quran through diplomatic channels. The agency will look into whether he violated the FCRA - Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

On Friday, Malappuram and Ponnani IUML MPs PK Kunhalikutty and ET Mohammad Basheer jointly called for Jaleel’s resignation. Speaking to the media, PK Kunhalikutty said that religious leaders have been bringing the Quran to India from Mecca and there is no controversy regarding the Quran distribution. However, he said that Jaleel should not use the excuse of the Quran to escape from other allegations against him.

“It is not one agency but different agencies including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Customs and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) who have been relentlessly questioning Jaleel. In the past, ministers have tendered their resignation during a controversy of this magnitude. What is the point of clinging on to this post? If the Chief Minister is trying to protect the minister, it will only seem like the CM has vested interest in letting him retain the post,” Malappuram MP Kunhalikutty said.

MP Muhammad Basheer added that ‘it was a shameful situation in the secretariat as investigating agencies were walking in and out of the building’. “The Kerala secretariat has now become a refugee centre for all law violators. Further, before any investigation happens, the CM is quick to come to a conclusion. Even in this case, he said that the evidence is fabricated,” Basheer said.

A political source told TNM that the IUML was under pressure to not target Jaleel too much, especially with regard to the Quran distribution. “It’s a tricky situation that the IUML finds itself in. There is a feeling among some in the Muslim community that even a Minister from the community will not be spared and can be branded as anti-national. So how will the common man be treated? When this feeling persists, alienating Jaleel may work against the IUML,” he said.

Another source from north Kerala said that a short clip in which Kunjalikutty can be heard saying that CPI(M) is their real enemy and not the BJP was being circulated a lot. “The LDF is using this clip to allege that there is an understanding between the Congress, IUML and BJP to oust Jaleel. Though the clip may not be fully in context, it still does raise doubts within the community,” the source said.

Jaleel was questioned by the NIA on Thursday evening over his links to Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the gold smuggling case. Since September 11, Kerala has been witnessing violent protests calling for the minister’s resignation.

A former member of the IUML, Jaleel also said that he would resign if IUML Chairperson and religious leader Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, asked him to do so. However, the League leaders have dismissed Jaleel’s statement saying that the Minister was merely ‘playing to the gallery’.

IUML State General Secretary KPA Majeed also accused Jaleel of switching his loyalties. He said that after Jaleel had become a minister, he had stated that it was not Thangal’s blessings but the AKG Centre’s (CPI(M) headquarters) work which led him to hold a cabinet post. 

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