While the country is united against the Pakistan-backed terror attack in Pahalgam, the Congress, the Muslim League and the Jamaat-e-Islami in Kerala are trying to divide the country. On April 22, twenty-six tourists were killed in the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Kashmir. At a time when the army is searching for the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack and the country is taking a strong diplomatic stance with Pakistan, the Congress has joined hands with the Jamaat-e-Islami to foment internal unrest by holding a protest square at Kaloor in Ernakulam district.
It is very sad that the event was held at the same time when the funeral of those killed in the Pahalgam terror attack was taking place. The Jamaat-e-Islami protest was held at a different venue in Ernakulam district when the funeral of Ramachandran, a native of Ernakulam, Kerala, who was killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, was taking place. The Congress sent a message that they were with the ideology of Islamic terrorism. Besides the Congress, the Muslim League, which is part of the Congress led UDF Front, also participated in the protest. The convener of the UDF, MM Hassan, representing the Congress and the UDF and ET Mohammed Basheer, MP, representing the Muslim League, which is part of the UDF front, participated in the programme.
MM Hassan alleged that the “implementation of the Waqf Act was a plan of the RSS to eliminate the Islamic believers in India”. The Congress is also under intense pressure from the Muslim League, which has become the largest party in the UDF front. With Priyanka Gandhi and others having to win as MPs in Wayanad, the Congress in Kerala is in the awkward position of having to go along with the Muslim League and Jamaat’s Islamic and anti-national agenda. Therefore, it has made such a statement to please the Muslim League and other Islamic extremists in Kerala.
Since the matter is currently pending before the Supreme Court and the last rites of those who lost their lives in the Pahalgam terror attack have concluded, the Jamaat-e-Islami’s protest against the Waqf Act could have been postponed, or the Congress and the Muslim League could have chosen not to participate. However, not only did they go ahead with the event, but their actions also conveyed that religious interests took precedence over national unity.
A protest was held earlier by Jamaat-e-Islami-linked groups, Solidarity Youth Movement and Students Islamic Organization of India (SIO), near Karipur International Airport in Kerala, against the anti-Waqf Bill, sparking controversy after featuring Islamist ideologues Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, raising serious security concerns.
