Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal | Photo Credit: The Hindu
He was the national chairman of Indian Union Muslim League
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national chairman and Kerala State president Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, 74, passed away on March 6. He died after fighting cancer for over a year. He was declared dead around 12.30 pm at Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly.
Thangal’s condition had deteriorated the previous day and he was put on a ventilator. However, his younger brother Sayed Sadikali Shihab Thangal and IUML national general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty had said that there was nothing to worry.
Thangal’s death has brought a pall of gloom to Kerala’s Muslim community, over which he wielded considerable influence. He was widely respected by the people irrespective of their faith and political affiliation.
Condolence messages started pouring in soon after the death was announced. The body will be taken to his house at Panakkad soon. His family said the funeral plans were on. Details were being worked out.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Kerala / Malappuram – March 06th, 2022
The young women leaders are talking about the “politics of honourable existence”, which is beyond the comprehension of the present IUML leadership.
Image of IUML supporters used for representational purpose (File Photo | A Sanesh, EPS)
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a constituent of the opposition UDF in Kerala, is currently engaged in fighting a fire triggered by some of its young women leaders.
Haritha, a girls’ collective part of IUML’s student wing MSF, chose to speak out against the sexist approach and remarks of the MSF’s male-dominated leadership and complained to the women’s commission when the party refused to take any action.
The offended IUML leadership asked the girls to withdraw the complaint and, when found that they were unrelenting, disbanded the entire Haritha committee. It then removed MSF national vice-president Fathima Thahliya and state vice-president P P Shyjal, who supported the Haritha leaders.
The developments underline the churn within and are seen as the outcome of the knowledge revolution among Kerala’s Muslim community that has pushed the girls onto the centre stage. They have gate-crashed into spaces that were the prerogative of the males till now. This leap is clearly visible in academia, social life and even in politics.
The young women leaders are talking about the “politics of honourable existence”, which is beyond the comprehension of the present IUML leadership.
What we see now is the conflict between the emerging politics that is sensitive to the rights of the marginalised, including women, and the conventional politics that sees only power.
The IUML leadership first tried to ignore the issues of self-respect raised by the girls. Then they tried to stifle the voice when it became louder. Now, the issue has become too hot to handle. As a political party that apparently stands for minorities and the marginalised, the IUML cannot turn a blind eye to the issues raised by women leaders. As the Haritha leaders said, the IUML has to regain its democratic structure at every level of the party. It is high time it changed its priorities and policies.
Unlike in the past, where the party enjoyed a monopoly over the Muslim community, there are other players in the field now. And they are more sensible and sensitive to the dreams of the new generation. The party should see the writing on the wall and transform itself to accommodate new perspectives.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Opinion> Editorials / September 17th, 2021
That was a question I was recently asked in connection with a reference I had made to Umda Bagh and its links with education in the city for nearly 125 years. Good question, and off I went ahunting for information.
Into the Umda Bagh campus moved c.1895 the Madrasa-I-Azam, the chief Muslim school in the South and which was established in 1849. This developed partially into a Government Muhammadan College with its own buildings in 1934.
In 1948, the College was reconstituted as the Government Arts College for Men. The College moved to Nandanam in 1972 and a women’s college opened in its stead in 1974. This was named the Quaid-E-Millat Government College for Women, leaving many a student puzzling over the prefixed name, which I’m told means ‘Leader of the Nation’.
A Tirunelveli Rowther, Mohammed Ismail went into business in the 1920s and became a leader in the worlds of leather and Madras commerce. That leadership led him into politics, in which he had shown interest from when, as a 13-year-old, he started in 1909 the Young Muslim Society in Tirunelveli.
Nine years later, he founded the Council of Islamic Scholars and joined the Indian Muslim League. In 1946, he led the League’s Madras unit in the Assembly elections and became Leader of the Opposition. He was also elected to the first Lok Sabha, which simultaneously served as the Indian Constituent Assembly. And, an intriguing election that year was as the founding President of the Madras State Mutton Dealers’ Association, which he remained till his death 26 years later.
When Pakistan was born in 1947, the Muslim League divided and an Indian Union Muslim League came into being. Mohammed Ismail was elected its first President. After serving in the Rajya Sabha from 1952 to 1958, he moved into Kerala politics with States’ Reorganisation in 1956. Leading the IUML, he won Lok Sabha seats in 1962, 1967 and 1971. He died a year after his last election, revered in both Tamil Nadu and Kerala as the Quaid-E-Millat, a leader who ensured communal harmony. Interestingly, his education had been in Hindu, Catholic and Protestant schools and colleges!
Perhaps the greatest tribute paid to him was by Congress Chief Minister M Bhaktavatsalam who, describing his dignified and conciliatory behaviour in the Legislature, said he was “a model for all Opposition leaders”.
The chronicler of Madras that is Chennai tells stories of people, places and events from the years gone by and, sometimes, from today
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / Madras Miscellany / by S. Muthiah / May 01st, 2017
Despite accounting for six to seven per cent of Tamil Nadu’s population, only five Muslims have been elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2016.
While an identical number of Muslim members were elected to the House in 2011, what has changed is that only one MLA belongs to a ‘Muslim’ party. The other four belong to either one of the two Dravidian majors or have fought the elections on their symbol.
Thamimum Ansari
“If you take the population alone into consideration, there has to be at least 14 MLAs in the House. But, even electing 10 members to the House is becoming difficult without the support of bigger parties,” says Thamimum Ansari, who won from Nagapattinam, contesting on the AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ symbol.
Nilofer Kabil
T.P.M. Mohideen Khan
K.S. Masthan
The other members of the House are Labour Minister Nilofer Kabil, T.P.M. Mohideen Khan (DMK), K.A.M. Muhammad Abubacker (IUML) and K.S. Masthan (DMK).
Mr. Ansari urged the bigger parties such as the DMK, the AIADMK and the Congress to ensure adequate representation of the Muslim community in their list of candidates. “Though Muslims can be an influencing factor in up to 40 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, we cannot win those seats without the support of established political parties. Therefore, we need bigger parties to support us,” he says.
The lack of members from ‘Muslim parties’ in the State Assembly, save for the lone IUML MLA, Muhammad Abubacker from Kadaiyanallur, Muslim leaders think, might make it difficult for the community to let their grievances be heard in the Assembly.
“Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, which had two MLAs in 2011, was able to address the problems of the community. If you belong to the Dravidian parties, you might have to toe the line of the party leader and compromise on certain issues,” says M.H. Jawahirullah, leader, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, who was defeated in Ramanathapuram.
He says that Dravidian parties, which sometimes insist that smaller parties contest on their symbol, restrict the growth of the parties representing the minorities or depressed classes.
“In a genuinely good gesture this time, the DMK allotted 10 seats to the Muslim parties. They gave us a good representation. But unfortunately, we were not able to capitalise on it. I hope the DMK will speak for the community in the Assembly,” he says.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / Udhav Naig / Chennai – May 27th, 2016
