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Opposition mounts against UDFs tie-up with Welfare Party

KOZHIKODE: Pressure is mounting on the UDF not to have an alliance with the Welfare Party of India, the political wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, even while the Congress-led front is going ahead with its plan of local-level adjustments with the party in the local body elections. The latest to raise voice against the tie-up is Abdul Hameed Faizy Ambalakadavu, the working secretary of the Sunni Yuvajana Sangam (SYS), who sought to remind the UDF that the Jamaat and Muslim Brotherhood are the two sides of the same coin. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Faizy said Jamaat had declared that the Muslims who cooperate with the democratic system or exercise their franchise would automatically be out of Islam. The same organisation later formed a political party to be a part of the same system by becoming an ally of different political fronts, he said. Faizy said this should be viewed seriously because the Jamaat is a cadre organisation that would not hesitate to resort to any strategy to achieve its aim. If the Jamaat is elected in Sunni-majority mahals, the organisation will convert the local body ward and mahal as its own, he said. Faizy recalled that the Solidarity Youth Movement, the youth organisation of the Jamaat, had carried the photos of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt during the protest march to the Kozhikode Airport last April. IUML has surrendered its Sunni ideology Faizy said the efforts from the part of certain persons to forge alliance with the Jamaat was the reason behind the issues in Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama. Diluting the Samasthas stand that deviant groups should be kept at distance would lead to acceptance of the ideology of forces like Jamaat, he said. Meanwhile, the INL has expressed concern over the development of the Panakkad family members declaring the Jamaat candidates. Panakkad Syed Rasheed Ali Shihab Thangal had declared the candidates for Kodur panchayat in Malappuram, which included the names of Welfare Party members. INL state general secretary Kasim Irikkur said the incident marked a change in Kerala politics. The IUML has donated many seats to the Welfare Party neglecting the opposition from local-level leaders and workers, he said. Kasim added that the IUML has surrendered its Sunni ideology.