To attend Ram temple event or not? Kerala Muslim outfit slams Congress’s ambivalence

SAMASTHA added that if the Congress does not review its stand, the BJP would retain power in the Lok Sabha elections of 2024 as well, while the Congress, which had led the Independence struggle, would be reduced to history books.

The editorial comes amidst the CPI(M)’s success in developing a bridge to the SAMASTHA, which is an influential organisation of clerics and seen as the backbone of the IUML.

The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government in the state has accommodated SAMASTHA sentiments on several issues affecting the Muslim community. The CPI(M) has also been trying to woo the IUML, banking on Muslim uneasiness that the Congress may not have the ideological commitment to fight the Sangh Parivar.

The IUML, which had so far kept a cautious silence on the issue, on Wednesday warned the Congress against “the BJP trap”. IUML state general secretary P M A Salam said: “Before every election, it has been the practice of BJP to whip up communal sentiments. In the past, there has been communal violence. Even now, exploiting communal agenda is the BJP’s strategy. None should fall into that trap. It is our stand,” he said.

Last week, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha) had received invitations from a delegation of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya to be held on January 22.

Asked whether the leaders would attend the ceremony, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal was elusive. Speaking to the media in Delhi, he said: “What is the party’s stand? On January 22, you will know who is participating… They invited us. We are very much thankful to them for inviting us.”

Unlike the Congress, the national leadership of the CPI(M) has been clear that it will not take part in the event. Apart from its Communist ideology, the CPI(M) can also take this stand as it does not have to fear voter backlash in other states – unlike the Congress.

The Suprabhaatham editorial lauded the stand of the CPI(M). “Leaders like CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury have the wisdom to understand that the January 22 ceremony is a litmus test to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra. Hence, Yechury has shown the courage to openly state that he would not take part in the event. The secular democratic people of the country expect that courage and tenacity from Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi,’’ said the daily.

The SAMASTHA mouthpiece also mentioned the Congress’s soft-Hindutva measures such as its Madhya Pradesh leader Kamal Nath sending 12 silver bricks for the construction of the Ram temple, which is coming up at the site of the demolished Babri Masjid. The party’s campaign in the state, which saw holy men bless leaders and the promise of a Hanuman temple, was prominently Hindutva, but did not help it win the state.

The soft Hindutva line of the Congress faltered before the BJP’s hardcore Hindutva, the editorial said.

Incidentally, in 1994, the IUML had suffered a split after its stand on the Babri Masjid demolition was seen as too moderate by sections within the party as well as the community. The splinter group, Indian National League, founded by the late IUML parliamentarian Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait, is now an ally of the LDF in Kerala.

In a hint at the above, the CPI(M) has been putting pressure on the IUML, asking whether the party was capable of challenging the soft Hindutva line of the Congress in North Indian states.

Left-backed legislator K T Jaleel said that in the past, the IUML had leaders who could stand up to the Congress if it “strayed” from the secular perspective. “How can the Congress emerge as an alternative to the BJP now?” he said.