Dr. M.K. Muneer has been an eminent member of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) ever since he headed the youth wing and was appointed secretary of the organisation, but he gained prominence for his unorthodox vision as a minister in the former Congress state government and continues to do so as an IUML MLA from Kozhikode South.
He has been advocating for initiatives such as pushing for ‘ethical capital’ status for Kozhikode, introducing mandatory psycho-social counselling for teenagers in schools, renovating public libraries, and implementing the country’s first transgender policy.
Muneer says that he is simply continuing the IUML’s doctrine of public participation and inclusiveness, as explained in the interview, with excerpts provided below.
Vrinda Gopinath: The last few days have seen Prime Minister Modi’s persistent jibe at the Congress saying its manifesto carries the imprint of the Muslim League and reeks of appeasement and of breaking up India. It has certainly put the League out there in the national imagination?
M.K. Muneer: First of all, Modi has not pointed out anywhere in his speeches where the Congress manifesto has made concessions to the Muslim community. He has not given a single example [to support his own statement]. This is typical of Modi’s game in every election, making statements that can polarise Hindus and Muslims – the only election strategy they [the BJP] know is to break community unity.
[Do you] remember the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, [which erupted] just before the 2014 general election? It was certainly used by the BJP, and eventually, Yogi Adityanath won Uttar Pradesh.
Similarly, in 2019, the BJP and Modi played up the Pulwama attack in the run-up to the general election. However, one must pay heed to what then J&K governor Satyapal Malik had said. He’d said that Pulwama was a game played by Modi for electoral success, and in yet another interview, Malik said that Modi might orchestrate the killing of a top BJP leader or cause damage to the Ram temple to vitiate the atmosphere as he will stop at nothing to win the 2024 election.
Fortunately, people have not responded to this blatant communal call by Modi.
VG: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said Modi’s jibes reminds the Congress of the RSS-IUML friendship of the past?
M.K.M: Typically, Modi referred to the League before Independence – so Kharge responded by referring to Jinnah’s All-India Muslim League, which had colluded with the Hindu Mahasabha ideologue Shyama Prasad Mukherjee to help the British fight the freedom movement.
Our organisation, the IUML, was formed in 1948, by M. Muhammad Ismail, who was a member of the Constituent Assembly. Naturally, Ismail sahib clearly laid out that the constitution is of primary importance, that if Muslims want to be part of the mainstream and participate in nation-building, they have to be political, and not reactionary. We must obey the constitution, and join politics too.
While religious organisations like the Jamaat-e-Islami insisted Muslims should keep aloof from politics as it is not ordained by god, the IUML encouraged community members to get government jobs, join national organisations, and become a true citizen.
VG: Would you then say the broadcast of The Kerala Story is yet another attempt to polarise people on religious grounds? The Congress has complained to the Election Commission about Modi’s Muslim League jibes and the deliberate ploy behind the screening of the film?
MKM: Isn’t it obvious it is yet another game by Modi to inflame communal passion? What was the need to broadcast The Kerala Story on Doordarshan, that too on the eve of elections? [Was it] to inflame rural areas? It’s well-known, [as] even the director and scriptwriter of the film has conceded that the theme of the film, ‘love jihad’, is a work of fiction. They climbed down from 32,000 cases of ‘love jihad’ to just two and three. A parliamentary question elicited a similar answer of just two to three cases. Modi and the BJP only want to spread hate.
VG: It must be said here that several Christian organisations, including some bishops in Kerala, are organising shows of The Kerala Story and warning about love ‘jihad’. Is it because Christians are unhappy with the Congress for the party’s undue importance given to IUML and the community?
MKM: I don’t believe the Christians are unhappy with the Congress. There are extreme elements in every community and religion whether Muslim, Hindu or Christian. It is a trend among extremist youth to stoke hatred through social media, etc. Idukki diocese and the the Kerala Catholic, etc. has screened the controversial movie in all its units. However then, another church ordered screening of a documentary on the Manipur violence. The parish priest said at least this was real and not fiction, and that the Kerala society must be vigilant about propaganda films like The Kerala Story.
However, we are all in politics, and there are some churches close to the BJP. There are Christian candidates contesting under the Congress-led UDF too, of which we are also part of, and the IUML is supporting them, and vice versa.
VG: What about extremist elements in Muslim organisations?
MKM: The League has always stood against extremism within the community. We have fought tooth and nail against the PDP (People’s Democratic Party), which created the ISS or Organisation of Islamic Servants; also, the banned SIMI has incarnated as the NDF, or National Development Front.
Then it became the Socialist Democratic Party of India, where members have been arrested on charges of political murders and communal protests. The IUML has always taken a firm stand against all these organisations, including the now banned PFI, or Popular Front of India.
VG: Can Christian votes swing a defeat for the Left or the Congress candidates? In Pathanamthitta, the BJP is banking on Christian votes to swing in favour of its candidate, Anil Antony, former Congress minister A.K. Antony’s son?
MKM: The Congress-led UDF has fielded a Christian too, sitting MP Anto Antony.
VG: Would you say minorities are in a safe position in Kerala in the face of the Hindutva onslaught? After all, both dominant parties, the Left and the Congress, are anti-BJP, so it is not a difficult choice?
MKM: Muslims constitute almost 27% of the state’s population, and Christians about 19%. For Muslims, in a state election, it is always local issues, whether it was COVID preparedness or the floods, where the CPM scored in the 2021 assembly polls. The ruling party always has an advantage after a crisis. Similarly, national issues affect the community just like in the rest of the country, and in Kerala, it is always a political vote. By that I mean, we are not just doing a job by voting, we cast a vote as a reflection of our thoughts.
VG: For instance, the CAA is a big issue in the country. However, Kerala is not necessarily affected because it does not have a migrant population. It is also not a border state like Assam?
MKM: We all are against CAA on principle, for when a law is made, there should be a reason, and the reason here is to exclude only the Muslim community.
The CAA excludes countries like Myanmar deliberately because of the Rohingya Muslims, even though it is a neighbour like Sri Lanka, etc. The CAA is specifically anti-Muslim and also anti-democratic.
In Mumbai, Muslims are running frantically to government offices to get their citizenship, and they are afraid whether they will get it as the onus is on them to prove their residency. How can anyone be asked one fine morning whether they are a citizen or not?
These issues affect Kerala Muslims too.
VG: The Left has asserted quite vociferously their anti-CAA stand in demos and public protests, whereas your ally, the Congress, has not even included CAA in its manifesto?
MKM: First of all, Congress leaders from Rahul Gandhi to Shashi Tharoor have all said they will abolish CAA. Perhaps, we should also look at the spirit of the Congress manifesto. After all, most of these discriminatory laws have been pushed through by the BJP-led NDA’s brute majority in parliament without any discussion or consultation in both Houses — from the CAA to UCC to abolishing Article 370 for J&K.
The Congress’s manifesto reflects the letter and spirit of the constitution. It clearly says the party will give all citizens freedom from fear, that there will be no discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, and instead it’ll encourage reform in personal laws in consultation with the communities. It will not interfere in personal choices of food, dress, etc, and such like. The present discriminatory laws fly in the face of Article 14 of the constitution. So, the Congress has pledged to keep aside these brute laws.
VG: But why is the Congress coy about spelling it out?
MKM: It’s Modi’s game again, why did his government bring the CAA on the eve of the election? Because he wants to polarise communities against each other again, apart from diverting the election campaign from the real issues like the massive electoral bonds fraud and corruption, unemployment, inflation, and all. The Modi government has not delivered to the people. It’s yet another diversionary tactic to change the narrative in the election campaign and political parties don’t want to fall in the trap.
M.K. Muneer with former Congress chief minister Oommen Chandy. Photo provided by author.
VG: Why does the IUML prefer the Congress over the Left? There have been backdoor talks between the LDF and some sections of the IUML to come together over time?
MKM: We did have a coalition government with the Left in 1967, my father was a minister too. However, the coalition collapsed and we’ve been with the Congress ever since. More importantly, it is the Congress which has a national footprint today to take on the BJP in the country. We have to strengthen the Congress to increase its numbers as it has alliances in many states, from Tamil Nadu to Maharashtra and other states, whereas the CPM is only in Kerala. In Bengal, the Congress and CPM are on the same side. Our endeavour is to ensure the India alliance is made forceful and every party stays on the same side if there is a chance at power in Delhi.
VG: What are you hinting at? The IUML does not trust the CPM?
MKM: V.P. Singh became prime minister as the CPM stood with the BJP to form his government. The Marxists brought down the Manmohan Singh government in 2009 on the Indo-US nuclear deal, so we cannot predict where the CPM will stand with the India bloc after the elections.
VG: Surely the Left will not support a BJP government?
MKM: No, they will not. But will they join the India bloc government? Will they support it from the outside and pull the rug later? These are anxieties amongst the people and will influence their judgment at the time of voting.
Significantly, people are suspicious about some of the actions, or I may say, inaction of the Pinarayi government here. For instance, there is this surprising indifference of the state government against a core group of RSS police officers inside the force who call themselves Tatvamasi. They go on a pilgrimage to Kanyakumari, I raised this in the assembly but the chief minister has given no reply to this date.
VG: Perhaps, it’s just alleged as there’s no proof. After all, there’s talk about Pachha Valecha (green light) in the force because of PFI infiltration?
MKM: The Opposition has raised the issue of two RSS workers being let off last month in Kasargod for the murder of a maulvi, because the court said the prosecution’s investigation was shoddy. The chief minister’s daughter is being investigated by the ED after an income tax report last year. Former finance minister Thomas Isaac is being investigated by the ED on the masala bond scam. Pinarayi himself is being investigated by the CBI on the Lavalin case. However, every time the case comes up in the Supreme Court, the Solicitor General has taken leave 33 times and the case keeps getting postponed. (The Supreme Court has finally agreed to have a final hearing on May 1). While most Opposition leaders under the ED scan are in prison, Kerala leaders seem to be scot free.
VG: Is this the message of the IUML to the community? Also, since the Left is wooing the community and several organisations like Samasthan have welcomed the overtures, could a split vote help the BJP, which is waiting in the wings?
MKM: Today, the Samastha, Mujahideen, the Jamaat-e-Islami, they are all now with the UDF and have declared to their followers the Congress has to be strengthened wherever it stands, and more importantly, the India bloc has to be consolidated.
The community is also aware that the LDF is refusing to do a caste census which is mandatory every 10 years – the census is crucial as we would know the socio-economic status of the population, including Muslims, as reservations are also given [based] on their economic status.
Yes, we have the Dalit Muslim League, so far, Muslims get 10% reservation in government jobs and 12% reservation in educational institutes, but it is crucial that we know the economic status of all sections of society. Bihar has just discovered it has 65% backward castes and so reservation must increase in the state.
VG: Will a three-cornered contest between the LDF, UDF and BJP go to the advantage of the BJP? For instance, in Thiruvananthapuram, in 2019, the BJP came second to Shashi Tharoor, the Left candidate was pushed to the third place?
MKM:In a triangular contest, a one-two per cent swing can make a difference. However, the real contest is between the UDF and LDF and that vote swing goes only to these two parties. In 2019, the swing went in favour of the UDF, which is why the Left candidate went to the third place. Even an increase in the BJP vote share will not affect the two parties.
