Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Sunday organised an event in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to celebrate the opening of its national headquarters — Quaid-e-Millath Centre — in Daryaganj. The event was attended by Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, senior MP and former Union minister Kapil Sibal, IUML’s elected representatives from Kerala and supporters from across states.
Wayanad Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was expected to attend the event but couldn’t due to health reasons, sent a message for the gathering, hailing the party’s biggest aly in Kerala for standing “steadfastly for the values of harmony, unity, freedom and justice enshrined in the Constitution of India”.
In her message, she said protecting the democratic rights of all Indians had been the basis of the Congress and IUML’s shared political journey both in Kerala and at the national level, and accused the BJP of having undertaken “the systematic destruction of our institutions” during its rule.
IUML Public Affairs Committee chairman Sadik Ali Shihan Thangal said the new office will represent the empowerment of communities and had been envisioned as a “hub of secular engagements”.
Expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine, Thangal sought to draw international intervention in alleviating the crisis.
IUML president Kader Mohideen said the contribution of Quaid-e-Millath, as IUML founder M Muhammad Ismail is referred to, was not limited to Muslims but extended to the people of India as a whole.
IUML has 15 MLAs in the 140-seat Kerala Assembly and five MPs — three in the Lok Sabha and two in the Rajya Sabha.
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In his keynote address, Sibal accused the BJP-led NDA government of trying to disenfranchise the poor of the country, accusing it of weaponising the country’s institutions. He also underlined the need for all opposition parties to come together on Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
“The battle is still on….it has started from Bihar and will reach each state of this country and all the leaders of the IUML, the Congress party, the TMC, the RJD… all the leaders of all opposition parties must stand up for the Constitution of India, that is the only way this country will survive… the only way we can rid it (the country) of this toxic rule which we have suffered since 2014,” he said.
Praising the IUML for fighting for socialism and minority rights, Vengugopal termed the existing NDA rule “very, very difficult” and accused the Modi government of having “stolen the 2024 Lok Sabha elections”.
“They have power… instead of looking at the people as equal, they are trying to divide the people, target the people… see the legislations passed by Parliament – all are targeting communities,” he said, mentioning the Waqf Amendment Act.
