The United Democratic Front (UDF) faces strong criticism from various fronts for Chairman and Opposition Leader V.D. Satheeshan’s comment that the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind had moved away from advocating a theocratic state.
Satheeshan made these remarks in the context of the Nilambur by-election, which will take place later this month, defending the UDF's acceptance of support from the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and its political affiliate, the Welfare Party of India.
It is estimated that the Welfare Party affiliates and sympathisers of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind have a strength of less than 1,500.
Samastha Kanthapuram faction leader Rahmatullah Saqafi Elamaram said that V.D. Satheesan's remark on the Jamaat-e-Islami abandoning its old ideologies had been made without properly studying the Jamaat-e-Islami, claiming that the organisation had not deviated from its core ideology.
The K.N.M. party has also expressed reservations about Satheeshan’s remarks. Interpreting religion for political purposes was the fundamental error committed by Jamaat-e-Islami," said the party state president T.P. Abdullah Koya Madani.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Congress and the Thamarassery Diocese also criticised the UDF for accepting support from the Welfare Party, stating that an alliance between the Congress and the Welfare Party posed a threat to secular democracy and reflected opportunistic politics.
Compared to the past, the Muslim League now has a more lenient stance towards the Jamaat-e-Islami.
In January, Muslim League state president Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said in an interview that the League has maintained a long-standing relationship with Jamaat-e-Islami, and that it is welcoming the latter's votes to the UDF.
Meanwhile, LDF leaders are also fuelling the narrative that the UDF is playing opportunistic politics by accepting the offer for support from the LDF.
CPM state secretary M.V. Govindan's criticism came with the narrative that UDF, by accepting the support of the Welfare Party, has turned into a communal platform.
Meanwhile, UDF’s counter-attack pointed to the past positions of Jamaat-e-Islami and the Welfare Party, as well as the CPM’s approach toward them. They highlighted that even Deshabhimani—in its editorial during the 1996 Assembly elections—had described Jamaat-e-Islami’s support for the LDF as encouraging.
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The UDF also pointed out comments made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, when he was the party secretary. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and the 2011 Assembly elections, Jamaat-e-Islami had extended its support to the Left front. It was during this period that Pinarayi Vijayan described the Jamaat-e-Islami as “a Muslim organisation with a clear political perspective”.
Govindan has also asserted that the CPM had never entered into a political alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami at any point.
The PDP, founded by the controversial leader Abdul Nasser Madani, has extended its support to the LDF. The UDF is citing this support to accuse the CPM of double standards.
Meanwhile, the LDF maintains that the PDP and Jamaat-e-Islami are not comparable, arguing that the PDP represents one of Kerala’s most oppressed communities.
Notably, there are many independent observers who believe that the two groups cannot be equated: they claim that while the PDP has a limited organisational base, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (despite its smaller cadre strength) wields considerable influence through its narrative-building machinery.
Though the opposition leader’s remark was made in the context of the Nilambur bypolls, it could have long-term implications, particularly for the UDF’s equations with various communities.
