Massive Samastha meet calls for Sunni unity

Kozhikode: The valedictory session of the centenary conference of Samastha concluded with a massive meeting attended by lakhs of people at Kuniya in Kasaragod on Sunday evening. A call was issued for Sunni unity and organizations that had split away from Samastha were urged to return to its fold. In his presidential address, Samastha president Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal said that the Samastha mushawara meeting held on Feb 4 had taken a formal decision to this effect. The move is being seen as a significant step towards Sunni unity in Kerala, where the community has long been divided between two major factions — the EK group led by Jifri Thangal and the AP faction led by Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar. Jifri Thangal also announced that Samastha has decided to expand its activities at the national level and would constitute committees in various states. Addressing the gathering, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan called for united resistance against communalism and the ideology of a theocratic state. He said Samastha's position that communalism can only be countered by aligning with secular forces – and that one form of communalism cannot be a remedy for another – was highly relevant in the current social environment. Vijayan said the country was facing a political crisis, with attempts being made to undermine its multi-religious character and diverse cultural heritage. Referring to concerns over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, he said Kerala would not support any move that makes religion a criterion for citizenship. The chief minister reiterated that the state govt had made it clear that no one would be jailed in the name of citizenship and that it would stand firm on that position. He also said attempts to exclude people from voter lists should be viewed with seriousness. Through resolutions adopted at the conference, Samastha demanded that at least three days of official holiday be granted for Eid celebrations. The demand was raised through a resolution passed at a conference held in connection with its centenary, calling on the govt to declare a minimum of three days of official holiday each for Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha Samastha also demanded that examination schedules be fixed in a manner that does not obstruct Friday prayers. The organization further called for social and community considerations to be taken into account while preparing the public education calendar. The valedictory meet was inaugurated by rector of Al Azhar University in Egypt Salama Gomaa Dawood. Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivkumar, opposition leader V D Satheesan, IUML state president Panakkad Sadikali Shihab Thangal and several religious scholars from other countries attended the meeting.