The Hindu : Kerala News : IUML leadership on a sticky wicket

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 03, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Kerala

Kerala

IUML leadership on a sticky wicket

R. Madhavan Nair

Pressure on leadership to announce stand on Indo-U.S. nuclear deal

An unqualified support to the deal will be against the mood of the community
Reports on Banatwala’s press release put the issue on the simmer

Kozhikode: Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has come under pressure to make an official announcement of its stand on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal.

League’s managers expect their leadership to respond urgently to this issue since a section of the media has come out with reports which say former all-India president of the party G.M. Banatwala had prepared a press release opposing it.

Though Banatwala died before the press release was issued, the publicity it received through print and television media later has brought pressure on the League leadership to take a clear stand on this sensitive issue.

Spelling out its views on the nuclear deal has become as important for the League as finding a replacement for Banatwala who had, when he was Member of Parliament, made forceful presentations of the League’s perspective on major issues before the nation.

A major factor that has put the League in a tight spot now is the presence of party leader E. Ahamed in the Union Cabinet as Minister for State for External Affairs. Being a part of the UPA government, the League has not been able to give free expression to its views on foreign policies.

Since the Muslim community is swayed by strong anti-U.S. sentiments, an unqualified support to the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal would be against the mood of the community that the League represents.

Such a position would also be grabbed by other Muslim political outfits that are always on the look out for opportunities to weaken the political support that the League enjoys in the community.

However, a section of the League leadership also believes the party should not ditch the Congress when it is being pushed against the wall by the Left and other detractors of the agreement.

The League leadership knows it would not be wise to do anything that would weaken the Congress at the election time since the beneficiary of such a move would be the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A section of the League leadership also wants the cadres to know that the League cannot reject UPA and the nuclear deal with the vehemence that the Left displays.

In the League’s perception, the Left would have raised some other issues to distance itself from the Congress-led UPA government before the general elections, if issue related to the Indo-U.S. pact had not come up.

The Left would have taken such a hostile stand at the election time since its principal rival in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala where it has winning chances is the Congress, say IUML’s top managers.

About two months ago, the League’s national executive which was attended by the late Banatwala had discussed the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. It was then decided to take a cautious approach on the issue and to highlight the need to go into the details of the agreement to find out if it had any provisions that would undermine national interests.

However, in the changed political situation in which the Left is threatening to withdraw its support to UPA government, raising chances of a sharp political polarisation that would be to the advantage of the BJP, some of League’s leaders are opposed to taking a drastic action that would undermine the UPA.

If it wants to remain with the Congress in its hour of crisis, the IUML leadership would also have to persuade its supporters to forget their U.S. phobia for the time being in the larger interests of their party.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala