The State leadership of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has called for unity of Opposition parties to counter the ‘fascist rule’ of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.
This comes against the backdrop of the recent disqualification of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as Lok Sabha MP following a court verdict in a defamation case. A resolution passed at a meeting of senior leaders held here on Sunday termed the action against Mr. Gandhi as an assault on democracy.
The resolution pointed out that people with democratic convictions should join their hands against the Centre’s repressive tactics on the Opposition. At a time when leaders of the ruling party were found to be making statements spreading hatred and communalism, Opposition leaders were being trapped in fabricated cases. The IUML leadership hailed the decision of the Opposition parties to work together to revive democracy in the country and offered all its support to the Congress’ efforts in this direction. The meeting, presided over by Syed Sadik Ali Shihab Thangal, State president, also urged the State government to abandon the proposed semi-high speed rail project (SilverLine).
Meanwhile, the IUML leaders said that the party would hold protest events outside airports in the State. The Thangal would open the protest outside the Calicut International Airport on April 3. Respective district committees would hold similar events outside Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kannur airports. Party activists would also express their solidarity with Mr. Gandhi on Tuesday by making his photo the profile picture on their social media accounts.