KOZHIKODE: In a throwback to the sectarian sentiments of the Shah Bano case, on Friday, Muslim organizations in Kerala , many of whom couldn't see eye to eye till the other day, have decided to bury their differences and launch a joint platform called Muslim Vyakthi Niyama Samrkshana Samithi (Muslim Personal Law Protection Committee).

The new outfit apparently enjoys the patronage of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), with MC Mayin Haji, IUML state secretary and close confidante of industries minister PK Kunhalikutty, the convener of the committee. "Mohammadan law states that any girl who attains puberty can be married off. The Muslim personal law has not fixed specific age for the marriage of Muslim girls. So any law that fixes 18 years as the age for the marriage is an infringement upon the constitutional rights of Muslims," Mayin Haji said.

Though MK Muneer, minister for social welfare and panchayats, claimed that IUML leaders were part of the new organization only in their capacity as representatives of their respective religious organizations, the IUML has clearly initiated this with a view to the 2014 general elections. It has in fact threatened to go alone in all 20 constituencies, something it could be forced to resort to if push within the UDF comes to shove.

Representatives of Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema, Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen, its rival Nadvathul Mujahideen, Jamaát-e-Islami, Dakshina Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema, Samsthana Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema, Muslim Education Society and Muslim Service Society attended the meeting. Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema secretary Kottumala Bappu Musaliayar has been elected the chairman and SKSSF leader Musthafa Mundoopara co-ordinator of the committee.

Though the Sunni faction led by Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musaliyar didn't attend the meeting, it is learned that he will also extend support to the new committee. The immediate provocation for the move is the case filed against the office-bearers of the Ciesco Orphanage for marrying off an underage Muslim girl to a foreigner.

But the IUML's attempt to bring all the Muslim organisations under one umbrella, and that too on a reactionary agenda, ahead of Lok Sabha elections suffered a jolt with Muslim Students' Federation, the student wing of the party, openly coming out against the move to bring down the marriageable age of Muslim girls. "The decision is not in the right direction. We should create an atmosphere for the girls to pursue their education rather than marrying them off at a younger age,' MSF state president T P Ashraf Ali said. "As an organisation working on the campuses, we know that majority of the girls is against getting married before completing education," he said. Muslim Youth League state president P M Sadiqali also struck a discordant note. "Our stand is that child marriages should not be allowed. But we would not like to comment on today's development," he said.

The Muslim Souhruda Vedi, which ceased to exist a few years ago, was the most recent attempt by the IUML to bring all the Muslim organisations under one roof. But at a meeting at Kottakkal in 2009 the IUML decided not to have any association with the Jamaát-e-Islami, a member of the Souhruda Vedi, because the party found 'extremist leanings' in Jamaát. After that IUML took a strong position against the organisation but, interestingly, Jamaát-e-Islami is now a member of the Muslim Personal Law Protection Committee.

Mayin Haji said the committee would explore all avenues, including approaching the Supreme Court, to protect the community's constitutional rights. "We need to get clarity in the issue because there are contradictory verdicts from different courts," he said.

