Minority Sangamam: Congress wary of LDF bait, IUML to wait for details

KOZHIKODE: Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) will wait for the official announcement of the details of the proposed Minority Sangamam before reacting to the event scheduled to be held in mid-October. We have not taken any decision on the issue, said party leader K P A Majeed, MLA. It is not yet clear whether political parties will be invited for the programme or the event will be confined to religious and community leaders. The IUML may follow the collective decision of the UDF in the issue. The party had declined the invitation for the Palestine solidarity meeting held by the CPM in November 2023. The party had also stayed away from the seminar against Uniform Civil Code organised by the CPM in July in the same year. The party decided to stay away from both the events after realising the political intention behind the programmes. Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan made it amply clear that Congress is totally against the Sangamam. Speaking to reporters, he said that political content of the event to be held at the fag end of the LDF government is too obvious to be ignored. For the past nine-and-a-half years, the government hasnt done anything and suddenly it is busy with holding Ayyappa Sangamam and Minority Sangamam. It is for the next government to decide such things, he said, adding that UDF had organised similar conclaves because it is the front that is going to come to power in the next elections. Let the CPM hold separate sangamams for various religions, castes and sub-castes, he quipped. Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany said that the Church is waiting for the declaration of the details of the event. We have not received any details about the programme. Let the LDF leadership explain its content and who will be participating. Only then will we decide whether to attend, he said. Speaking to the media in Kannur, Pamplany said the LDF government had repeatedly sidelined Christian interests. The state government is doing injustice to the minority communities. We do not believe that this government is entirely against us, but it has ignored several needs and demands of minorities, he said. Highlighting one such issue, he pointed out that teachers in Christian management schools have been denied salaries for the past seven years under the pretext of implementing reservation for Persons with Disabilities (PwBD). At the same time, the government has clarified that the proposed event is not the same as the Ayyappa Sangamam and it will be in the form of a seminar. The Department of Minorities Welfare has been entrusted with the conduct of the event and such programmes will be under the aegis of all the departments of the government.