M K Muneer Rejects Jamaat-e-Islami, Says Religious State Concept Dangerous in Secular India

Kozhikode: Senior Muslim League leader M K Muneer has strongly rejected Jamaat-e-Islami, which has repeatedly asserted that it cannot abandon the idea of a religious state. Muneer said that the concept of an Islamic state is impossible in a secular country and warned that even thinking along such lines is dangerous.

In an interview with a private news channel, Muneer stated that the Muslim League cannot even contemplate the idea of a religious state and that such ideologies must be firmly opposed.

Muneer’s remarks come at a time when Opposition Leader V D Satheesan and other UDF leaders have been defending Jamaat-e-Islami by claiming it does not adhere to religious state ideology.

The controversy intensified after Sheikh Mohammed Karakunnu, a member of Jamaat-e-Islami’s State Shura Council, publicly stated that the organization does not reject the concept of an Islamic Republic. His statement is seen as a major setback for the UDF, which is reportedly considering an alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami in the upcoming Assembly elections.

The UDF had earlier formed alliances with the Welfare Party, the political wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, even during local body elections. Congress and Muslim League leaders have indicated that this alliance is likely to be repeated in the forthcoming Assembly polls.