Nadapuram: IUML boycotts all-party meeting

By Our Staff Reporter

KOZHIKODE, AUG. 26. Efforts to restore normality in the rife- stricken areas of Malabar received a major setback when the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) boycotted an all-party meeting at Nadapuram on Sunday.

The peace meeting called by the Kozhikode District Collector, Mr. Biswanath Sinha, failed to make much headway because of the absence of the leaders from the IUML, the second largest coalition partner of the ruling United Democratic Front. A four- member delegation including the Nadapuram grama panchayat president, Mr. Soopy Narikkatteri, the Nadapuram Muslim Youth League (MYL) secretary, Mr. Bangalathu Mohammed, and office- bearers, Mr. Ahamed Punnakal and Mr. Vayaloli Abdulla, walked out of the meeting alleging police excesses against the minorities in the trouble-torn areas of Nadapuram.

They showered abuses on the police officers at the Nadapuram station, demanding a probe into the `atrocities' committed by them. They alleged that the police were targetting IUML office- bearers and cadres, besides desecrating their places of worship. Several of the arrested activists had been brutally tortured in police stations based on fabricated cases, they alleged.

The IUML leaders charged the police with violating the sanctity of the Juma Masjid at Iriyanoor by entering into the holy place with muddy boots.

The allegations include a series of torture cases at the Nadapuram police station and the latest involves the beating up of an IUML worker, Iranjikkal Majeed, a textile shop owner in Nadapuram, who was arrested on Thursday. Mr. Majeed is now undergoing treatment at the Beach Hospital here for injuries in the abdomen and urinary tract.

It has been reported that he was hospitalised after the doctor at the Vadakara jail referred him to the Beach Hospital. The Nadapuram First Class Magistrate, Mr. D. Suresh Kumar, had on Friday ordered a thorough medical examination of Majeed, who was produced before the court in connection with his arrest.

The IUML leaders alleged that the police had taken into custody three more persons. ``They are lenient towards the real culprits behind the communal riots, which include the CPI(M) workers'', they said.

Notwithstanding the allegations raised by the IUML leaders, the peace meeting proceeded with the participation of Mr. Sinha and the Nadapuram MLA, Mr. Binoy Viswom. Leaders from various political parties including the Congress, CPI(M), CPI, BJP, Janata Dal, NCP and CPI(ML) attended the meeting.

Later, Mr. Sinha, termed the boycott of the IUML members as unfortunate. He told `The Hindu' that the IUML leaders were not willing to listen to him after they had made the allegations against the Police Department.

He said the meeting had decided to further relax the prohibitory orders in the areas to 8 p.m from the existing 7 p.m. Medical shops would function till 9 p.m. Communal riots had been contained to a great extent, Mr. Sinha added.

It may be recalled that the Chief Minister, Mr. A.K. Antony, had presided over the first all-party meeting held on July 15 to find a permanent solution to the communal riot problem in Nadapuram and adjoining areas. A team headed by the CPI(M) State secretariat member, Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, and the Industries Minister, Mr. P.K. Kunhalikutty, was formed to initiate discussions with various political parties and organisations.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the boycott is actually a fallout of the internal squabbles within the IUML State leadership. A section of the MYL had raised its voice

against the leadership not taking measures to safeguard the interests of the party activists in Nadapuram.

Some of the leaders said that there had been no changes in the police set-up in Nadapuram even though the IUML Legislature Party Leader, Mr. Kunhalikutty, and the Chief Minister

had, time and again, stated that stringent action would be taken against those behind the arson and looting.

But the officers were targetting ordinary workers of the Muslim League despite a large contingent of police force spreading over the mofussil regions of Kozhikode, the IUML leaders said. ``The police are blatantly pro-LDF and anti-IUML, even after the UDF assumed power,'' a district-level IUML functionary said.

He said that no useful developments had been there even after the UDF completed hundreds days in office. ``The UDF leaders including Mr. Antony have effectively used the Nadapuram issue as a political weapon against the LDF during the Assembly election. But the ordinary party workers are still suffering at the hands of the police force,'' he added.

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