Aryadan issue becomes a headache for UDF

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 19. The IUML has taken up the Nilambur issue with the KPCC leadership, with the IUML leader, Mr. P.K. Kunhalikutty, registering his party's strong protest at the reported statements of the senior Congress leader, Mr. Aryadan Mohammed, MLA.

Mr. Kunhalikutty spoke to the KPCC president, Mr. K. Muraleedharan, as part of the UDF's attempt to contain the IUML- Congress skirmish to the regional level. What began as a dispute in a privately run school has now developed into a major political row with political undercurrents. The dispute led to unseemly incidents in Nilambur, with a section of the IUML workers stoning Mr. Aryadan's residence to mark their protest. The local Congress leadership, which has staged a long-standing battle against the IUML in its own bastion and has held out for more than three decades, has not hesitated to retaliate against the IUML by staging their own brand of protests and demonstration.

The IUML leadership has taken exception to Mr. Aryadan's statement that the party supremo Mr. Panakkad Syeed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal, as the State IUML president, was not above criticism. The district leaders, and Mr. Kunhalikutty himself, had publicly condemned Mr. Aryadan for his statement.

But the row has several political under-currents. The IUML build- up is apparently a move to wrest from the Congress the last outpost in Malappuram district which has never been in its hold, thanks to Mr. Aryadan Mohammed, who has consistently won from the constituency, at times without the help of the IUML. Mr. Aryadan Mohammed has also been one of the key personalities in the traditional fight between liberal Muslims and the IUML, which has a strong presence in all the other Assembly constituencies in Malappuram district.

The IUML is apparently using the services of the NRI businessman, Mr. Abdul Wahab, who runs the Peevees Residential School, to cut Mr. Aryadan to size. It is the dispute relating to retrenchment of some staff members of the school that triggered off the row in the first place. The IUML is strongly backing Mr. Wahab.

The Nilambur issue would prove to be a headache for the Chief Minister, Mr. A.K. Antony. This is because it has the potential to upset the cosy relations he shares with the IUML, especially in the context of the factional feuds in the Congress. So far, Mr. Antony has not opened up his mind on it, but there are several other developments in the past which indicate that he would permit the IUML to have its way.

Even if the Nilambur issue is finally sorted out, Mr. Antony would have to decide whether he would indeed back Mr. Aryadan in his fight to preserve some parts of Malappuram district for the Congress.

In the meantime, the Karunakaran faction, which met here, strongly criticised Mr. Aryadan for his remarks against the IUML supremo, Mr. Thangal.

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