Left Front legislator KT Jaleel, who is backed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has stirred up a controversy with his statement ‘Most gold smugglers are Muslims’. Jaleel also sought a fatwa asking Muslims not to engage in gold smuggling and hawala transactions.
In an interview with a television channel on Saturday, Jaleel sought a ‘fatwa’ (religious edict) by Panakkad Sadiqali Shihab Thangal, State president of the Muslim League, as well as the ‘khasi’ (chief religious authority) of hundreds of ‘mahallus’ (local congregations), to Muslims not to engage in gold smuggling and hawala transactions. He was responding to a question about gold smuggling through the Kozhikode International Airport, located in Malappuram district and the hawala transactions reported from the district.
According to Jaleel, such a ‘fatwa’ would go a long way in shedding the bad image of Malappuram, which is a Muslim-majority district.
Jaleel Refuses to Apologise Despite Criticism
Soon after his statement, the leaders of the Muslim League, including National organising Secretary ET Muhammad Basheer MP, State General Secretary PMA Salam and Muslim Youth League General Secretary PK Firos, demanded an apology from Jaleel for ‘dragging a whole community’ into the gold smuggling issue.
Jaleel, however, was unfazed by the criticism and reiterated his stand on Sunday. He said, according to statistics the majority of people charged in these cases belonged to the Muslim community and challenged them that there are records to show that even clerics returning from Hajj pilgrimage were arrested for gold smuggling.
In his latest Facebook post, Jaleel asked ‘Malappuram lovers’, who criticised him, how they would usher progress in the Muslim community without accepting this reality. He also shared an image of the October 6 page of CPM mouthpiece Desabhimani, which carried his interview titled ‘If I Tell the Truth’, which covered many of these topics.
Jaleel pointed out that a large majority of Muslims who engaged in gold smuggling and hawala transactions believe that such activities are ‘not against faith’. “When a demand is raised that religious leaders should create awareness among Muslims, how can that be termed Islamophobic,” Jaleel questioned.
“The society will scoff at a person who finds fault with a speck of dust in another’s eye while carrying a spear in his eye,” Jaleel added quoting a Malayalam proverb. Referring to the allegations of gold smuggling against him in the past, Jaleel said, “Where did all these lovers of Malappuram hide when I was falsely accused of smuggling gold in the Holy Quran and hounded by the media, Muslim League and Congress?”
He also added a video on his FB page of a prominent Islamic scholar Basheer Faizi speaking against gold smuggling and asking the clerics to exhort the community to keep away from the crime as it is destroying the Indian economy.
However, Muslim League leaders feel that Jaleel was trying to provide credence to the recent statements by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan about the Malappuram district and the illegal activities, which also created a controversy. “Jaleel, who is totally sidelined in the CPM, is trying to appease the party bosses. Even the BJP and RSS didn’t do what Jaleel has done now,” said Salam.
Congress leaders also came out against Jaleel. “India is not a theocratic state to counter criminal activities with a fatwa. India is a democratic country, and here, illegal activities should be countered legally,” said Shafi Parambil MP.
Senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan also came out against the MLA’s ‘fatwa’ remark, saying it’s an insult to the Constitution.
Who is Jaleel?
57-year-old Jaleel represents the Thavanur Assembly constituency in Malappuram district and is considered a prominent Muslim face of the Left politics in the state. Jaleel, who was a follower of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India(SIMI), later joined the Muslim Students Federation, the students’ wing of the Muslim League. An Associate Professor of History at PSMO College, Tirurangadi, he was ousted from the youth wing following differences with the Muslim League leadership.
He entered the Kerala Assembly as an Independent backed by the Left, trouncing PK Kunhalikkuuty, a top Muslim League leader and one of the political heavyweights in the state, in a fierce battle in 2006 at Kuttippiuram. He was re-elected from Thavanur in 2011 and 2016 and has served as a Minister in the 2016-21 Left Democratic Front (LDF) led government.
