JEDDAH – An Indian politician underlined the need for forming a united front of secular parties to protect the country from the onslaught of Hindutva forces. Sulaiman Khalid, a leader of the Indian Union Muslim League party, said the Zionists' growing ties with communal forces in India is giving alarming signals to the country's minority communities. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Khalid, who arrived here to perform Umrah, said the Sangh Parivar, the umbrella grouping of Hindu chauvinist organizations, is pursuing their hidden agenda of “saffronizing” the world's largest democracy by attempts to rewrite history books, appointing hardline Hindutva ideologues at the helm of academic and cultural bodies, and sowing seeds of communal hatred and enmity. “It is high time for the secular parties, including the Indian National Congress, to rise to the occasion to defeat the intrigues of these evil forces. There should be concerted efforts to defeat the onslaught of Sangh Parivar on the country's history and culture as well as on the religious identity of minorities,” he said, while referring to controversial statements by Hindutva leaders calling for a ban on religious conversion and castration of Muslims and Christians. He also condemned efforts to organize ceremonies for mass conversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism and moves for declaring the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita as the national scripture. Apart from intensifying defense and security ties with Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planning to visit Tel Aviv this year, Khalid pointed out. Modi, who visited Israel in 2006 while as the chief minister of the Gujarat state, will become the first Indian prime minister to do so since the creation of the Zionist state on occupied Palestinian territories, which was opposed by Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Khalid said. “India's minority communities, especially its 180 million Muslims, are in the grip of fear. They are worried whether they could preserve their religious and cultural identity in the wake of the intensified efforts of the Hindutva forces to transform India into a Hindu state,” he said. Khalid, who is a member of Muslim League's Kerala state working committee and secretariat, urged all smaller Muslim groups to rally behind Muslim League to enable the party to resist the hostile campaign of Sangh Parivar through democratic and peaceful means. He asked the Modi government to review the decision to cut fund allocations for the social and educational uplift of the districts with a majority of Muslims and other minorities across the country. He also called for the immediate release of Muslim youths who have been put behind bars after framing false charges against them under various anti-terrorist laws. “Members of Parliament from the Muslim League party have raised this issue strongly while taking part in the proceedings in addition to meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in this regard.” Khalid was a senior leader of the Indian National League (INL), founded by his father and world-renowned Indian Muslim leader Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait. He quit INL and joined Muslim League after serving the party in various capacities such as general secretary and vice president of the Kerala state committee and general secretary of the national committee. Khalid commended the focus of Muslim League in carrying out humanitarian activities like construction of Bait Rahma (home for the poor) and pain and palliative centers, as well as conducting environment awareness programs and a campaign against extravagant weddings. The Jeddah central committee of Kerala Muslim Cultural Center (KMCC), the Gulf-based affiliate of Muslim League, hosted a reception to Khalid at Seasons Restaurant here. The function was presided over by Palayat Ahmad, the committee president. Those who attended included P.T. Muhammad, E.P. Ubaidullah, Anwar Cherangai, P.M.A. Jaleel, K.V.A. Ghafour, Pazheri Kunhimohamed, Sahal Thangal, Nizam Mampad, C.K. Shakir, Majeed Pukayoor, T.P. Shuhaib, V.P. Mustafa, C.K. Abdulrahman, Umer Aripambra and Hassan Batheri.
