Hundreds of expatriates from the southern Indian state of Kerala on Thursday mourned the death of Panakkad Syed Mohammed Ali Shihab Thangal, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) Kerala state president and a widely respected social activist. Shihab Thangal breathed his last in Kerala's Malappuram district on Saturday. The condolence meeting held in Dammam was organized by Kerala Muslim Cultural Center (KMCC), one of the oldest expatriate organizations in the Middle East. “I was deeply impressed by his concern for the poor and oppressed, and by his modesty and humility” said Dr. Rajeev of Badr Al-Rehea dispensary who inaugurated the condolence meeting. Abdussamad Master Palathingal read out a condolence message during the function. Various speakers recalled the important role Shihab Thangal played in promoting communal harmony in the wake of the demolition of Babri Masjid by Hindu fundamentalists in 1992. Shihab Thangal was highly respected even by his political rivals. He was a nationalist who cherished secular values, social worker, historian, writer and powerful speaker. He was behind the proposal to open a campus of Aligarh Muslim University in his town Panakkad in Malappuram district. Shihab Thangal, born in 1936, led the IUML as its state president for 34 years. He took over the leadership after his father P.M.S.A Pookoya Thangal's death in 1975. Shihab Thangal had his primary education at the Madrasathul Mohammadiyya High School, Kozhikode. He continued his studies at Kanachery Dars and finished his higher education in Al-Azhar Islamic Universityy in Cairo.
