The warring factions of the Indian National league (INL) on Sunday decided to bury the hatchet following talks of rapprochement initiated by Sunni leader Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar in Kozhikode city.
The leaders of the factions, led by State general secretary Kasim Irikkur and ousted State president A.P. Abdul Wahab, told the media that both sides had agreed to maintain the status quo prior to the scuffle that broke out at a party meeting in Kochi on July 25. This means that all disciplinary actions taken against the leaders have been nullified. However, workers involved in scuffles would remain ousted from the party since the police have registered cases against them.
A condition
Sources said that Mr. Wahab would automatically retain his presidency of the State unit and seven ousted leaders would be brought back to the State secretariat. However, their reappointment would have to be ratified by the party’s national president Mohammed Suleman who had earlier endorsed the disciplinary action.
Party leaders said that the Musliyar had held two rounds of talks with each faction over the past few days. He had also met the two factions separately on Sunday ahead of a joint meeting. Previous mediation efforts initiated by A.P. Abdul Hakeem Azhari, general secretary of the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham, and son of the Musliyar had failed to provide any breakthrough.
Apart from Mr. Irikkur and Mr. Wahab, Minister of Ports Ahammed Devarkovil, B. Hamza Haji, who temporarily headed the State unit, and C.P. Nazar Koya Thangal, a party leader, took part in the conciliatory talks on Sunday. Representatives of the two opposing groups, who have been battling for supremacy in the party, decided to launch a Statewide membership campaign.
The factionalism in the INL, a constituent of the Left Democratic Front, was a blot on the government as its lone legislator was a member of the Cabinet. The intervention of the CPI(M) leadership had forced the functionaries of the two factions to broker peace and work together.
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