Kozhikode: A word hardly mentioned at a massive pro-Palestine convention organised by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kozhikode Beach was 'Hamas'. All speakers avoided reference to 'Hamas', the Islamist militant group that on October 7 launched an attack on Israel, killing over a thousand civilians, and triggered a retaliation that has claimed over 6,000 lives in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
That said, the role of Hamas in the ongoing war, found constrasting references from two prominent speakers. While chief guest, Shashi Tharoor MP of the Congress, categorically referred to 'Hamas' as a terrorist outfit without naming it, IUML MLA M K Muneer, who spoke later, gave a diverging rhetoric. He too did not mention the word 'Hamas'.
Tharoor, who spoke at length about the history of the disputed land shared by the Jews and Palestinians and about peace being the need of the hour, said at the beginning that "on October 7, terrorists attacked Israel".
On his chance, Muneer said these: "The British called the freedom struggles waged by Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose as terrorism. In the eyes of tyrants, the resistance in Gaza is labelled as terrorism. Israel is committing genocide, and Palestine is waging a struggle for freedom. When one aims for genocide, if those who used to hurl pebbles are resisting more vigorously ... we must be able to differentiate between resistance and attack."
IUML state president and community leader, Syed Sadiqali Shihab Thangal delivered the inaugural address. IUML leaders MP Abdussamad Samadani and ET Mohammed Basheer and Kozhikode MP M K Raghavan were among the speakers.