Malappuram: The Muslim Students Federation (MSF), the student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), has withdrawn an AI-generated campaign video featuring cricket legend and former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan alongside senior IUML leaders.

Following criticism from various quarters, MSF released a new video replacing the earlier one. The controversial video was released as part of the outfit's ongoing state conference in Malappuram.

The three-minute-long video song "Seethi Sahib Nattiya Kodiyude Pinnil Chernnavare...", shared on the organisation’s social media platforms and by its leaders, featured Imran Khan alongside IUML founders and prominent leaders such as C H Muhammed Koya, Seethi Sahib, and Panakkad Muhammedali Shihab Thangal.

The state leadership of the Students Federation of India (SFI) strongly criticised MSF over the video. SFI demanded that MSF leader P K Nawaz clarify the nature of his relationship with Imran Khan, whom they described as a proponent of religious nationalism, and explain MSF’s commitment towards the Pakistani leader.

SFI state secretary Sanjeev P S said that MSF in Kerala, which has been striving to establish its secular credentials, was now paving the way for the growth of Sangh Parivar ideology. He alleged that Imran Khan’s repeated attacks on India and its secularism have helped strengthen extreme nationalism promoted by the RSS.

“Is Imran Khan Nawaz’s hero?” Sanjeev asked, adding that such actions would benefit both the Sangh Parivar and Jamaat-e-Islami. He accused  Nawaz and his group of betraying Kerala’s secular consciousness and said that even secular workers within MSF were victims of this approach.

Sanjeev further claimed that although the song was withdrawn following criticism within the MSF, the objective behind releasing it had already been achieved. “Some things will come out no matter how much they are hidden,” he said.

Meanwhile, MSF leadership clarified that the inclusion of Imran Khan’s image in the video was unintentional. MSF state general secretary CK Najaf said the video was withdrawn immediately after the criticism surfaced and asserted that the image had been mistakenly included by the agency entrusted with producing the campaign video. He maintained Imran Khan’s photograph was no selected deliberately.