Kasaragod: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has approached the Election Commission alleging a “hate remark” by Vanitha League Kasaragod district secretary Ayisha Farsana, after she used the Arabic term “munafiq” while referring to LDF-backed independent candidate Shanavas Padhoor during a campaign meeting.

The incident occurred on April 4 at a family meeting in Mulleria in Karadka panchayat, where Farsana was campaigning for IUML candidate and district president Kallatra Mahin. In her speech, she said: “In the morning he (Padhoor) holds one flag, in the afternoon another, and in the evening yet another. He is doing the work of a munafiq and seeking our votes.”

The LDF has framed the remark as communal and derogatory, and the video clip has been widely circulated on social media. In a complaint before the Returning Officer of the Kasaragod Assembly constituency, Padhoor’s election agent K A Muhammed Haneef said the use of the term was “deliberate,” aimed at creating religious fear and insulting the candidate, and sought action under the Model Code of Conduct.

The term munafiq, rooted in Islamic history and used in the Quran, refers to a hypocrite, someone who outwardly professes faith while concealing disbelief or hostility. However, Farsana said she used the term in a broader social sense, much like Biblical references such as 'Judas' or 'Good Samaritan'. “Munafiq was used to describe a double-faced or unreliable person, someone who shifts positions out of political opportunism,” she said.

She said she would not withdraw her remark and defended it as political, not religious. “I was not referring to religion,” she said. “In a short span of time, he has contested under different party flags. On what basis can people trust him?” She also drew a distinction between calling someone a munafiq and saying someone is “doing the work of a munafiq.” “Let the law take its own course. I have no issue with that,” she said.

Farsana said she continues to be part of the party’s campaign. “In the last two days, I attended family meetings in Kannur, Thalassery and Kasaragod. The LDF knows me, but they are raising this only because it is election time,” she said.

Padhoor, however, maintained that the remark was a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct. “This is their way of campaigning in the final days. They will play this card,” he said.

Farsana said her comment was directed at Padhoor’s political trajectory. Padhoor, once with the Youth Congress, became a District Panchayat member from Udma division after his father, Padoor Kunhamu, a party fundraiser, died in office in April 2016. At the end of the term in 2020, the Congress did not renominate him, and Padhoor joined hands with the LDF, winning IUML's Chengala division as an independent. In return, LDF made him the district panchayat vice-president.

Ahead of the Assembly election, DYFI and a section of CPM workers publicly pushed for his candidature in Manjeshwar, but the party leadership held back, wary of splitting Muslim votes in a tight contest with the BJP. He was eventually fielded as an independent in Kasaragod after the LDF’s Indian National League (INL) failed to find a candidate.

LDF district convenor K P Satheesh Chandran said Farsana's speech reflected “panic” in the UDF camp. “The acceptance Shanavas Padhoor is receiving has unsettled them. Such attempts will not stop the growing support for him,” he said.

According to ground reports, BJP candidate and district president M L Ashwini has a slender chance if Padhoor cuts into the UDF vote share.

Even as Farsana defended her Mulleria speech, another video of hers has surfaced on social media, where she said no section of the Muslim community that breaks away will have the support of Allah. Farsana said that the speech was made at an internal Vanitha League meeting six months ago, aimed at addressing differences within the community. “I cited the Quran to bring people together. But that speech is now being aired as if I invoked religion to seek votes,” she said.