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Wikipedia / Indian Union Muslim League

Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), or simply the Muslim League, is a Muslim political party based in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is recognised as a State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India.

After the Partition of India, the first Council of the Indian segment of the All-India Muslim League was held on 10 March 1948 at the south Indian city of Madras (now Chennai). The party renamed itself as the 'Indian Union Muslim League' and adopted a new constitution on 1 September 1951.

IUML is a major member of the opposition United Democratic Front, the INC-led pre-poll state level alliance in Kerala. Whenever the United Democratic Front rules in Kerala, the party leaders are chosen as important Cabinet Ministers. The party has always had a constant, albeit small, presence in the Indian Parliament. The party is a part of the INDIA in national level. The League first gained a ministry (Minister of State for External Affairs) in Indian Government in 2004.

The party currently has five members in Parliament – E. T. Mohammed Basheer, M. P. Abdussamad Samadani and Kani K. Navas in the Lok Sabha and P. V. Abdul Wahab and Adv. Haris Beeran in the Rajya Sabha – and fifteen members in Kerala State Legislative Assembly.

History

The first Muslim political agency in the region was the Kerala Muslim Majlis formed in 1931. It joined the federal setup of All-India Muslim League later.

After the partition of India in 1947, the All-India Muslim League was virtually disbanded. It was succeeded by the Indian segment of the Muslim League in the new Dominion of India (first session on 10 March 1948 and constitution passed on 1 September 1951). M. Muhammad Ismail, the then President of the Madras unit of the Muslim League was chosen as the Convener of the Indian segment of the party. The Travancore Muslim League (the States' Muslim League) was merged with the Malabar League in November 1956.

Indian Union Muslim League contests General Elections under the Indian Constitution. The party is normally represented by two members in the Indian Lower House (the Lok Sabha). B. Pocker, elected from Malappuram Constituency, was a member of the First Lower House (1952–57) from the Madras Muslim League. The party currently has four members in Parliament.

Apart from Kerala and West Bengal, the League had Legislative Assembly members in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Maharastra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam. In West Bengal, the League had won Assembly seats in the 1970s, and A. K. A. Hassanussaman was a member of the Ajoy Mukherjee cabinet.

Indian Union Muslim League first gained a ministry in Kerala Government as part of the Communist Party of India Marxist-led United Front in 1967. The party switched fronts in 1969 and formed an alliance with the Congress in 1976. It later became a chief constituent in a succession of Indian National Congress-led ministries.

Early years

  • First Council of the Indian segment of the Muslim League was held on 10 March 1948 at the south Indian city of Madras (now Chennai).

  • On 1 September 1951, the 'Indian Union Muslim League' came into being in Madras (constitution was passed).

  • B. Pocker Sahib, elected from Malappuram Constituency, was a member of the first Lok Sabha (1952–57).

  • K. M Seethi Sahib served as the Speaker of the Kerala Assembly from 1960 to 1961.

From the 1960s to the 80s

With the Congress Party

In the 1990s

From the 2000s

National President of Indian Union Muslim League

Ideology

Composition

Organizational structure

Youth Wing: Muslim Youth League (the Youth League) https://web.archive.org/web/20180809194832/http://iumyl.in/

  • National President: Asif Ansari (New Delhi)

  • National Secretary: Najma Thabsheera (Kerala)

  • National Council Secretary: Faisal Babu (Kerala)

  • National vice President Mufeeda Thesni (Kerala)

  • National Secretary: Ch. Ajrudin Advocate (Haryana)

  • Kerala State President: Sayyid Munavvar Ali Shihab Thangal

  • Kerala State secretary: Fathima Thahiliya

  • Kerala State General Secretary: P. K. Firoz

Students' Wing: Muslim Students Federation (M. S. F.)

Kerala Legislative Assembly

Source: http://www.ceo.kerala.gov.in/electionhistory.html

Early years (1957–1979/80)

With the United Democratic Front (1979/80–present)

Current members

Electoral performance

Kerala

Tamil Nadu

List of Union Ministers

Members of Parliament

Lok Sabha Members

Rajya Sabha Members

List of State Cabinet Ministers

Controversies

Women rights

In 2013, the party demanded Muslim women to be excluded from the Child Marriage Act which prescribes 18 as women's legal marital age and 21 for men, in Supreme court stating its contradictory to Muslim Personal laws. Similarly in 2021, the party was against the Union Cabinet's suggestion to change the minimum marriage age of women from 18 to 21 years.

The party when in control of the local self-government department, issued a circular which legalised marriage for Muslim women between ages of 16 and 18 and Muslim men below age 21. The circular was later amended after backlash. In 2021, ten female leaders from the disbanded Haritha state committee lodged a police complaint against the state president of the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) and the Malappuram district general secretary, accusing them of making sexual remarks and sexual harassment charges. Following this Fathima Thahiliya, vice-president of MSF, who supported the women leaders was removed from her post.

The Muslim League has opposed the Supreme Court of India verdict regarding entry of adult women to Sabarimala temple.

LGBT rights

It is also at odds with several LGBTQ rulings from the Supreme Court. The party also supports the primacy of Muslim Personal Law among Indian Muslims.

IUML opposes implementing gender neutrality and comprehensive sex education in school curriculum saying that it promotes homosexuality, leads to sexual anarchy and is part of an atheist-liberal conspiracy to destroy religious values. In 2022, IUML leader Abdurahiman Randathani made statement that the co-educational schools teach homosexuality and masturbation. In 2023, IUML leader K. M. Shaji made controversial statement that the LGBT members are the 'worst humans'. He made similar statement in 2026 too. Similarly in 2023, another IUML leader M.K Muneer made controversial comment on a trans man who gave birth.

Conservatism & Violence

An article by the current president of the Muslim League, on Hagia Sophia, seemed to support the views of political Islam. Muslim League generally presents itself as a conservative political party in Kerala. The Catholic Church has also criticized the IUML for organizing solidarity programs in support of Hamas, arguing that such actions downplay or obscure the terrorist attacks carried out by the group. A controversy occurred in 2015, when the Islamic symbol of Crescent moon and a star appeared in a Board Exam question paper when IUML's P.K. Abdu Rabb was Kerala's Education minister.The Kerala School Teachers Association (KSTA) alleged that the IUML was exerting influence over the state's education system.

The party leaders were also involved in the Marad massacre, which involved the killing of 8 Hindu fishermen. Eight party workers were also convicted in 2024 for the killing of a DYFI activist.

In July 2023, following the Manipur violence where a woman was paraded naked in public, members of the Muslim League raised anti Hindu slogans in Kanhangad, located in the Kasaragod district of Kerala. The following day, Kerala Police arrested five of those members. Upon criticism over the incident, the State President of IUML Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal responded on 28 July, saying no one has the right to hurt the sentiments and faith of others. In 2025, an FIR was filed against IUML leader Basheer Vellikoth for provocative remarks on television on Pahalgam terrorist attack. In 2025, the BJP criticised IUML MP of Navaskani for eating non-veg in the Tiruparankundram temple premises.

Casteism

In 2021, the IUML leaders made casteism remarks on the Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter's marriage as 'prostitution'. In 2023, the Kerala Women Commission booked cased against IUML leader K. M. Shaji over his comments on minister Veena George in a speech involving alleged casteist remarks. In 2025, case has been filed against IUML workers for using casteism slurs and conducting "purification ritual" after a Scheduled caste man was relieved from a local government body position.

See also

Notes

References