In a shocking development that comes from Kerala’s Malappuram, a former Hamas chief reportedly virtually addressed a Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Youth Wing ‘solidarity event’ on October 27. In a video that is now going viral, the Hamas leader named Khaled Mashel was seen giving a speech at the event, which allegedly called for the uprooting of Hinduism and Zionism.
A leader of the Hamas terrorist group, that attacked Israel on October 7, allegedly participated virtually at a rally organised by Solidarity Youth Movement in Kerala’s Malappuram on Friday. The Solidarity Youth Movement is the youth wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.
In a video, the Hamas leader Khaled Mashal could be seen addressing the people.
Pro Hamas rally was condemned by BJP
Meanwhile, Mashal’s virtual address at the rally was condemned by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president K Surendran, who questioned the Kerala Police and also sought action against his participation.
Taking to X, Surendran said, “Hamas leader Khaled Mashel’s virtual address at the Solidarity event in Malappuram is alarming. Where’s Pinarayi Vijayan’s Kerala Police ? Under the guise of ‘Save Palestine,’ they’re glorifying Hamas, a terrorist organization, and its leaders as ‘warriors.’ This is unacceptable!”
Meanwhile, on Friday, the BJP unit in Kerala criticized Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor for his participation in the Indian Union Muslim League’s rally supporting Palestine, labelling it a “pro-Hamas” event.
The IUML rally in Kozhikode was “pro-Hamas,” and anti-national slogans had been raised throughout the programme, he alleged in a press conference.
The BJP leader also alleged that Tharoor’s participation in the rally, given his previous role as a UN diplomat, goes against the country’s established stance on the issue.
Tharoor called Hamas a Terrorist organization, received backlash from Muslim organizations
Tharoor, who was the chief guest, said innocent women and children suffered casualties, initially in Israel and subsequently in Gaza, and emphasised the imperative of ending the war.
In unequivocal terms, Tharoor also condemned the attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, describing it as an “act of terror”.
The Mahal Empowerment Mission (MEM), an organisation of Muslim Jamaaths functioning in Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday, decided to remove senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor from its Palestine solidarity event scheduled to be held in the state capital on October 30.
The MEM of the Jamaaths from 100 wards in the city corporation, took the decision in the wake of the controversy over Tharoor’s recent statement at a Palestine solidarity rally organised by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) a day ago, in which he said the October 7 attack on Israel was a terrorist strike.
“We have communicated to Tharoor that we have decided to remove him from the programme,” MEM president Shajahan Sreekaryam.
Facing an intense social media attack, Tharoor has issued a clarification, saying he has always been with the people of Palestine and he does not agree with the propagation of just one sentence from his speech at the IUML rally.
Bemused by the reaction, Tharoor said out of his 32-minute speech, only 25 seconds were highlighted to attack him. “If that’s all it takes to negate my support for the human rights of the Palestinian people, then I have nothing more to say,” he said. He also issued a clarification saying that he has always been with the people of Palestine and he does not agree with the propagation of just one sentence from his speech at the IUML rally.
Radical Islamic IUML is a Congress ally
The IUML, a key ally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, organised a massive rally in northern Kozhikode on Thursday, denouncing the indiscriminate killings of civilians, including women and children, in Gaza.
Who is Khaled Mashel?
Mashel is an old member of Hamas, a Gaza based terrorist organization. He rose to the ranks and became Hamas’ politburo chairman. He resigned from his position after his term ended in 2017. He was considered part of Hamas’ “external leadership” as his family was forced to flee the West Bank after the Six-Day War in 1967 and has lived in several parts of the Arab world.
Notably, it was under his leadership that Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election in 2006 and a year later, Hamas seized control of the Gaza strip from the Palestinian government. His online presence is highly provocative as it comes when the Israeli government is exposing the war crimes of Hamas terrorists who have killed more than 1,400 Israeli citizens, including children and newborns.
