IUML fields woman candidate after 25 long years

Adv. Noorbina Rasheed has been fielded from Kozhikode South by the Indian Union Muslim League. It is after 25-years that a woman candidate is being fielded by the political party primarily based in the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Kozhikode (Kerala): Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has finally mustered the courage to field a woman candidate after 25 years, overlooking the warnings issued by Islamic hardliner organisation Samastha Kerala Jamiat-ul-Ulema. IUML has announced Adv. Noorbina Rasheed as its candidate from Kozhikode South constituency. Earlier, Samastha had reportedly warned IUML not to field woman candidates in the election.

25 years ago, IUML had fielded Khamarunneesa Anwar from Kozhikode 2 constituency ( Now Kozhikode North) and she had lost to Elamaram Kareem of LDF.

Noorbina Rasheed was the first woman member in the IUML state secretariat when she was elevated in 2018. Though IUML has a women's wing, they hardly got any representation in Kerala's assembly politics. This time the Women League leaders had written to the IUML leadership requesting them to consider either Women's League state president Suhara Mambad or National general secretary Noorbina Rasheed or state secretary P Kulsu.

The IUML leadership was forced to succumb to the pressure from its women's wing and field Noorbina as the candidate.

Women leaders in IUML had been frustrated over the disregard shown towards them by their male counterparts when it came to representation in the assembly. IUML leaders put Samastha as the reason for not selecting women candidates.

However, later Samastha leaders clarified that they had not raised any objection against fielding women candidates.