Kochi: Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader Abdul Rahman Kallai, a Congress ally in Kerala, has termed the marriage of Veena, daughter of state CM Pinarayi Vijayan, to PWD minister Mohammad Riyas as an illicit relationship. Kallai made the objectionable statement while addressing a public meeting in Kozhikode on Thursday (December 9). His supporters also raised casteist slogans against the CM.
Hitting out at the CPM government in Kerala, IUML State Secretary Kallai said, "Mohammad Riyas, former chairman of the DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India), is the groom of my region. Who is his wife? Is this also a marriage? It is an illicit relationship. We should have the courage to say that. We should have the same courage as CH Mohammad Koya. Koya was the leader of the IUML and had also served as the CM of the state. Veena and Riyas got married in June last year at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. This was the second marriage of the two. Riyas was the national president of DYFI during the wedding. Riyas won the Beypore assembly seat in Kozhikode in April this year to become an MLA and joined the state cabinet led by her father-in-law Vijayan as PWD minister.
In fact, the Kerala government had decided to hand over the responsibility of appointments to the State Wakf Board to the State Public Service Commission. Muslims and their organizations across the state were opposing the government over this. The public meeting was organized by Kallai to resolve the protest. He also appealed to IUML workers to dare to call the marriage illegal. Muslim League workers participating in the rally raised casteist slogans against CM Vijayan after Kallai said so.
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