The Mahal Empowerment Mission decided on Friday to exclude senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor from its Palestine solidarity event scheduled for October 30.
MEM is an organization of Muslim Jamaaths operating in the state capital representing Jamaaths from 100 wards in the city corporation who made this decision in response to the controversy surrounding Tharoor's recent statement at a Palestine solidarity rally organized by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), in which he referred to the October 7 attack on Israel as a terrorist strike.
MEM President Shajahan Sreekaryam stated, "We have communicated to Tharoor that we have decided to remove him from the programme"
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What did Shashi Tharoor say?
Shashi Tharoor was the chief guest at the IUML rally where he expressed concern about the suffering of innocent women and children, initially in Israel and subsequently in Gaza, emphasizing the need to end the conflict. He also unequivocally condemned the attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, describing it as an 'act of terror'.
In the face of a solid social media backlash, Tharoor clarified that he has consistently stood with the people of Palestine and does not endorse the selective quoting of one sentence from his speech at the IUML rally.
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The IUML, a key ally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, organized a large rally in northern Kozhikode on Thursday, condemning the reported indiscriminate killings of civilians, including women and children, in Gaza.
Thousands of IUML supporters participated in the Palestine Solidarity Human Rights rally, inaugurated by IUML leader Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal.
