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The organisers – Solidarity Youth Movement (SYM) – dismissed the controversy, asserting in a press note that Hamas is a “resistance movement” and Meshaal a “freedom fighter”.
Meshaal’s pre-recorded video address in Arabic was beamed on a screen at the Youth Resistance Rally, which had the tagline “Uproot Bulldozer Hindutva and Apartheid Zionism”. The organisers had announced that another Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, would also virtually address the rally, but he did not.
State BJP president K Surendran termed the instance “alarming”. “Where is (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan’s police? Under the disguise of ‘Save Palestine’ they are glorifying Hamas, a terrorist organisation and its leaders as ‘warriors’. This is unacceptable,” Surendran wrote on X while sharing a photo of Meshal’s virtual address.
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The organisers justified Meshaal’s virtual presence at the event. “The Palestinian Legislative Council is an influential movement in Gaza and the West Bank. The party won 74 of 132 seats in the last election. There is nothing unusual about the leader of such an organisation speaking at a Palestinian solidarity event in Malappuram,” SYM state president CT Shuhaib said in a statement.
“Hamas is not an active or banned organisation in India. So, the presence of a Hamas leader in the event is not against law,” the SYM state president said.
The SYM functionary alleged a plot to muzzle protests and voices. “Sangh parivar has been conspiring to label those standing with Palestine as terrorists by spreading false propaganda. By doing so, it is trying to suppress the public protests against India’s support to Israel,” Shuhaib said.
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