TRIVANDRUM, 28 April 2005 — Ibrahim Suleiman Sait, a veteran Muslim leader and president of the Indian National League (INL), died in Bangalore after a brief illness yesterday. He was 83. He will be laid to rest today.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the veteran Kerala politician as a true nationalist and patriot who had the best interests of the country at heart.
“The nation will mourn the passing away of a nationalist who was committed to the welfare of the downtrodden,” the prime minister said in a condolence message.
A seven-time member of Parliament from Kerala, Sait was a key leader of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) who broke away from the party after the 1992 Babri Mosque demolition and formed INL.
Sait formed the INL after protesting against the IUML’s failure to snap ties with the Congress party in the wake of the Babri Mosque razing. He remained the INL president until his last. Sait was known for his humble life style and clean image. But his INL failed to catch the imagination of voters anywhere in the country.
He was also a founder member of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board. Born into a trading family in 1922, Sait switched to Cochin initially on account of his business interests.
After his marriage to Maryama who hailed from Cochin, Sait began playing an active role in the IUML. In the process, he became a much-loved politician of Kerala, so much so that most people forgot his Bangalore origins.
He was first elected to the Parliament from Calicut in 1967 and was re-elected in 1971 from there as the IUML candidate.
For the next five general elections, Sait won from Manjeri, also in Kerala.
