Violence and Terrorism a “New Order” of NDF in Kerala

The reporting by Pradeep Thakur in Times on India on 19 June with above caption is just tip of the iceberg. The growth of NDF, an Islamic terrorist based in Kerala is a subject that needs in-depth study and action on war footing by any responsible government, whether in the state or at center. The politicians and the government are aware of the anti-national activities going on along the coastline of Kerala, particularly the northern belt where the Muslims have virtually taken total control. When the gold control remained in force, smuggling of gold and other banned items used to run through this area.

When smuggling lost its charm, the underworld in Mumbai resorted to extortion which resulted in gang wars and emergence of notorious gang leaders who later shifted their headquarters abroad following the bomb blasts in Mumbai. Support extended to the Jihadis by such gangsters facilitated them with abundant financial support, arms, ammunition and explosives including RDX. The Madrassas and some mosques are effectively shielding them and helping to carry out their covert and avert operations which include the elimination of RSS workers. The Muslim community in the Kerala has already attained a commanding position numerically, politically, economically, socially, educationally and religiously. Though claimed to be a state with the highest literacy rate, political awareness etc, in reality, the outcome of elections are dictated by the support a party could muster from different communities.

In Kerala the Hindu community has been reduced to minority status. As per statistics, 28% of the population is Muslims, 26% Christians and the rest Hindus. Among Hindus, Ezhavas and Nairs are the prominent communities and they remain divided all the time. Until the 17th century, Kerala remained a prominent Hindu state. The generous kings allowed the Muslims to settle in Kerala and by 1770 the population of Muslims was 6%. The invasion of Kerala by Tipu Sultan and the forced mass conversion resulted the increase in Muslim population in state to 9% by 1795. By 1900, the population swelled to 12% by conversion of Lalits and others. By 1961, their population increased to 17% and by 1991 to 23%. It is expected to increase to over 33% by 2050 since the Muslim majority district has been registering an increase in population by 300% while a few other districts have a 0% increase.

The presence of Jihadis and members of terrorist organisations from outside came to light following the massacre that took place on Maarad beach after sunset on 02 May 2003. It was a pre-planned sudden attack on few Hindu fisherman who were resting on beach by about 100 armed men in three teams landed on the beach in fiberglass boats. 8 personal were brutally killed and over 13 seriously injured in that attack. The incident lead to communal clashes in Maarad which resulted in police firing. Later, the police recovered bloodstained swords from the nearby Mosque along with 17 unexploded bombs. Why did such an incident took place on Maarad beach was not debated by the media or the political parties? There had been well designed plans going on since 1954 to evacuate the Hindus from this area by sporadic attack on Hindus and their places of worship. As a result, there has been a steady exodus of Hindus from the coastal regions of Kozhikkode. With about 130 remaining Hindu families of Maarad gone, the stretch of Kozhikode beach, 65 kilometers long, from Ponnani to Maarad would be totally secure – Hindu free. There are about 26 private landing zones on this stretch, ideal for clandestine beach landings in moon light, for transit of weapons, currency explosives etc. Until now, Maarad is the only beach in Kozhikkode where Hindu fishermen dare to go to sea on Friday. In other places a `fatwa’ is enforced preventing anyone from going to sea on that day. So, they planned to terrorize the Hindus clinging to the coastline by unprovoked massacre of the innocents and they partially succeeded in their attempt but could not achieve the desired percentage of success due to the confronting posture that time adopted by the Hindus in the area. Top police officers who handled the situation disposed before the Maarad Commission that their were clear evidences to establish ISI links to the incident. Later a top army officer handling military intelligence also warned the government about the presence of terrorist in the northern districts of Kerala. The state or centre governments have not taken any serious action after these warnings. At noon time on Friday, 3 March 2006, as if to mark the third anniversary of Maarad massacre, two powerful explosions rocked Kozhikkode city, which again pointed to the involvement of terrorist outfits in the crime. Suspicion was also raised about the involvement of Jihadis in the recent killings of RSS workers.

It is not any surprise that the political parties in Kerala did not give much importance to the massacre at Maarad, the bomb blasts at Kozhikkode or the unabated killings of RSS workers. Their eyes were on the assembly elections and were busy in framing promises to appease the votes of Muslim community. By tarnishing the kingpin in Muslim league, they succeeded in breaking the unity that always existed in that party. The effort was easy for the leftists since they could sense the growing support among the Muslim youth towards NDF and PDP. In the election campaigns, VS and Pinarayi shed their tears for under trial convict Madani whose credentials are very clear for any one who could remember about his forming the ISS as a force parallel to RSS. When government banned ISS by sensing their anti-national activities, Madani came out with the political party PDP which is a secular party to the leftists now. The newly formed left front Government has taken up the Madani issue as first item in their agenda as a token of their gratitude to the support extended by the Jihadis and terrorist being harboured in different parts of the country. Even though all eyes are turned to the northern districts of Kerala to identify the Jihadis, Madani has his headquarters at Sasthamcotta panchayat in Kollam district. There he has set up an Arabic University (Allwarssery Arabic Univerity, Mynagappally) where students from other states are also engaged in Quranic studies. Near that University is a very big Yattimkhana (Muslim orphanage) at ICS Junction which has over 200 inmates in different age groups. There are no checks on the inmates, their identity or what their day-to-day activities are. The white robe with full sleeved shirts and the white cap provide them the required security to remain above the law and indulge in any kind of anti-national or anti-social activities. The religious immunity protects them.

Security agencies in the state are under the control of the ruling party and the hue and cry raised for the Home portfolio is just a pointer to that established fact. This state is plagued with communal considerations and survival of politicians largely depends on keeping the affairs this way. Any one that dares to utter a word about the so called minorities (ironically, they are the real majority in the state) gets labeled as fascist advocating Hindutva and the media, controlled solely by political parties and communal forces, have so far been successful in their designs. So, it is not surprising that the media in Kerala are not serious about the threat from terrorist outfits, whether from within the state or from outside the state.