Call for Sangh Pariwar -CPM amity creates panic in Cong

A call given by Kerala’s RSS publication Kesari for amity between the Sangh Pariwar and the CPI(M) has created panic among the Congress leadership of the State, especially in the context of the evolution of new unities among various Hindu community outfits like SNDP of the lower caste Ezhavas and NSS of the upper caste Nairs.

The Congress had kept on pretending as though it was unfazed by the Sangh proposal, which Kesari made through an article in its September 30 issue, but symptoms of the fear complex made the inevitable appearance the other day when State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala described the “evolving CPM-Sangh Pariwar friendship” as a “danger”.

The panic in the Congress camp is not unfounded in the particular context of the strengthening unity among various Hindu community outfits more as a mechanism of defence against the increasing influence of the Muslim League, often accused of adopting soft approach towards extremist elements, in the State administration under the Congress-led UDF coalition.

The Congress has already understood that the proposed amity between BJP-RSS and the Marxists, fierce foes in Kerala till date, is something that goes beyond electoral preferences but leaders of the Congress secretly admit that it does not have any mechanism to effectively counter the fallouts of such a unity which could instill a new confidence in the majority community.

The CPI(M) has so far responded negatively to the call for amity given by the RSS through the Kesari article  but Congress leaders prefer to view this negativism as a ploy to hide the already existing tendency for ceasefire between the two sides as has become obvious in Kannur district, known for decades of violent Sangh-Marxist conflicts.

The call for RSS-CPI(M) amity was given through an article titled ‘The friendship that Kerala awaits’, written by TG Mohandas, former general secretary of Sangh think-tank Bharateeya Vichara Kendram, in the September 30 issue of Kesari. The article said that friendship between the Marxists and Sangh Pariwar was the need of the times.

“Two organizations steeled in fire have been confronting each other for the past seven decades. It is time this came to an end,” said the article, reminding that the battle had caused huge losses on both sides and orphaning of several families. It also called for compromises from both sides with regard to definitions of ideological positions.

 It also tried to convince the Marxists that it was a myth that they would lose the electoral support of minority communities (mainly Muslims) if they forged friendship with the Sangh Pariwar, adding that even if there was any loss the gains it would make from the majority community would be far greater.

The call for the Sangh-CPI(M) amity has come up at a critical juncture in the political history of Kerala where the Muslim League is increasingly being accused of hijacking the State administration by putting pressures on the UDF leader, the Congress. Just two days back a Muslim League Minister claimed that nothing undesirable to his party could happen in Kerala.

Heralding an era of possible Sangh Pariwar-Marxist amity in the State, confrontations between the two sides have subsided in Kannur. Both the BJP-RSS and the CPI(M) have reasons to believe that the sections they represent are victims of the extremism of “League-backed” Popular Front of India (PFI).

The visit by CPI(M)’s Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan, known as the fiercest anti-Sangh face of the whole region, to the house of ABVP leader Sachin Gopal, who was murdered by activists of PFI’s student wing Campus Front, was interpreted as the start of a new chapter in Kannur’s political history.

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