Kerala turning green – Islamism spreads its network of hate

The people of Kerala, known as ‘God’s Own Country’, have known that their peaceful State has been changing into a turbulent battlefield ever since the launch of a hunt for terrorists following the killing of four Malayalee militants at Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir in October 2008. Since then, rare has been the day without further revelations about the worsening situation in Kerala. This week the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has confirmed fears of jihadis lying low in Kerala, waiting to strike after receiving instructions from their masters in Pakistan, following the publication of a list of 31 wanted terrorists among whom there are six Malayalees. The most important name on the last is that of KP Sabir, who is believed to be high on the LeT’s hierarchy. Sabir, according to information gathered by official agencies, was in constant contact with David Coleman Headley, the Chicago-based LeT operative involved with facilitating the 26/11 terrorist attack. The agencies have gathered information to the effect that Sabir had arranged local assistance for Tahawwur Hussein Rana, Headley’s associate, when he visited Kerala. Sabir’s two brothers are also part of the terror network and are accused of being involved with the Coimbatore Press Club bombing of 2002. Muhammad Azhar and PP Yusuf, two others on the list, are accused of being involved with the Kozhikode bombings. PA Raysal, the fourth among the Keralites on the list, is an accused in the Bangalore bombings.

All these Indian Mujahideen operatives belong to Kannur district, known as Kerala’s Marxist heartland; the LeT’s ‘South India Commander’, Thadiyantavide Nazeer, hails from this area. It is now almost certain that Kerala’s homegrown jihadis draw sustenance from their Gulf connections. Sabir’s brother, Shabeer, arrested in Mumbai last month, has disclosed that their hideouts in Dubai and other Gulf cities were used for planning terror strikes in India. According to the Kerala Police, many of the wanted men are holed up in the Gulf. Kerala has never been without communalists; the Moplah ‘revolt’ was the forerunner of today’s Islamist separatism and violent activism that manifests itself in the form of terrorism. The rapid ‘Arabisation’ of Kerala’s society, especially in the Muslim-dominated districts, has resulted in the birth and growth of violent Islamism. Needless to say, this does not augur well for the State. Competitive politics of pandering to communal elements and organisations in the hope of garnering Muslim votes has only strengthened those who seek salvation through death and destruction in the name of Islam. If the Congress is guilty of minorityism, so are the Communists who have shown no compunction in aligning with the likes of Madani. That, in a sense, is Kerala’s tragedy and India’s too.

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