12-08-2006, 07:47 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Secular Leftâs strange heart
By Balbir K. Punj
The just held byelection to the Kerala Assembly seat of Thiruvambadi has unmasked the Congress and the Left, the twin pillars of âsecularismâ in the country. With the veneer of âsecularismâ peeling off under electoral heat, their rabid communal face stands exposed with all its hideousness.
The CPI(M)-led LDFâs icon in this election was Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in the Coimbatore blast case which claimed 58 lives and left scores seriously injured and maimed. Marxists paid obeisance to the âTerror Kingâ and he rewarded his benefactors with a fatwa in the support of their candidates.
The Left flooded the constituency with pamphlets detailing the efforts the LDF government has made to help Madani who is cooling his heels in a Tamil Nadu prison for the last eight years. The Marxists in this electoral battle have also managed to get the support of the pan-Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami and the powerful Kanthapuram faction of the Sunnis.
To match the Marxists in this macabre drama, the Congress is making use of Iraqâs deposed dictator Saddam Hussein and the man who has been sentenced to death for his role in the attack on Indian Parliament, Afzal Guru. Vying with the LDF for Muslim votes, the Congress too is openly and unabashedly aligning with and upholding and advocating Muslim fundamentalist cause.
The contours of âsecularismâ have undergone a complete metamorphosis in this constituency because Keralaâs demography has changed over the years. The percentage of Hindus in the state has dropped from 69% in 1901 to 56% in 2001. In the same period, the percentage of Muslims has moved up from 17% to 25% and of Christians from 14% to 19%. No wonder the âsecularâ parties are competing with each other in their attempt to surrender to Muslim communalism.
All this has exposed the Congressâ soft belly in Kerala; it has been the main sponsor of the communal Muslim League.
But communalism is something that grows on itself. Over the decades, from the Congress-Muslim League-Kerala Congress (Christian party) rule under the UDF banner, more rabid communalists have displaced the Muslim League. First it was Madaniâs PDP that took over after displacing the League. Now a more rabid Kanthapuram faction is seeking to usurp the political space among the Muslim masses fed on the âreligion in dangerâ angst.
The Marxists aligned with this extremist section and sought to ride on the rabid preacherâs rising popularity. It isnât that Muslims in Kerala are all poor. The huge opening for jobs in the Gulf and in Saudi Arabia where Muslims are preferred over others, has spread enormous consumerism and prosperity in Kerala. According to several studies, the more the prosperity the greater the spread of jihadi mentality in Kerala.
Inspiration for this is being provided by Wahhabi Sunni extremism which Kerala Muslims working in the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia, absorb. The League, it is said, was somewhat more careful and sought to ride this tiger, but now the tiger has shaken off the League, and it is extremism that is now the big story in Kerala. Muslim extremism and Marxists have found an entente that helps both. Marxists provide the right cover for the extremists and also access to political power.
This competitive communalism has provided the access to the Marxists to displace the League from its strongholds. This was very clearly established when just before the Lok Sabha elections the Marxists held a rally in the League bastion of Malappuram. The response surprised everyone. The real driving force behind the rally was extremist communalism financed allegedly by Saudi funds.
The role this funding has played has been exposed in several events including the Marad murders where the League itself sought to align with the Saudi financiers to enhance its influence among the radicalised Muslim masses. The alliance between the Marxists and the jihadis has paid huge dividends for the CPI(M)-led LDF â it swept the polls in the Lok Sabha elections. And then, only six months ago, it won the Assembly elections.
How this has impacted the anti-terrorist campaign at the national level has been exposed in the increasing seizures of explosives and in the tracing of money laundering to extremists from the Saudi and Gulf sources through using Muslim families getting remittances from abroad from their relations working there. The recent LeT module busted in Mysore had a link with the Muslim areas of Kozhikode. The north Kerala coast is a haven for smugglers and under that protection and the political clout exercised in both the UDF and LDF, the virus is spreading.
The deep entanglement of the Marxists and the jihaists that the Kerala byelection has exposed holds greater dangers for the nation. The Marxists are keeping the UPA government in power. With the Marxists openly drawing their strength from Muslim extremism, how can anyone trust the UPA governmentâs claim to launch a relentless drive against Muslim terrorism?
The Marxist-jihadi alliance and the Marxist-UPA relationship at the Centre are together providing the best soil for jihadi terrorism to flourish. No wonder the graph of jihadi terrorism has been rising as has been its support to other terrorist organisations operating in India, like the Ulfa that has found a sanctuary in the jihadi terrorism infested Bangladesh.
Yet another aspect of this alliance is that the Marxists have openly dumped the interests of the farmers of the north Kerala area by focusing only on jihadi demands â like the Indian government should support Saddam Husseinâs cause and Iranâs defiance of international opinion on its nuclear weapons pursuit, among other such issues.
Over 500 farmers in the Wayanad belt of Kerala have committed suicides in the face of the falling prices of farm products, rising costs of farm labour and the lack of easy credit. The Marxists who are ruling Kerala for the last six months have no programme to offset this, nor are they espousing the cause of these farmers who provide the basis of the economy of this farming and plantation dominated area. So much for the exaggerated claim made by the CPI(M) that it is the spokesman of the Indian poor!
Balbir K. Punj can be contacted at bpunj@email.com
http://www.deccan.com/Columnists/Columnist...strange%20heart<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
By Balbir K. Punj
The just held byelection to the Kerala Assembly seat of Thiruvambadi has unmasked the Congress and the Left, the twin pillars of âsecularismâ in the country. With the veneer of âsecularismâ peeling off under electoral heat, their rabid communal face stands exposed with all its hideousness.
The CPI(M)-led LDFâs icon in this election was Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in the Coimbatore blast case which claimed 58 lives and left scores seriously injured and maimed. Marxists paid obeisance to the âTerror Kingâ and he rewarded his benefactors with a fatwa in the support of their candidates.
The Left flooded the constituency with pamphlets detailing the efforts the LDF government has made to help Madani who is cooling his heels in a Tamil Nadu prison for the last eight years. The Marxists in this electoral battle have also managed to get the support of the pan-Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami and the powerful Kanthapuram faction of the Sunnis.
To match the Marxists in this macabre drama, the Congress is making use of Iraqâs deposed dictator Saddam Hussein and the man who has been sentenced to death for his role in the attack on Indian Parliament, Afzal Guru. Vying with the LDF for Muslim votes, the Congress too is openly and unabashedly aligning with and upholding and advocating Muslim fundamentalist cause.
The contours of âsecularismâ have undergone a complete metamorphosis in this constituency because Keralaâs demography has changed over the years. The percentage of Hindus in the state has dropped from 69% in 1901 to 56% in 2001. In the same period, the percentage of Muslims has moved up from 17% to 25% and of Christians from 14% to 19%. No wonder the âsecularâ parties are competing with each other in their attempt to surrender to Muslim communalism.
All this has exposed the Congressâ soft belly in Kerala; it has been the main sponsor of the communal Muslim League.
But communalism is something that grows on itself. Over the decades, from the Congress-Muslim League-Kerala Congress (Christian party) rule under the UDF banner, more rabid communalists have displaced the Muslim League. First it was Madaniâs PDP that took over after displacing the League. Now a more rabid Kanthapuram faction is seeking to usurp the political space among the Muslim masses fed on the âreligion in dangerâ angst.
The Marxists aligned with this extremist section and sought to ride on the rabid preacherâs rising popularity. It isnât that Muslims in Kerala are all poor. The huge opening for jobs in the Gulf and in Saudi Arabia where Muslims are preferred over others, has spread enormous consumerism and prosperity in Kerala. According to several studies, the more the prosperity the greater the spread of jihadi mentality in Kerala.
Inspiration for this is being provided by Wahhabi Sunni extremism which Kerala Muslims working in the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia, absorb. The League, it is said, was somewhat more careful and sought to ride this tiger, but now the tiger has shaken off the League, and it is extremism that is now the big story in Kerala. Muslim extremism and Marxists have found an entente that helps both. Marxists provide the right cover for the extremists and also access to political power.
This competitive communalism has provided the access to the Marxists to displace the League from its strongholds. This was very clearly established when just before the Lok Sabha elections the Marxists held a rally in the League bastion of Malappuram. The response surprised everyone. The real driving force behind the rally was extremist communalism financed allegedly by Saudi funds.
The role this funding has played has been exposed in several events including the Marad murders where the League itself sought to align with the Saudi financiers to enhance its influence among the radicalised Muslim masses. The alliance between the Marxists and the jihadis has paid huge dividends for the CPI(M)-led LDF â it swept the polls in the Lok Sabha elections. And then, only six months ago, it won the Assembly elections.
How this has impacted the anti-terrorist campaign at the national level has been exposed in the increasing seizures of explosives and in the tracing of money laundering to extremists from the Saudi and Gulf sources through using Muslim families getting remittances from abroad from their relations working there. The recent LeT module busted in Mysore had a link with the Muslim areas of Kozhikode. The north Kerala coast is a haven for smugglers and under that protection and the political clout exercised in both the UDF and LDF, the virus is spreading.
The deep entanglement of the Marxists and the jihaists that the Kerala byelection has exposed holds greater dangers for the nation. The Marxists are keeping the UPA government in power. With the Marxists openly drawing their strength from Muslim extremism, how can anyone trust the UPA governmentâs claim to launch a relentless drive against Muslim terrorism?
The Marxist-jihadi alliance and the Marxist-UPA relationship at the Centre are together providing the best soil for jihadi terrorism to flourish. No wonder the graph of jihadi terrorism has been rising as has been its support to other terrorist organisations operating in India, like the Ulfa that has found a sanctuary in the jihadi terrorism infested Bangladesh.
Yet another aspect of this alliance is that the Marxists have openly dumped the interests of the farmers of the north Kerala area by focusing only on jihadi demands â like the Indian government should support Saddam Husseinâs cause and Iranâs defiance of international opinion on its nuclear weapons pursuit, among other such issues.
Over 500 farmers in the Wayanad belt of Kerala have committed suicides in the face of the falling prices of farm products, rising costs of farm labour and the lack of easy credit. The Marxists who are ruling Kerala for the last six months have no programme to offset this, nor are they espousing the cause of these farmers who provide the basis of the economy of this farming and plantation dominated area. So much for the exaggerated claim made by the CPI(M) that it is the spokesman of the Indian poor!
Balbir K. Punj can be contacted at bpunj@email.com
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