In Kerala, a war of words over political Islam

CPI(M) leader P. Jayarajan said there was an alliance between the Indian Union Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Llast week, senior CPI(M) leader P. Jayarajan created a debate when he said that young people were being lured into terrorist outfits like the Islamic State because of the influence of political Islam in Kerala.

Speaking to the media ahead of the release of his Malayalam book, Kerala: Muslim Politics and Political Islamin Kozhikode, Mr. Jayarajan said that there is an alliance between Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH). He warned that political Islam is dangerous, as seen in the rise of extremist groups such as JIH and Popular Front of India (PFI), which were banned by the Indian government in 2022.

His comments were heavily criticized by the IUML and the Congress. IUML’s national general secretary, PK Kunhalikutty, emphasized that his party remains vigilant to counter the strong trend. The president of IUML State, Syed Sadiqali Shihab Thangal, accused Mr. Jayarajan for “misusing the issue of Islamic State recruitment for political advancement at a time when the Islamic State is being dismantled around the world.” At the same time, Congress leader K. Muraleedharan suspected that the letter of Mr. Jayarajan is the CPI(M)’s strategy to win back the Hindu votes, which have been drifting to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He also said that CPI (M) and BJP have a secret agreement. To strengthen his argument, he cited the statement of the Speaker, AN Shamseer, who described the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as an important organization in India.

The views of Mr. Jayarajan also gave ammunition to the Sangh Parivar outfit, which has been saying that Kerala has emerged as a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists under the CPI(M) Left Democratic Front (LDF)-led government. These outfits have used conspiracy theories like ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotics jihad’ to spread anti-Muslim propaganda.

The comments of Mr. Jayarajan drew responses from the properties he mentioned. The Welfare Party of India (WPI), the political wing of the JIH, accused the CPI(M) of aligning itself with the Sangh Parivar and sought Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s response to the allegations. The WPI and the Social Democratic Party of India, the political face of the PFI, had supported the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Parts of the Christian community also entered. Deepikaa Malayalam newspaper run by the clergy and popular among Syrian Catholics, published an editorial asking whether the CPI(M) supported Mr. Jayarajan. He said that the Congress and the CPI(M) have been favoring political Islam and said that Mr. Jayarajan is active.

It is true that a few young people from Kerala joined the Islamic State and went to Syria and Afghanistan, although the numbers are unknown. In 2009, four people joined terrorist groups in Kupwara in Kashmir and were killed in an encounter with the Indian army.

Earlier, leaders of the second group of IUML, such as KM Shaji, would argue that the Islamic State was inspired by Syed Abul Ala Maududi, the founder of JIH. The CPI(M) leadership believes that IUML and JIH have developed bonhomie in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and that JIH’s theocratic ideology is subtly dominating the IUML platform as its ally, the Congress, is not in power. Kerala or the Centre. .

Although the rise of political Islam in Kerala has generally been a cause for concern, social analysts are convinced that it will not succeed given the political system of the State. The leadership of IUML, especially Thangal, has taken a strong stand against the Muslim base. Furthermore, a powerful body of Sunni scholars, the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, strongly opposes social extremism. Muslims constitute more than 25% of Kerala’s population. The Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen, another influential Muslim organization, also claimed that Mr Jayarajan was exploiting anti-Muslim sentiments by selling his book.

Muslims are living peacefully with other religious communities in Kerala and they are seeing the efforts made by different factions for development. Given the critical situation, the role of IUML in maintaining a harmonious social atmosphere and upholding the national ideals of Kerala is crucial.