The Love Jihad has become the itching menace in Kerala. When the issue was raised by RSS, most of the liberal intellectuals called it political offshoots. This time it has been raised by a Catholic bishop. Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, Bishop of Palai, has come out categorically, accusing a section of the Muslim community of targeting Christians girls through Love Jihad and ‘Narcotic Jihad’. These groups, according to him, have been using different strategies to run the show. Pointing to a sharp rise in cases of young Christian women being subjected to abuse or religious conversion after eloping with men from other community, the Bishop warned that these “jihadists” had already cast their nets over places including schools, colleges, training centers and even commercial centers. Regarding the “Narcotic Jihad”, the Bishop said the rising number of drug cases were a pointer to the practice’s existence. “These gangs operate out of the ice-cream or soft drinks parlors and restaurants run by jihadists and deploy different types of narcotics as a tool to destroy non-Muslims. These facts are reinforced by the rising cases of rave parties. The incidents of religious hatred in the domain of art and culture, programs that seek to cast aspersions on other religions, the business strategies like halal food, major real estate deals at inflated prices, parallel telephone exchange, armory shops are all part of larger scheming.
Five years earlier, the Hadiya case brought this issue to light. Many secular fronts and liberal thinkers wrote that it was an imagined story by right wing organizations. As things moved, and courts took cognizance of the matter, things became more transparent. National Investigation Agency (NIA) found the involvement of a team who are involved in the process of conversion of Hindu and Christian girls to Islam.
Jihad is an Arabic word, which is closely associated with Islam and its history. Jihad literally means making a determined effort to oppose something or achieve an ideal or a noble goal. However, with the rise of extremism in many countries, it is now being used rather negatively to denote the use of violence. The word ‘Love Jihad’ is a rather recent development. This manifestation of Jihad means using love and sex to convert people to Islam or establishing dominance over them. Love Jihad or Romeo Jihad is a process under which young Muslim boys and men target young girls for conversion into Islam by pretending as real lovers. In December, 2009, Justice KT Sankaran of Kerala High Court found indications of forceful conversions.
The radical Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI) has deep roots in Kerala. After the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a radical Islamist organization namely National Democratic Front (NDF) was formed. Simultaneously Abdul Nassar Madani launched a Muslim outfit called Islamic Seva Sangh (ISS). The PFI is an umbrella organization of various political and non-political entities and trusts like Campus Front of India, All India Imam Council Confederation of Human Rights Organization. According to a Home Ministry dossier, the PFI has around 60,000 regular members and 85,000 sympathizers in Kerala. Sathya Sarani Islamic Dawa Institute, a mysterious Islamic coversion centre also comes under the PFI.
MODERNITY AND ISLAMIC RADICALIZATION
Post-Independence India acquired a unique conceptualization of modernity. The marriage of a Hindu girl with Muslim boy was considered a great leap of modernity. The Nehruvian socialists in the name of secularism corroborated and were planted in campuses. To a large extent, the divisive agenda worked. It was more systematic because Kerala was under the political system of Left, or the Congress, or both combined. The change of political system at the center took it seriously. The issue was picked up by RSS. Many leaders of the organization went to Northern parts of Kerala and highlighted the matter with the Home Ministry. Ultimately the ISIS recruitments and radicalization caught the attention of the nation.
FACTORS OF RADICALIZATION
Kerala is not a poor state. The mushrooming of Islamic organizations narrates a different story. Youth of Kerala have been migrating to Gulf and other Islamic countries. Many of them move to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and several other countries. The funds from Saudi Arabia started flowing in. The funds were systematically used to wean the minds of youth. Over period of time, some of the northern districts of Kerala adapted the lifestyles of Arabs. Girls started wearing Arab dress code with burqa. Schools and colleges mushroomed with bearded males. TV evangelists like Zakir Naik became the most popular figure in the state. These were the early signals of radicalization of a state which was doing much better than any state of the country. In all cases, Muslim youths are radicalized by the educated class of Muslims such as Islamic clerics, Islamist editors, and mosque leaders. Hindu and Christians cannot open their shops during Ramzan. Charitable and black money pumped in Kerala in a major way, and mosques and churches are receiving lots of it. All NGOs of Islamists organizations have links with political parties.
They enjoy influences and power over them. On similar lines, Popular Front of India, (PFI) has been taking over control of mosques and some Muslims under its umbrella.
RADICALIZATION THROUGH ORGANIZATIONS
The Mujahid movement preaches a puritan version of Islam and opposes Sufi practices. It is from their corpus of ideas that grew the radical Islamist group National Development Front (NFD), now known as PFI which has roots in the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) a banned militant group which seceded from the Jamaat-e-Islami. By 1980 the Kerala branch of SIMI had declared slogans such as ‘destroy nationalism, reinstate caliphate’. Newspapers like Madhyamam, which is published by the Jammat-e-Islami, are radicalizing Muslim youngsters— radicalization proposing to establish an Islamic state. They create hate wave against the Hindu culture, and there is an attempt to wean away Muslim youngsters from local society.
COCKTAIL OF COMMUNISTS AND JIHADIS
Marxists are also rationalizing Islamic extremism. Marxism thrives on poverty. But Kerala is not poor. In Muslim dominated regions like Kozhikode, Malappuram and Kasargod, there is sign of Arabic culture percolating down. Keralite restaurants advertise Arabic foods. Northern Kerala looks like a mini-Pakistan. Dattatreya Hosabale, General Secretary of RSS said, “There is definitely some nexus between Jihadi terrorists operating in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala and the Communist Party of India (Marxisit) cadres”.
The same logic was endorsed by a historian. Tarek Fatah, author of Pakistani origin, once said “The alliance between Islamist and Leftists-Sharia’h-Bolshevism is a dangerous threat to free speech and democracy”.
ITS POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS
There are reports of Maoists joining hands with Jihadis. The experiment of alliances between CPI (M) and the Jihadis in Kerala succeed in forming a counter against the nationalist forces, its impact will be disastrous not only for India but for the entire world. The outfits have links with the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Hizbul Mujahedeen. PFI has network with National Development Front (Kerala), Manitha Neethi Pasarai (Tamil Nadu), Karnatka Forum for dignity (Karnatka), and all organizations with radical ideology. Several other organizations splashed in other states like Peace Educational Foundation (Kerala), Jamait ul Muflihaat (Hyderabad), Discover Islam Education Trust (Bengaluru), Tauheed Educational Trust (Bihar), Islamic Research and Dawah Centre (Mumbai), Islamic Information Centre (Mumbai) have emerged during the last few years, which have provided direct access to indoctrination materials.
Nonetheless, the declaration by the Bishop is a reality. It has been said time and again that Kerala is slipping into the hands of terror groups. Love Jihad is a tool. The aim is to strengthen Islamic terror groups, meandering along with Maoist forces. Since the Indian subcontinent is facing the heat of Taliban occupying the driving seat in Afghanistan and flagging off Islamic terror signals, these issues will have larger implications. Therefore, between Kerala and Kashmir, there is a link.
The recent revelation by Bishop must be taken seriously by the state government. If it does not, the center must make a solid move to contain it.
Satish Kumar is Professor of Political Science at IGNOU, New Delhi. The views expressed here are his personal.
Jihad is an Arabic word, which is closely associated with Islam and its history. Jihad literally means making a determined effort to oppose something or achieve an ideal or a noble goal. However, with the rise of extremism in many countries, it is now being used rather negatively to denote the use of violence.