My first encounter with communalism was after the demolition of the Babri Mosque. The stories I was hearing was how my relatives or Malayali Hindus in general who resided in Kasaragod (northern Kerala) but worked in Mangaluru, Karnataka (adjacent region) would stay back in Mangaluru if it was late. They had to move from a Muslim majority part of Kasaragod and the fear psychosis was too high. I heard the story of my relative, a communist party worker, being hacked to death in a Muslim majority area in Kasaragod. I also heard from my relatives that the Muslims indulging in violence in that region were the ones who had migrated to Mumbai and moved back after facing Hindu communal frenzy in the aftermath of Babri Mosque demolition. Then there were tit-for-tat murders of some of the most vulnerable. Compared to the left dominated Kerala region, the Hindutva dominated Karnataka region where I lived was relatively calm. This I felt was a real irony.
The dominant ethos of Keralan society has always been Leftwing ideology. This ideology has consistently opposed the Hindutva movement in general and the Babri Mosque demolition in particular. There have been multiple clashes between the Left and the RSS (the Hindutva movement) which left scores dead. So, in a nutshell Muslims had no business to create any nuisance in Kerala.
One may argue, it was a minority but that's where the betrayal becomes apparent. The Hindutva party, BJP, could never get any seat( a situation hasn't changed much even today though its vote share has increased considerably). However, the Muslim majority district of Malappuram always elected the candidates from the Muslim League. For a long time, the MP from the district was not even a Malayali Muslim. Basically, Malayali Muslims when they could elect a candidate on their own they chose a communal party. This despite the fact that all other parties would have chosen a Muslim candidate. How is this different from communal Hindus voting for the BJP? To make the matters worse, this had been happening long before the BJP was even a potent political power.
The Muslim League is supposedly moderate. But one could take the similar line with communal Hindus too. Compared to Muslims, Hindus in general are a more open society with girls having relatively better freedom. There is not much difference between secular Hindus and communal Hindus in this case. What should worry all of us, is the identity based politics of both the Muslim League and the BJP. Majority Malayali Muslims haven't acquitted themselves admirably in this case.
After the Babri Mosque demolition, there was a flurry of Muslim fundamentalist parties in Kerala (the menace of which has spread to Karnataka too). One can argue, that was a direct response to Hindutva communalism as all regions of India are so closely integrated. But it's still a betrayal of Keralan ethos. More than that it's a mockery Kerala mainstream culture. Do those bigots think such blatant communalism in a region known for its hardcore leftist movement will not be observed people in other regions of India, who would then draw their own conclusions?
This betrayal can't be undone unless every Muslim identity party whether moderate or extreme ceases to operate in Kerala.
