Mallappuram : Kerala’s centre of Islamist radicalisation

AYUSH ANAND & VABHAV CHADHA

Vasanth Kumar has been associated with the BJP since 1982. He is a well-settled businessman, and is currently the secretary of BJP Mallapuram district.

Mallapuram is commonly known as the ayurveda capital of Kerala. This district is also distinguished from the rest of Kerala because of its peculiar demography. Mallapuram has 70.24 per cent Muslim population whereas the Hindus constitute 27.60 per cent. So, the pattern and trend of violence is not as similar as in other parts of north Kerala.

Vasanth kumar told us that in Mallapuram, communist violence is not a problem. There is almost no incident of violence by CPM members here. The main problem and reason of political violence here is Islamic fundamentalists and communal tensions spread by Islamist terror organisations. This area is a stronghold of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and its members are the masterminds such violence against Sangh workers.

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Vasanth Kumar

He said the Sunni Tiger Forces came into being after a split in the IUML in 1987. The Sunni Tiger Force allegedly had connections with the JKLF then. Then out of this STF, one Ussain Mussaliar, an Islamic preacher similar to Zakir Naik nowadays, formed the Jametual Eshaniya. From Jametul-Eshaniya, emerged the Al-Umma. This organisation allegedly carried out several terror operations across south India, especially in Tamil Nadu. Once the heat was on it, its cadres again changed the name of their organisation, and with this it the National Democratic Front came into being. The Popular Front of India (PFI) is a national form of this NDF, which operates across India. Campus Front of India is a students’ wing of the PFI; it also has a women’s wing. SDPI (Secular Democratic Party of India) is the political party of this PFI which contested the Assembly election in Kerala in alliance with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. It is strong in those area where the IUML is weak. On all the seats where the UML was strong, it diverted its votes to the IUML to defeat he BJP. So, there is a grand nexus among all these islamist fundamentalist organisation.

A N Madni was among the very first founders of these organisations across south India, from the soil of Mallapuram. Today, the PFI is among the most active groups. The Islamic Swayamsewak Sangh (ISS) was also formed on the same lines. It is the first declared and banned terrorist organisation in south India. It has instigated many incidents of communal violence and hatred in the region to disturb peace and tranquility of the area. Out of this terror outfit, when it was banned,  the Peoples Democratic Party was formed. It is now a political party in Kerala, spreading the same venomous ideology of the ISS.

Vasanth Kumar also informed about the training centre of the PFI in Mallapuram in Manjeri area. The Manjeri centre is the training ground for Islamist terrorists of the region for various terror activities, conversions and abduction rackets.

He further said that Muslim youths of the area were joining the Islamic State in large numbers because of such radicalisation. Many of them also called from the war zone of the IS to their families. There are call records but State Government has not disclosed such details as its vote-bank could be affected. Only after high-level pressure, the case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency.

He added that because of the prevailing hostile environment, the Hindus of the area have united to save their lives and limbs. He said the BJP had been winning in nearly all the majority Hindu pockets of Mallapuram. Muslim voters also voted for the BJP in these areas.