Keralam: Media, truth and communalism
Anivar Aravind
'TERROR IN GOD'S OWN COUNTRY' AND THE FACTS
(On May 29, 2005, the General Secretary of National Development Front
(NDF) sent the following rejoinder to Sunday Indian Express article,
"Terror in God's Own Country").
The report "Terror in God's own Country" by Anil Nair (Indian Express,
22/5/2005) is nothing but a part of the ongoing false propaganda of
Sangh Parivar, to tarnish the secular tradition of the state. Not only
the report is against the facts but also it is humiliating to the
peace loving people of the state. In this connection we would like to
clarify certain things.
During the chief examination by Justice Thomas P Joseph Commission who
conducts judicial enquiry to the Marad case, Ms. Neera Rawat, who was
the City Police Commissioner of Calicut during 1997-1999 has made
allegations that organizations like NDF have outside connection with
Pakistan's ISI and Iran. She has referred to the report submitted by a
special squad appointed by her in order to study the activities of
communal forces, gold smuggling and drug dealings in the city. The
squad was headed by Mr. C.M. Prdeep Kumar, the then Circle Inspector
(traffic). The Commission examined Mr. Pradeep Kumar on 20th May 2005
and during the cross examination, he has made it very clear before the
commission that he has not given such a report. This clarification has
questioned the credibility of Ms. Neera Rawat's statement. Mr. Pradeep
Kumar has further deposed before the Commission that during his
studies about the outside tie-ups of different organizations, no
evidence was available. He also added that he could not trace any
source of income to the so called 'militant' organizations. Instead
only 'information' were available, which, as he stated, appeared in
the newspapers. It is very clear that the 'source' of such information
is the 'reports' made by the skilled journalists like Mr. Anil Nair.
Amazingly the so called Special Branch report submitted by Ms. Neera
Rawat, which claims to be a secret document, was first produced before
the Marad Judicial Commission by one of the state leaders of RSS,
namely Kummanam Rajashekaran. The RSS leader produced the Special
Branch report before the commission one year before the deposition of
Ms. Neera Rawat. Here what is evident is the nexus between certain
police officers and fascist communal forces.
Mr. Anil Nair comments: "make no mistake, Kerala is no Kashmir."
Exactly! More over, Kerala is unique in maintaining its secular
tradition, communal harmony and high standards in various fields of
the development of social life. It is this noble tradition and
communal harmony that the communal forces led by RSS is constantly
trying to demolish. No wonder, prior to Mr. Anil Nair, many 'skilled'
journalists have contributed to these campaigns. The imaginary stories
of ships and speedboats moving across our sea routes between the
shores of Malabar and Karachi, deceiving our Coast Guard and all
security measures, and the like are all old idiotic tales told by RSS
grandmas to the Kakhi wearing children attending the shakhas.
The reporter's comment that 'following the Kerala home department's
revelations about the alleged ISI hand in the Kozhikode-based National
Democratic Front (NDF), M.K. Narayanan, the national security adviser,
has himself ordered a new probe' is really fresh news. What has
happened is that during his visit to Guruvayur Temple, in order to
escape from the disturbing queries of reporters, Mr. M.K. Narayanan
has vaguely stated that 'the ISI connection should be enquired'. Can
we consider this informal comment as an official order of the National
Security Adviser to a new probe?
But the responsible National Security Advisor had reportedly admitted
the failure of our Cost Guard and Intelligence agencies in checking
the time-to-time appearance of 'foreign ships loaded with weapons' to
the shores of Kerala. It does not matter that Mr. M.K. Narayanan was
the Director of CBI for some time and prior to the new assignment he
was the chief of RAW, the prime intelligence agency of the country.
The reporter has also found out the real turning point of Muslim
militancy in Kerala: The killing of eight RSS workers and one Muslim
youth in Marad, near Calicut on 3rd May 2003. According to him 'the
significance of the incident is its absolute one sidedness and
meticulous planning'. As if he would be happy if it were two sided.
This is again the RSS agenda of exploiting anything, even if it is a
revenge killing, to set off their communal agenda.
No wonder, hordes of national level leaders of hindutwa forces rushed
to the state immediately after the unfortunate incident. The
luminaries included I.D. Swamy, the then State Minister for Home
Affairs and Praveen Thogadia, the fire spitting VHP leader. They
talked about ISI and other monsters and even threatened that they
would make Kerala another Gujarat. But nothing happened in the state,
thanks to the sagacity of the people of Kerala who did not yield to
such call to arms.
Nobody from Kerala, except the RSS motivated communal minded, would
forget to point out to the first Marad incident that happened in
January 2001 in which RSS led group killed three Muslim fishermen of
Marad. The brutal attack was completely preplanned by RSS activists
and the authorities did not bother to take any action against the
culprits while they freely wandered in the area injecting communal
venom to the hearts of poor lower caste Hindus. The second Marad
incident was an unfortunate retaliation by the relatives of those who
killed in the first Marad incident. On 27th May 2005, Mr. Mahesh Kumar
Singla, the Crime Branch I.G. who was the head of Special
Investigation Team formed to investigate the Marad case, has deposed
before the Marad Judicial Commission that 'no evidence of involvement
of external forces was found out during the investigation of the case'
and 'there were also no evidence about the involvement of any
organization in the incident' (Indian Express, May 28, 2005). The I.G.
has further deposed before the Commission that he did not find
anything peculiar in the statement of some of the accused that they
were former workers of NDF, and no evidence could be gathered in this
regard.
The Reporter does not seems to be happy with the RAW chief Mr. P.K.
Hormis Tharakan, who was the Director General of Kerala Police, for
his comment that "Kerala does not have a terrorist problem per se."
The fascist forces and their scribes were never happy with those who
want to speak the truth. At the same time, they have many
'intelligence sources' and 'central agencies' to help them.
Journalists are not supposed to reveal the sources and happily they
can write anything about any one. That is why the official, who
revealed the flow of hawala money to the 'militants' of the state, has
no name. Thanks to the 'unwritten' journalistic rule.
Then comes the saga of Malappuram, the favorite subject of parivar
scribes. The reporter is very clear when he reveals the cause of the
militancy of the district: 'It is one of only two Muslim-majority
districts in India'. According to him, the fundamentalists first
appeared in the district in 1990s. This is historically wrong. The
people of the district know that right from the formation of the
district, the communal fascist people led by RSS have been trying to
tarnish the people of this district. One would recall the suicide
attempts and other forms of fire plays organized by communal forces to
withdraw the decision of the EMS Namboodirippad government to form the
Malappuram district.
Ever since, fascist pens and tongues are constantly trying to paint
Malappuram district as a troubled area, or, if I borrow their words 'a
mini Pakistan'. Everyday one could read saffron colored scare stories
in the journals of RSS. Always they have some characters and incidents
with Muslim color and name, in the form of 'drug careers' 'woman
torturers' and the like. Anil Nair's story is just an addition of
another page to these idiotic tales. Greater stories have appeared in
Organiser, Janmabhumi, Kesari etc with titles such as: "the time bomb
tickling away in Malappuram."
But, in 1994, the people of Kerala witnessed the premature tickling
away of a time bomb in Tanur, a country town in the district where RSS
led Hindutwa forces are very active since the month and year. The time
bomb was exploded during it's making by RSS activist named Shrikant
who has come from some other place to perform his 'duty'. He was
seriously wounded and during questioning, he confessed to the police
that the bomb in the making was for throwing it on the procession of
Hindu women and children (bala yatra) on the occasion of Shri Krishna
Jayanti. Later the culprit succumbed to injuries. This is one example
of the continuous attempts of RSS to create communal troubles in the
district. Reacting to this incident Mr. Oomen Koshi, the then
Superintendent of Police of the District said, "It was God who saved
Malappuram district."
Before writing this scare story, Mr. Anil Nair could have analyzed the
life style of the people of Malappuram, a district of his own native
state. There are a lot of people working in the district who hails
from different areas of the country. Before coming to the district,
they used to be very alarmed because of the image they have got from
such scare stories and many of them hesitated to come to the district
even for the sake of a job. But once they come here, they realize that
this is the most peaceful area of the country to live. Many of those
who have come from southern districts of the state never want go back
to their native places because they just don't want to miss a peaceful
life in the remote greeneries of the district enjoying the warmth of
the innocent inhabitants, of course mostly Muslims, who are otherwise
painted as 'militants' by investigative journalists like Anil Nair.
As a result of the constant pressure of RSS, the central government
once posted a unit of CRPF in the district. Within a few months of
their arrival, people could see the policemen of the force moving
freely in the district making roads, repairing ponds, constructing
wells etc. Fore, the central police unit has no other works to do in
the 'trouble stricken' district where ISI agents are always moving
through.
The reporter had taken painstaking effort in his narrative to prove
the militancy of the district, while he pictured the sights at
Masjids, Darghas etc. For the information of journalist Anil Nair who
do not know anything about Islam or Muslims, let me make it clear that
there is no 'khutubah (sermon)' during the maghreb, or evening
prayers; whether it is in 'a mosque with muted colors, tiled floors
and curvilinear faux-wood' at Kondotty of Malappuram or at Juma Masjid
of New Delhi, where the report was published. This would help him to
be more 'authentic' and accurate in future scare stories.
The SIMI activist's exclusives quoted by Mr. Nair is also like him.
The verses from Quran and sayings of Prophet narrated by the 'under
ground full time Islamic revolutionaries', with whom the reporter has
connection, are not just confusing but are utterly wrong.
The style of the report with a constant move from Malappuram to
Coimbatore to Secunderabad up to White House and again coming back to
Malappuram is interesting and looks like a docudrama. Mr. Nair would
be an excellent narrator of tales with ability to connect the
screenings in long run with ease. To read the story 'a man is
furtively forcing his goat to perform a full prostration to the pir's
tomb before dragging it off to be sacrificed' is really interesting.
We feel that Mr. Nair's special 'Kerala dish' used exclusively for
north Indian consumption (the article was not published in Kerala
edition), where the tastes are different, are part of the smear
campaign of the RSS backed upper castes targeting the social awakening
of the minorities and backward classes, fearing their fight for social
justice.
In Kerala we have witnessed the force and vigor of minorities and
backward classes for getting adequate representation in the power
structure. They have been fighting for special recruitment to make up
the jobs they have lost in the past. Organizations like National
Development Front (NDF) have been in the forefront of such struggles.
This may be the right time for RSS devotees to spread scandals and
half-truths. But, as a responsible newspaper, aren't you worried about
your own credibility?
The General Secretary
National Development Front Keralam(NDF)
17/569, Unity House
Rajaji Road, Calicut – 673004
Tel: 0495 2723443
Mob: 09447497704
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Own Country":
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