CPI(M), Congress draw battle lines over Jamaat-e-Islami's political nature
The latest stand-off between the two parties came after the CPI(M) slammed Media One channel for broadcasting a political opinion column that the ruling party had a long history of stoking Islamophobia and demonising Muslims to corral Hindu nationalist votes.
The controversial political column by the Media One managing editor C. Dawood referenced a submission made by CPI(M)'s former Wandoor MLA (1996-2001) N. Kannan in the Assembly, accusing the National Democratic Front (NDF) of fuelling communal divisions in Malappuram by othering fellow citizens of other faiths.
On Thursday, angered CPI(M) activists took out a rally in Wandoor, allegedly threatening to lop off Mr. Dawood's hands. However, Congress rallied to support the channel and, by extension, the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan pushed back by stating that the CPI(M) was furthering the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) Hindu nationalist agenda in Kerala by demonising Muslim organisations as fundamentalists.
He said the CPI(M) and the BJP were on the same page when it came to demonising Muslims as fundamentalists and law-breakers with an eye on Hindu majoritarian votes. Mr. Satheesan reiterated that Congress did not view Jamaat-e-Islami through CPI(M)'s prism.
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan accused the Congress of giving a political safe harbour to the Jamaat-e-Islami for a perceived electoral dividend. 'Mr. Satheesan legitimised the extremist outfit by falsely claiming that it had shed its Islamist spots,' he said.
Mr. Govindan accused Media One channel of providing a bully's pulpit for the Jamaat-e-Islami's Islamist agenda. He said the channel had obfuscated NDF's, later Peoples Front of India (PFI), 'pernicious role' in eroding Malappuram's secular legacy.
Mr. Govindan said the CPI(M) would seek legal recourse against the news channel and politically expose the Jamaat-e-Islami's threat to secularism and social progress.
He denounced CPI(M) sloganeering against Mr. Dawood, with the rider that the public knows which outfit cuts hands, in an oblique allusion to the PFI's attack on Newman College teacher T.J. Joseph in 2010 for allegedly disrespecting Islam.
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