During the launch of a book, “Kerala, Muslim Politics, and Political Islam”, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan insulted Jamaat-e-Islami Hind through politically loaded statements. Comparing the socio-religious Muslim organisation with Rashtriya Swayamseva Sangh (RSS) he said that Jamaat-e-Islami is the Islamic version of Rashtriya Swayamseva Sangh and a “revivalist” cluster.
According to a report in Muslim Mirror, Pinarayi also targeted IUML (Indian Muslim Union League), stating that the reformist organisation has allied with Jamaat against CPI (M) for the elections.
He said that IUML is only a reformist organisation which is connected to the “terrorist” and “imperialist” organisations that want to establish a “caliphate”.
“Jamaat-e-Islami and IUML should not be viewed the same way. The former is a religious imperialist organisation, while the other one never had such an agenda,” said the CM while accusing the Jamaat of working with Imperialists.
These statements have stirred up new turmoil in the current politics of Kerala state where the communist throng and Jamaat-e-Islami both have powerful bases.
“Dirty Politics” With “Hindutva Toolkit”
Answering the new hullabaloo, IUML’s leader Mohammad Basheer said that the CM, Pinarayi Vijayan is trying to divide the minorities and drill-in a trench between Muslims, Christians and other communities with “dirty politics”. He pointed out that Jamaat-e-Islami had previously supported CPI (M) and attained considerable political profit through the alliance.
“Now, finding terror in that outfit just because it supported UDF (United Democratic Front) as part of its stand of jointly resisting fascism is strange,” he said.
Mohammad Basheer also said that IUML never perceives the Jamaat as terrorist or imperialist and Kerala CM is only trying to “shift the focus” of the public to escape accountability.
“The Muslim League has never regarded Jamaat-e-Islami as a terrorist group, which is why the UDF accepted their support in the 2019 election,” he said.
On the other hand, Kerala Congress President, K. Sudhakaran replied that CPI (M) has previously been active with Jamaat-e-Islami, as well as with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of Abdul Nazir Madani in past elections.
The opposition pointed out that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Jamaat-e-Islami, Congress and SDPI are currently working together to unite minority sections in Kerala which would harm the CPI (M) and thus the CM made these remarks “to hide the failures” of the government. They also underlined CM’s “Sanghi nub”.
These tools used by CM Pinarayi Vijayan are similar to the intentionally manufactured conspiracy theories of the right-wing Hindutva toolkit, in which labelling Muslims as terrorists is considered the easiest way to target them.
However, nobody from Jamaat-e-Islami has reacted to the remark till now, except Jaamat’s assistant secretary, Mohammad Salman who clarified about “gathering information from Kerala Unit” regarding the statement.
No Comparison
As a socio-religious organisation, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has been working for the betterment of the Muslim community for a long, which is also an innovative use of the right of religious freedom.
The role of Jamat-e-Islami in the progress of Kerala is more influential than its impact in other parts of the country. It has nurtured the religious, cultural, and social aspects and also impacted the political arena with concord.
“The Jamaat-e-Islami emphasizes that service to humanity is complementary to and the extension of the worship of the Lord of the universe. All the local, area, district units of the Jamaat-e-Islami spread all over the cities and villages of the State dutifully engaged in social service activities” marks out Ajmal.P.A, the Assistant Professor Of Islamic History at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam.
In contrast, RSS is widely known for hate speeches, violence, riots, disinformation, misinformation, propaganda, and discrimination against religious minorities which are unlawful, inhumane, communal and severely criminal.
These two are two quite dissimilar organisations, poles apart; therefore by comparing them through the “Hindutva toolkit”, CM Pinarayi Vijayan has incited a hubbub, not only amid the opposition and left-row politics but also in the social stream.
