@the_news_21
Thiruvananthapuram: The hue and cry set off by Catholic Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangat’s ‘narcotic jihad’ comment has laid bare the communal fault lines lying beneath the progressive veneer of Kerala Society.
The tremor triggered by the pulpit exhortation of the Bishop that Islamists have opened a new front to entice non-Muslims by catching them unawares in the narcotic trap have begun to peter off. The deep passions it aroused, however, is still smouldering, causing serious rupture to the relations between sections of the two prominent minority communities in the state.
Bishop Kallarangatt is a highly influential prelate of the socially, economically and politically powerful Syro Malabar Catholic Church. Pala Diocese that he heads, spread around the Christian heartland in Kottayam district, is one of the most prominent seats of the ancient Kerala-based church.
There is no reason to believe that the Bishop’s was an off-the-cuff remark. He has not expressed regret over what said. It is true that a feeling is strong even among sections in his community that a person holding a high office in the religious establishment should have been doubly cautious before wading into troubled waters. The official voices of the church, on the contrary, have defended the Bishop.
The deeply hurt Muslim community, the largest minority group in Kerala, has roundly condemned the Bishop’s comment. The secular and progressive sections in the community is more aggrieved that the Bishop did not even bother to temper his remarks by attributing the imagined fears such as ‘love’ or ‘narcotic’ jihad to the fringe elements.
As expected, the Hindutva outfits rushed to support the Bishop. They hold that the Bishop has only spelled out what they have been saying openly for quite some time.
The non-BJP political parties, including the ruling CPI(M) and its allies and the opposition Congress, have rejected the Bishop’s comment as unfounded. However, they have been cautious to not to affront the Catholic community, which counts in the electoral scheme of both the rival coalitions.
After remaining silent on the raging debate sparked by the issue in mainstream and social media for days, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected the Bishop’s claim. In a measured and balanced counter, aimed at assuaging the ruffled feelings on one side and dispelling the unfounded fears on the other, he held that there had been no material evidence to substantiate the bishop’s fears.
For the time being the storm kicked up by the issue may have abated. But the Bishop’s comment and sharp reactions to it expose that despite its secular and progressive pretensions, a deep-set sense of exclusive identity is prevalent among all communities in Kerala society. The political parties– the left, right and the centre alike–have subtly played on this from time to time for their electoral advantages.
A quick look at Kerala’s political history since the state-formation in 1956 will show that subtle communal mobilization has played a key role in the fortunes of parties and coalitions.
The so-called ‘liberation struggle’ launched to topple the state’s first Communist ministry in 1957-59 saw the open convergence of the Catholic and Nair establishments in the Travancore region. The Congress, under the undisputed leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, had cleverly leveraged the agitation to bring down the ministry headed by Communist veteran E M S Namboodiripad.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and various factions of Christian-dominated Kerala Congress (KC) have been active partners in most Congress-led coalitions that successfully challenged the Communist dominance since 1960s.
The CPI(M) too, despite its assertion that both the majority and minority brands of communalism are equally dangerous, has overtly and covertly struck ties with Muslim and Christian outfits from time to time. Even the present LDF government has as its components the Indian National League (INL), a breakaway faction of the IUML, and a Kerala Congress faction.
Going by its history and social development advances, communalism in Kerala has thrived in a peculiar pattern. Unlike some other volatile parts of the country, sectarian tendencies in Kerala remain wrapped in a cosmetic social make-up, without spilling over violently. This is due to the fact that all major communities are stakeholders in the social, political and economic domains.
They have their own exclusive interests and institutions that flourish in a system where the bargaining power is balanced. But no community establishment, including those of various sections of the Hindu fold, hesitates to assert and whip up sentiments when their interests are at stake.
The surprising element in the Bishop Kallarangatt’s comment, however, is its brazenness. Religious and community heads in Kerala often take great pains to package their sectarian concerns in a sophisticated lingo. This is especially true of the Christian church heads, who are adepts in making subtle use of the immense clout they command over their lay followers.
