Jihad in South India as it has evolved through the last two decades and how Dravidian as well as Marxist (and p-sec) polity facilitated it.
The Southern Jihad
- The night watchman said that they were three youths in their twenties. He said they calmly walked around. One held the watchman while the two others zeroed in on their target. Their target was Mr. Ramesh – a leading auditor and state general secretary of Tamil Nadu BJP. They twisted his hand in an impossible angle breaking it. Then they slammed his head against the wall. Then in the perfect tradition of Islamist terror, they started to slit his throat even as they were raining cuts against the struggling body of the fifty three year old man. And when it was all over the lifeless body lay down in a pool of blood with 23 cuts and a disfigured head. The killers did not run away. They simply walked and dissolved into the night of Salem – a prominent city in Tamil Nadu. And the night was still young when the auditor was no more: 9.30 pm. It was a Friday in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan- 19-07-2013. [1]
- Just weeks before this gruesome murder, 45 year old Vellaiappan – a Hindu Front functionary, who was active in combating proselytizing and reclaiming the occupied temple lands, was killed in Vellore, on 1-Jul-2013. The murder happened in public place and in the full view of the public. In Vellore, this was the second murder of a Hindu activist, after AIADMK has come to power.[2]
- In the early morning of April 2013, at Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district, a veteran BJP leader, who was respected by all communities and known for his soft nature, was attacked by a gang. With the arrest of four youths for this incident, a network comprising of Islamists not just from Kanyakumari district but from the ‘Melapalayam’ area of Thirunelveli district became evident.[3]
- In the late night of November 6, 2012 Mr.Anand, an RSS functionary, was attacked by Islamists. Ten days later police arrested Syyed Abu Tahir (19) near Coimbatore. [4]
In the last two years, many Hindu activists have been attacked and killed in the state of Tamil Nadu. Randomly selected and systematically murdered or assaulted in very violent ways, Hindu organizations have been a target for a force that has been gaining strength within the state of Tamil Nadu.
This is not new to Tamil Nadu. It has happened before. During the last cycle of engineered violence, pan-Islamic forces used a combination of Dravidian polity, communal politics and terrorism to entrench their grip on Tamil society and it climaxed with the Coimbatore bomb blast. The events which happened prior to 1998 Coimbatore bomb blast have an uncanny resemblance to the present acts of violence.
Here is a quick recap.
Targeted Killings to RDX Bomb Blasts
Back then, we had the DMK regime, which was ideologically soft towards pan-Islamic forces. One of the cherished myths of the pseudo-secularists is that Islamic terrorist activities started only after 1992 demolition of the disputed structure. But the Islamist attacks on Hindu activists started much before that. A full one decade, before the demolition, the murderous attempts on the life of Hindu activists had started in Tamil Nadu.
In 1982, Badsha, who would later become a powerful Islamist leader, made an attack on a group of Hindu leaders returning from a meeting at Coimbatore. Two years later, on 18-7-1984, in full public view at Madurai railway station, the same Badsha attacked Rama.Gopalan, a prominent Hindu leader of Hindu Front, a vocal Hindu organization that combated conversions and Dravidianist propaganda. Though Badsha was caught red-handed, he could not be convicted. This gave the Islamist forces their first taste of victory over the judicial system in Tamil Nadu and provided a profitable lesson in using the Dravidian polity to their advantage. [5]
All India Jihad Council and al-Ummah
Within two years, the radical elements were gathered by one extremist preacher Ahmed Ali alias Palani Baba. In 1986, the first Islamic terrorist organization in the region – the All India Jihad Council (AIJC) was formed. After this the attacks started becoming virulent and systematic. On 30-Aug-1989, Veera Ganesh, a prominent Hindu Front worker, was killed. Then on 05-Sep-1991, Veera Shiva, another Hindu Front functionary was killed. All these killings happened in and around Coimbatore –the commercial hub of Tamil Nadu. Along with AIJC another organization too had come into being: Al-Ummah.
One of the cherished and oft-repeated myth is that it was the demolition that triggered the bomb explosions. The fact that even months before the demolition happened, the Jihadist had started preparing for the bomb blasts falsifies this pseudo-secular contention. Tamil Nadu police arrested the Al-Ummah members Hyder Ali (38), Abdul Mudalif (47), Mohammed Abdul Khader (50) and Zakir Hussain (38) on October 1998, when they were smuggling explosives from Kerala on a stolen car. And this happened on 29th October 1992 a month before the demolition.[6]
The Kerala connection surfacing here shall take the form of a very elaborate well-coordinated network later. In Kerala at that time Abdul Nasser Madani was the kingpin of Jihad. He was the counterpart of Palani Baba in Kerala. His organization ISS (Islamic Sevak Sangh) was proscribed in 1993. He rechristened his organization as PDP (People’s Democratic Party). At the same time was born NDF (National Development Front). Though technically two different organizations, as observed by A.V. George, Asst. Commissioner of Police Ernakulam, Kerala the NDF and the PDP units had cooperated with each other to carry out extremists’ activities.[7]
Neera Rawat, who was Kozhikode City Police Commissioner from March 22, 1997 to May 16 1999, had prepared a confidential dossier on NDF activities. According to the information gathered by her ISI and Iran were the sponsors of the NDF.[8] Ms. Rawat also revealed that the Special Branch had also given reports regarding the transportation of arms in ambulance vans. The significance of this piece of information would become clear later.
On August 1993 RDX was used to destroy RSS state headquarters killing 11 persons. Then on October 1994 state president of Hindu Front Mr. Rajagopalan was dragged out of his house and killed. On April 1995 the headquarters of Hindu Front at Chennai was blasted using RDX. Individual killings also continued. Then on July 1995, a parcel bomb killed the wife of district president of Hindu Front. Jihad activities in and around Coimbatore continued with a renowned vigor.
Ideological Blind Spot
In an extraordinarily insightful study of the southern Jihad, BJP noted the ideological blind spot in the Dravidianist ideology that made the parties in power irrespective of the party affiliation, look over the Jihad activities. On July 1995, BJP’s parliamentary delegation visited Tamil Nadu and the then leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Sikandar Bakht observed in his report how “the political climate in TN… marked by the influence of separatists Dravidian movement which is mostly based on anti-Hindu (views)” made “the powerful Dravidian parties “frown upon “any pro-Hindu, nationalist activities”.
Bakht report further noted that how “a section of the AIADMK, the present ruling party of the state, is also reported to have a sort of allergy towards Hindu organisations” and also observed that “the Al-Ummah led by Syed Ahmed Batcha of Coimbatore “enjoys the support of various political parties including some ruling AIADMK leaders.”.
The 1995 report surprisingly revealed the globalization attempt of the South based Jihad forces, noting how no action was taken against the founder of All India Jihad Council who had written “letter appealing to the international Islamic community for funds to carry on his fight against Hindu organisations” which was “widely distributed in Gulf countries.”
The report pointed out that the Tamil Nadu based Jihad elements were now “working in collaboration with Kerala ISS chief Madani”.[9]Meanwhile a political offshoot had emerged from ‘Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhakam’ (TMMK) which stated that it eschewed the violent path of Al-Ummah. But as events later showed it was more an effort to have a division of labor to facilitate an atmosphere conducive for Islamist operations than for democratizing their community. AIADMK regime then was perceived as notoriously corrupt and inept by general public. So when it started making some tentative steps to curb Jihad terror it was too late. The police had set security check posts in some strategic points in areas like Kottamedu at Coimbatore.
The pseudo-secular media persons in Tamil Nadu, close to DMK ideology, charged the AIADMK of isolating the Muslims. DMK made removal of the check posts part of its poll deal which it struck with TMMK in exchange of Muslim votes. When the DMK came to power the Islamist mob was allowed to dismantle the check posts and then a fresh round of nightmare began for Coimbatore.
Prequel to ‘Operation Allahu Akbar’
In the period between 1989 and 1997, 42 Hindus had been murdered in Coimbatore region by Islamists. Some were random killing of Hindus to ‘instill fear’ like the killing of five Hindus in one day (02-09-1997) [10] and many were targeted executions of Hindu activists. The organization that was doing these murders was Al-Ummah.
Resolutely ignoring all IB warnings on 28th January 1997 Badsha and four others were released from Coimbatore jail by DMK regime following its decision to withdraw the TADA cases.[11]
Interestingly, the Madras film industry, even tried to glorify the Jihadist by making a blockbuster in his name – Badsha starred by Tamil superstar Rajni Kanth.
But such little acts of appeasement by Kollywood did not prevent Al-Ummah from throwing pipe-bombs at director Mani Ratnam’s house as a warning against the films he directed ‘Roja’ and ‘Bombay’ which spoke against terrorism in the backdrop of Kashmir and spoke for communal harmony in the backdrop of Mumbai riots respectively. Meanwhile Badsha grew mysteriously stronger with funds flowing in and state power turning a blind eye. He was paying, in 1990s, Rs 5000 per month for his “boys” and for the “higher ups” 100 cc motor cycles were gifted. [12]
An early morning of November 1997 saw an altercation with the bike riding Al-Ummah youths and a police man. This was followed by Al-Ummah youths declaring that they would extract revenge. Then the threat was made real by a public execution of a police constable, Mr. Selvaraj. To the shocked media and public the images of the wives of policemen demanding security for their husbands clearly showed the pathetic condition to which law and order had been reduced. Two days after the brutal execution of constable Selvaraj, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi came out with an extraordinarily callous statement that the police men should not have harassed two wheeler youths just for the sake of statistics. [13]
Riots broke out in Coimbatore following the murder of Selvaraj. And then on the Valentine’s Day of 1998 Coimbatore saw 76 deaths due to a meticulously planned serial bombing – a terror plot code named ‘Allahu Akabr’.[14]
It was not an attack from the blue. Sufficiently enough early warnings had been there. In the twenty months prior to the Feb-14-1998 bomb blast there have been 21 bomb explosions – some accidental and some by local Tamil groups but the most sophisticated coordinated bomb blasts like the blasts in the Express trains at Thiruchi and Erode on the same day in 1997 were carried out by Al-Ummah with logistics from Kerala. [15]
Soon after this mega-terror attack, Jihadists struck again. On March 1998 Prof.Paramasivam a soft spoken gentleman, who had helped all students irrespective of their community, was dragged out of his house and was executed brutally. Three Islamist youths were arrested initially. [16]
Sequel to ‘Operation Allaku Akbar’
After the 1998 bomb blasts, an embarrassed DMK, which had severe electoral reverses in the Parliament elections, allowed police to crack down on Islamist forces. Meanwhile the political changes, with DMK entering and AIADMK exiting the NDA, reinforced the DMK-government’s drive against Islamic terror network in the state. A relative period of vigil followed though not without a few targeted murders by Al-Ummah elements, now mostly on the run. The 2001 election reverses suffered by DMK in Tamil Nadu state assembly elections, made DMK again move towards the minority appeasement policy and AIADMK, now in power, started warming up towards BJP.
Meanwhile Islamic forces had started working earnestly towards regrouping, realignment and restructuring their strategies. A massive outreach programme was launched. Former Jihadists now aging started becoming evangelicals for Islam. In television, print media and digital media Islamists started a vigorous propaganda that Islam was a religion of peace and that Islamic youths were targeted by an anti-Islamic regime. Every social ill was magnified and presented through the theological prism of Islamic monotheism. It was a virulent form of Islam that was being propagated now.
Tamil Nadu BJP as well as Hindu outfits seemed to have left everything in the hands of state agencies. While Islamists worked overtime to remove the terror stigma, create a positive image in public psyche even as making their terror infrastructure ever more robust, Hindu movements in Tamil Nadu started getting lethargic.
Unlike the observant 1995 BJP team and later the ABVP which produced the detailed study of Jihad terrorism in the state, the BJP of early 2000 was more worried about benefits of power than about getting justice to the victims of Jihad terror in Tamil Nadu. Or at least that is the scenario one gets going through the happenings. Throughout the years BJP was in power, Islamists toiled hard building networks in the so-called secular community.
In 2001 DMK lost the state elections and AIADMK won. TMMK had supported AIADMK. Islamists across South India in a significant move started two major organizations in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. They were given deceptively secular names namely Manitha Neethi Pasarai (MNP) and Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD). They were coordinated by NDF of Kerala.
In 2002 all the six persons accused of murdering the Madura College Professor, K.R. Paramasivam, were acquitted by a Madurai court today. Of the six accused one young person raised his hands and shouted slogans. His name was `Police’ Fakruddin. [17] In 2013, eleven years later, Tamil Nadu police would announce him as major suspect in the inhuman killing of auditor Ramesh.
In 2003, all eight Al-Ummah men were acquitted in Selvaraj murder case.[18] In February 2003 and again in March 2003 16 Al Umma men were acquitted because the police ‘had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt’.[19]
While the murder accused were rescued through professional legal assistance and even when jailed their comforts and family’s economic security were taken care of, what about the plight of those killed by terrorists?
They are forgotten by the society. It was reported in 2010 that P. Sivanandi, Inspector-General of Police, West Zone, after persistence personal efforts and toils, tracked down Selvaraj’s wife Jayanthi and daughter Lavanya who were found living in Vadipatti in an impoverished state.
Madhani Massacre and Massage
From a lower middle class he looks too aged for his age. His only son was killed during the Coimbatore bomb blast. He was given the post of medical attendant at the Govt. medical hospital at Coimbatore. There he was entrusted the care of a person in a wheel chair. He should get the patient hot water and tiffin; take him in wheelchair to the bathroom. He should serve the patient all his needs. And the person in the wheel chair was none other than Madani – Abdul Nasser Madani the main accused and Godfather of Southern Jihad.[20]
Such insensitivity towards victims was matched by exuding compassion towards the terror-accused. In 2002, Syed Munir Hoda, IAS was made Home Secretary for the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who had a good rapport then with TMMK.[21] Later he would stand accused for helping Abdul Nasser Madani by lifting the ban on Madani’s movements, enabling the high-profile prisoner to seek medical treatment.[22] As Madani was moved out of jail, his communication capabilities increased.
On 2nd May 2003 at the coastal village of Marad, Kerala, eight Hindu fishermen were massacred brutally by Islamists. Before the Thomas Commission appointed by Kerala government investigative officers revealed that one of the master minds of the massacre Mohammed Nafi had met Abdul Nazar Madani in the Coimbatore Central Prison, eight times before the massacre.[23] The commission later discovered that another IAS officer Sooraj was responsible for the failure of the civil administration in to prevent the Marad massacre and pointed out that ‘the allegation of communalism’ raised against his could not be ignored and required to be enquired into by the State government. [24]
The 2002 helping of Madani by Munir Hoda IAS which allowed Madani to communicate with one of the architect of Marad massacre, and the act of omission by another IAS officer Sooraj which allowed the massacre to happen cannot be easily brushed aside as coincidences. If they are not indeed coincidences it shows the new reach of Islamist activities at higher corridors of power in South India which in turn can provide Jihad more capacity to strike at will.
In 2004 AIADMK moved closer to BJP having an electoral alliance. It was then that the CM discovered the transgression of Hoda and sacked him. Islamist organizations raised a hue and cry. In 2004 elections the NDA was defeated in the Parliament polls and in Tamil Nadu NDA was defeated in all 40 constituencies. In 2004 police busted a camp of MNP at a village in Cuddalore Tamil Nadu. According to the police sources, the MNP was said to be having a nationwide network and was suspected to have links with the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front of Yasin Malik and acted as a recruiting agency to beef up the terrorist forces in Jammu and Kashmir. [25]
Incidentally the original flag of MNP was that of JKLF which was later slightly modified with a single star. In 2005 a bus was burnt near Kalamassery, Kerala. One of the accused here was Thadiyantavide Nazeer. He was also involved in planting of bombs in Coimbatore Press Club and blasts in Kozhikode bus stand to secure Madani’s arrest. A native of Kerala he had become the southern operations commander of Lashkar e Toiba. When at last he was arrested in 2009 by Bangalore police the MHA decided to acknowledge this fact only after a week. [26] Particularly afther the Ishrat encounter political calculations have become part of the MHA – state IB/police interactions which can have a serious negative impact on anti-terrorist operations of the state.
Though in jail, Madani was spreading the Jihadi network, effectively across and Islamists. His supporters in Tamil Nadu were simultaneously creating a huge pressure through the human rights industry to secure his release. Leftwing writers, human rights lobby, Islamists all came together signing petitions for the release of Madani. Though Nazeer had attempted to murder Nayanar, Kerala chief minister and Marxist leader, the electoral alignment made the Marxist Party bat for Madani’s release. On March 2006, Kerala legislative assembly passed a resolution supported by both Congress and Marxists for the release of Madani then in Coimbatore jail.[27]
In 2006 AIADMK was defeated and DMK government came to power. Now the DMK government returned to the original pro-Jihad stand with a renewed vengeance. It promptly reinstated Hoda as the Home secretary. In the neighboring Kerala, the LDF had joined hands with Madani’s political outfit now named PDP.
By July 2006 DMK government gave the green signal to Islamists by allowing a costly Ayurvedic treatment for Madani which involved 10 masseurs and 4 senior Ayurvedic doctors. The 35 days treatment costs Rs 50,000 then and no award for guessing who paid the bill. [28]
In the early hours of July 22, 2006 Coimbatore police arrested five suspected members of the MNP, and seized IEDs and detonators besides surveillance notes and maps from them. Police said the five had planned to blow up the Coimbatore Government Hospital, the railway station, the collectorate and the district police office. In August 2006, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore, V Ratnasabapathy, revealed a plot for terror attack on Coimbatore city. He was promptly transferred by the state government. According to the police sources TMMK came to the rescue of MNP and pressurized the DMK to transfer the ACP. The cases were weakened, the police men were harassed and the arrested terror-accused were released. [29]
This gesture sent a green signal to Islamists and a warning signal to the police. Police officials remaining unnamed had started talking to the press about how “barely two weeks after it was sworn in, Tamil Nadu’s DMK government had ordered that cases be dropped against 12 Muslim fundamentalists, all followers of Kichaan Buhari, an Al Umma sympathizer and key accused in the Coimbatore serial blasts.” These accused were initially detained under the National Security Act (NSA) and yet had managed to obtain bail. Now the epicenter of Jihad activities was shifting to Melapalayam in the hot dusty district of Thirunelveli. Soon the senior policemen in Thirunelveli were shocked by what they saw as the DMK government’s “blatant sympathy” for the Muslim fundamentalists.[30]
The fears of the police personnel became prophetic. Soon there were attacks on Hindu leaders and also liberal Muslims. In July 2006, a head constable who went to arrest a terror accused inside Melapalayam area was beaten and chased away.[31] In November 2006, violent attacks by Jihadist prisoners on fellow Hindu prisoners and jail officials led to their transfer out of Madurai prison.[32]
On 17-Dec-2006 M.R.Gandhi, a BJP leader of Kanyakumari district, returning from a meeting at night was attacked by a mob of Islamists who threatened to burn him alive.[33] The same night Islamists also made their presence felt at Thenkasi where Kumara Pandiyan – a prominent Hindu Front leader was murdered by an Islamist. He was opposing Islamist plan to build a mosque opposite to the famous ancient temple at Thenkasi.[34] Mr.M.R.Gandhi , as we saw in the beginning was attacked again in 2013. Those marked for death once in the Jihad radar are seldom forgotten by the soldiers of Allah.
Taliban style public execution of Muslim women who did not adhere to strict Purdah or the dictates of Shariat became order of the day. TMMK – which was one of the proscribed organizations by the internal ministry to receive funds from abroad- became the darling of DMK government.
In March 2007 a 35 year old Muslim woman was ceremonially stoned and then stabbed to death by young fundamentalists for being ‘immoral’ in Thirunelveli district. [35] A district TMMK official went on record demanding the implementation of the Islamic law of stoning women to death in secular India. [36] May 2007 saw another Muslim woman tea vendor hacked to death because she was selling tea in public. [36] In neighboring Kerala by 2010, the 2006 electoral alliance of CPI (M)-PDP has evolved into a moral police. The DYFI of CPI (M) and PDP cadre started barging in houses and beating people. [37]
TMMK meanwhile utilized the patronage of DMK regime and went for an enlarged capacity building. An ambulance network was created. Ambulance services have been a favored way of arms trafficking. At a thanksgiving function in November 2007 Chief Minister Karunanidhi made a personal donation two ambulances to TMMK ambulance network.[38] Earlier in August 2007 TMMK had put to use its ambulances in a deadly attack on Hindus at Thenkasi.
The attacks and killings of the Hindu youths, who were the brothers of the earlier slain Hindu Front leader, were symbolically done on August 14 – the independence day of Pakistan. [39] In Coimbatore by August 2007 the case against Madani was so weakened by DMK government that it was foregone conclusion that he would be released. However in a curiously inexplicable judgment the Judge while accepting that there was a conspiracy through serial bomb blast to kill L.K.Advani then visiting Coimbatore and take revenge on Hindus, found “several factors outweighed the legal factors for giving death sentences”. [40] Madani was cleared of all charges while Badsha was safely saved from the hangman and returned to the comfort of his cell. Madani came out in 2007. Two years later without much fanfare in 2009 DMK Government released nine more members of Al Umma, sixteen months before the completion of their sentence.[41]
In 2008 there were multiple bomb blasts in Bangalore. And on August 17 2010, Madani was again arrested, in connection with the conspiracy for the 2008 Bangalore bomb blast. [42] The geography of Southern Jihad now included Karnataka very well beyond the tentative steps. So much so that the Congress government is set to spend Rs 5 lakhs for Madhani’s treatment at an Ayurvedic Spa.[43] Even as the BJP was getting defeated in the Karnataka election, Arab News from Saudi declared that unlike the outgoing BJP government the elected Congress government would not oppose the bail petition of Madani. So the article declared ‘Congress win bodes well for Madani’ [44].
In fact the current Chief Justice of India P.Sathasivam who headed the bench of Judges in the Supreme Court rejected the earlier bail application of Madani. Justice P.Sadasivam stated an apex court bench headed by Justice P. Sathasivam declard that the Supreme Court was “not inclined to enlarge him on bail.”[45]
AIADMK again
In 2011 AIADMK came to power. TMMK had shifted its alliance to AIADMK. This time it had launched a political party and had got two seats as well. Islamist forces were now well entrenched in power in Tamil Nadu. This is despite the fact that TMMK is still in the list of organizations prohibited from receiving foreign contribution by Ministry of Home Affairs (as on 18-11-2011).[46]
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 5th October 2011 stated in its website that a case was registered against five people – MH Jawaharullah, the then State President (TMMK), S. Hyder Ali, the then State General Secretary (TMMK), H. Sayed Nizar Ahmed, the then State Dy. President (TMMK), G.M. Shiek and Nalla Mohmed Kalanjim, the then Authorised Signatories of Coimbatore Muslim Relief Fund and members of TMMK alleging that during the period from 15.12.1997 to 20.06.2000 they entered into a criminal conspiracy at Chennai and formed an association to accept foreign contributions without registering the association and without prior permission of Govt. of India. They had received foreign contributions of Rs. 1,54,88,000/- (approx) from foreign sources.
This was used for the relief of Coimbatore bomb blast accused. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai has convicted MH Jawaharullah in the case and had sentenced him to one year rigorous imprisonment. Yet MH Jawaharullah continues as MLA in Tamil Nadu assembly.[47]
AIADMK had created an impression that its leader was tough with anti-national forces. In reality AIADMK just like any other Dravidianist party has natural leanings towards Islamists and politicizes the war on terror which is being fought by security forces and intelligence agencies with increasing difficulty because of the intelligent maneuvering of Islamist forces which manipulate the intrinsic anti-Hindu prejudices and vote bank politics to their advantage. AIADMK government also gave the green signal to Islamist forces. Islamists made veiled as well as blatant threat of violence against the Kollywood movie ‘Thupakki’, a 2012 movie which dealt with ‘sleeper cells’.
Jaya Government instead of offering protection mediated a compromise between the Islamists and the film makers.[48] In the same year when 20,000 strong mobs of Muslim agitators violently laid siege to the US consulate at Chennai, the police were told to look the other way.[49] In 2013 Viswaroopam film was targeted.
Islamic fundamentalist organizations demanded ban on the film. Kamal Hassan who made the film in an extraordinary display of submission to fundamentalist forces made a separate private premier show to the Islamic private fundamentalist censor groups. The act boomeranged on the actor. They demanded a complete ban and the government was more than eager to oblige the fundamentalists. The Chief Minister announced that the actor could thrash out the differences with the protesting Muslim groups and the government would clear the decks for the film’s release. [50]
It was also rumored in film circles that Amir Sultan a fundamentalist Islamist and who was closer to a rabid Islamic preacher in Tamil Nadu, also helped in settling the deal. Earlier Ameer had caused a ban on a TV talk show by alerting TNTJ – an Islamist organization. [51] Kollywood as the Tamil film industry is called is a very important business place. In 2012 as these Islamist control of Kollywood began Ameer had become the president of Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI), one of the influential bodies of Tamil cinema[52] An Islamist stranglehold on Kollywood would help raise funds for many of the Islamist operations in Tamil Nadu.
After all, foreign money trail on which Jihad is dependent always allows the security agencies to keep track and monitor the activities. It was after these events that in full earnestness the attacks on Hindu activists started. Hindu activists are not a serious threat to Islamists in Tamil Nadu in direct combat. Nevertheless these attacks and murders help the Islamists youths get an experience of how to deal with the law enforcing agencies, how to evade arrests and when arrested how to use the prison terms. The execution style of these murders of Kaffirs also reinforces the theo-politics of Islamism. And even if a Jihadist is ailed, they know they will be securely released through the manipulation of political and other establishments. In Tamil Nadu Hindu lives have become the preparatory assignments for budding Jihadists.
Understanding Islamism: It was Indian historian Sitaram Goel who coined the term ‘Islamism’. To him Islamism is the residue of Islamic invasions and he sees Indian Muslims as victims of Islamism. He describes Islamism thus:
Its basic tenets are ultimately derived from Islam which has so far succeeded in sealing itself off from every form of empiricism, rationalism, universalism, humanism and liberalism which are the hallmarks of Hindu as well as Western culture …. Islamism is a self-righteous psychology and a closed cultural attitude which makes it impossible for its converts to co-exist peacefully and with dignity.[53]
Tufail Ahmed, director of South Asia Studies Project at the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) described the goal and methodology of ‘Islamism’ mainly in the West thus:
The jihadists of Al-Qaeda variety and Islamists share the same ideological objectives, with the only distinction being that the former are armed and consider themselves fighting on a battlefield against infidels. Their goal is: establishing Sharia rule. Islamism is a softer face of jihadists, sometimes masquerading as liberal Islam in our midst. Driven by an ideological longing to revive the glory of Islamic caliphate, Islamists are open to using Western tools of election, constitution and the rule of law in introducing Islam in a country’s politics, governance, literature, culture and architecture. Their tactic is to win an election, re-write a country’s constitution to make it compliant with Islam and begin Islamising. [54]
In the South Indian context where the institutions of democracy are not as strongly homogenous as in the West the Islamist strategy is a bit different and is a liberal combination of Jihadism and Islamism. As it is the Indian pseudo-secular polity has developed an intrinsically Hindu-phobic political discourse. It is more pronounced in the South with the Dravidian discourse which has elements of racial hatred towards Hindus.
Islamism has been consistently drawing upon these resources in India – using every fault line in Hindu polity, whether the Dravidian in Tamil Nadu or Marxist-Congress in Kerala to the maximum advantage of furthering the cause of Islamization of the state. In the next article in this series we will see a case study of Popular Front of India which provides a text book example of how an Islamist organization functions in India.
References:
[1] Junior Vikatan 28-July-2013
[2]Dinakaran, 2-July-2013
[3] Dinakaran, 26-Apr-2013 [Nagercoil Edition]
[4] ‘One held in the recent assault on senior RSS cadre‘, Times of India, 16-Nov-2012
[5] Report on Islamic Terrorism in India, A study conducted by Akhil Bharathiya Vidhyarthi Parishad, Tamil Nadu, 1999
[6]‘41 years of imprisonment for four Al-Umma activists‘, The Hindu, 10-Apr-2008
[7] `NDF received aid from foreign countries‘, The Hindu, 30-Oct-2005
[8]‘ ISI, Iran funded NDF: Rawat‘, The Hindu, 14-May-2005
[9] ‘Al-Umma enjoyed AIADMK support, alleges BJP report’, The Indian Express, 26-Apr-1998
[10]Several vernacular news paper reports: ’3 arrested for the violence (that killed 5 persons)’, Dinamani (Tamil Daily),9-Sep-2007: Two Muslim militants arrested for hate posters, Dinamani, 13-Dec-1997: A muslim militant arrested for attack on police station, Dinamani, 1-Jan-1998
[11]Malai Murasu, Evening Tamil daily, 28-Jan-1997
[12] Sunday 5-11-May-1995 referred in Srikanta Gosh, ‘Pakistan’s ISI: Network of Terror in India‘, APH Publishing, 2000, p.59
]13] A Ganesh Nadar,‘The Al-Umma has finally united the Hindus’, Rediff Special, Accessed: 23-Jul-2013
[14] History of Coimbatore City Police:90s,http://www.coimbatorecitypolice.com/ccp-history-90s : accessed on 23-Jul-2013
[15] ‘Conviction in blasts case,” Frontline, vol. 20 no. 4, February 15-28, 2003.
[16] ‘3 held for ABVP worker’s murder’, UNI, 13-Apr-1998
[17]‘ All accused in Paramasivam murder case acquitted‘, The Hindu, 11-Jul-2002
[18] ‘All 8 Al-Umma men acquitted in Selvaraj murder case’, The Hindu, 27-Feb-2003
[19] ‘5 Al-Umma activists acquitted‘, The Hindu, 05-Apr-2003 and ‘ 11 Al-Umma men acquitted in bus burning case‘, The Hindu, 27-May-2003
[20] ‘Abdul Nasser Madani Godfather of Terrorists’, Junior Vikatan (Tamil Magazine),8-Apr-1998
[21] ‘Syed Munir Hoda new Home Secretary‘, The Hindu, 13-Aug-2002
[22]‘Jayalalithaa angers Tamil Nadu’s Muslims with remarks on Syed Munir Hoda‘, 23-Sep-2006, webIndia.com, accessed on 24-07-2013
[23] Thomas P Joseph Commission of Inquiry-Marad Communal Distrabances, Chapter IV, p.55
[24] ‘Marad: tribunal examines NIA SP‘, The Hindu, 23-Mar-2011
[25]‘ Fundamentalist outfit busted at Nellikuppam‘, The Hindu, 29-Oct-2004
[26]‘ MHA confirms arrest of LeT’s southern commander Nazeer‘, India Today, 3-Dec-2009
[27]‘ Kerala polls: UDF, LDF woo rabble-rousing Abdul Nasser Madani’, India Today,17-Apr-2006
[28]‘ DMK turns jail into spa for Coimbatore terror accused‘, The Indian Express, 23-Jul-2006
[29] ‘DMK bends for MNP, Intelligence officer transferred’ , The Indian Express,8-Aug-2006
[30] ‘DMK govt ordered six cases dropped against Muslim hardliners in TN’, The Indian Express, 8-Aug-2006
[31]‘Melapalayam Attack on Head Constable‘, Dinakaran (Nellai edition), 20-Jul-2006
[32]’6 Imam Ali aides shifted out of Madurai prison‘, The New Indian Express, 26-Nov-2006
[33] ‘Attack and threat to burn alive BJP leader‘, Malaimalar (Tamil, Nagercoil edition), 18-Dec-2006′
[34] ‘TN: Hindu Munnani leader hacked to death’, Rediff News, 18-Dec-2006
[35] ‘Al-Umma targets attractive women‘, Tamizhan Express, (Tamil), 14-May-2007
[36] ‘In Tamil Nadu town, fundamentalists play moral cops, even kill to have way‘, The Indian Express, 26-Mar-2007
[37]‘ Inaugurated: The Malabar Moral Police!‘, 13-Jan-2010, www.kafila.org: accessed on 24-Jul-2013
[38]‘”I shall continue to serve minority communities”‘, The Hindu, 25-Sep-2007
[39]‘Six killed in Thenkasi violence’ Malaimalar, 14-Aug-2007: This report filed immediately from the spot clearly state that the Hindu youths were stopped and attacked by Islamists in a pre-planned attack.
[40] ‘No ‘direct’ evidence in Coimbatore blasts: Judge’, IANS, 30-Oct-2007
[41] ‘Men guilty of Coimbatore blasts released early from jail‘, NDTV.com, 17-Sep-2009: Accessed on 24-Jul-2013
[42]‘PDP chief Madani arrested in Bangalore blast case’, PTI, 17-Aug-2010
[43] ‘Spa treatment for Madani costs govt Rs 8 lakh‘, Times of India, 8-Jun-2011
[44]‘Congress win bades well for Madani’, Arab News, 11-May-2013
[45]‘Supreme Court denies bail to Bangalore blast accused Madani’, India Today, 3-Jan-2012
[46]‘List of organizations prohibied from receiving foreign funds’:http://mha.nic.in/fcra/NGOS_ProhibitedCategory.pdf (accessed on 23 Jul 2013)
[47] ‘MH Jawaharullah, 4 other TMMK leaders sentenced in a cheating case‘, TCN News, 8-Oct-2011
[48] ‘Row over ‘Thuppakki’ ends after Jaya’s intervention‘, Deccan Herald, 28-Nov-2012
[49]‘ Protest turns violent, city police chief shifted‘, The Hindu, 18-Sep-2012
[50]‘ Vishwaroopam may be released soon, compromise on the cards‘, Times of India, 31-Jan-2013
[51] URL: http://youtu.be/fNa5qI-KLjQ accessed on 24-Jul-2013
[52] Ameer becomes FEFSI president, IndiaGlitz, June 20, 2012]
[53] Sitaram Goel, ‘The residue of Islamism’ in ‘The Hindu Society under siege’, Voice of India, 1989,pp 7-8
[54] Tufail Ahmed, ‘The Rise of Global Isamism‘, The Indian Express, 25-Jul-2013
Aravindan Neelakandan
Co-author of acclaimed book "Breaking India", Aravindan Neelakandan has worked for the past decade with an NGO in Tamil Nadu serving marginalized rural communities in sustainable agriculture. He is also a popular science writer in Tamil and is part of the editorial team of highly popular Tamil web portal www.tamilhindu.com.