Recently, Muslim Cleric Aliyar Khasimi said that Kerala is a Muslim-majority state. The statement comes as a shock to many as it is a fact that only 26 percentage of total population in the state belongs to Islamic faith. Thus, this statement has raised many eyebrows, especially regarding the intention behind the same. In this context we will examine nuances behind this statement and why this statement is a reflection of dangerous trend emerging out of Kerala.
Who Said What?
It may be for the first time in history that such a statement is made by cleric of a minority community. The person who made this interesting argument is Aliyar Khasimi, apart from being a cleric he is also an active social media man engaged in concoction of narratives which fits in perfectly to radical agenda. The statement is part of a controversial discussion between him and YouTuber and Islamist Dr Ail Mohammed, the discussion is doing viral rounds on social media now adays. While making the statement Khasimi quotes the figures from the survey conducted by Sasthra Sahitya Parishad in 2011. But, he says, the situation is different at the national level. Parishad is known as an outfit having allegiance to ruling Communist dispensation in Kerala.
Interestingly, Muslim intellectuals claim they are a minority community whenever matters like Reservation and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) are discussed. Independent thinkers like C Ravichandran have pointed out in the past that Muslims in Kerala get the reservation benefits as a single religion instead of a caste-based reservation. And, when they get an additional advantage of ‘minority status’, they get an added advantage of “double reservation”. Muslim leaders raise this ‘minority status’ to shield the arguments in favour of UCC, Triple Talaq etc. It also raises questions as to why does Muslim community avail benefits of this ‘minority status’ for admissions in colleges and for promotions in jobs? People of reasonable intelligence wonder if Khasimi is not ashamed to shout this contradiction at the top of his voice. It seems that Aliyar Khasimi appears to be a typical representative of the advocates of the opportunistic minority. When they want to flaunt their clout and influence, they are the “majority”, but when they need favours and reservations, they pretend to be minorities.
Majority Under Siege
The statement by the cleric is not a one-off incident, it represents a pattern on how majority community are under siege in Kerala. It is interesting to note what Khasimi said during his talk. He says the (Hindu) Ezhava population is 22 per cent, and the (Hindu) Nair population is 12 per cent. The Christian population is 19 per cent. He adds Nair and Ezhava are two different religions and would not marry each other. This is a clear instance of propagation of ‘divide and rule’. Back in 2021, The Samasta Kerala Sunni Students’ Federation (SKSSF), a students’ organisation affiliated to radical Islamist organisation Samastha in Kerala, has demanded a new Muslim majority ‘Malabar State’ be carved out from Kerala with Calicut as its capital. Even though Pakistan was carved out from India on religious lines, hate mongers are still pursuing to ‘Balkanise’ India and to further their agenda.
One must wonder why these people are turning so bold! There is political as well as demographic reasons behind it. The current ruling dispensation in Kerala is looking to expand its vote bank in to areas dominated by minority communities. Currently majority of vote share of left government in Kerala comes from the Hindu’s (more than 50%), this necessitates the left to appease certain fringe elements and also to accommodate them in hope of garnering more votes. In this context it is important to note statement made by CPI(M) state secretary M.V. Govindan back in December 2022. He stated that CPI(M) never believed that Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is a communal party, he further state that they should join hands to fight ‘fascist’ Sangh Parivar forces. By calling BJP as communal and IUML as secular, the secretary has turned in to personification of the word ‘oxymoron’. Then there are demographic reasons, it is believed that there is indeed some truth to the statement made by Khasimi. As per Census in 1901 Kerala had over 70%+ Hindu population. After independence Census in 1951 the population showed 62% (-8% drop). Fast Forward to latest census in 2011 population percentage showed Hindus were 54.5 (-7.5%). Going based on this by 2050–2070 the Malayali Hindu population is expected to fall below 48%. This skewed fluctuations in demography are also encouraging these radical elements.
It is clear that radical elements are trying to divide our country and they will use any means necessary to achieve this. It was believed that India exited the dangerous times of divide and rule once the British left the nation, but that assumption was wrong, extremist and fringe elements continue to propagate this policy in hopes of achieving this agenda, the majority as well as minority community must realise this agenda and step up to prevent these elements from sowing this kind of discourse in our country.
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