Recently, cadre of Communist Party of India (Marxist) beat up a Muslim man in a Kerala court, after daughter of a CPM worker said that she was in a consensual relationship with him. The woman, 18, is a Christian. Pursuant to the incident, a group of Muslim youths and some members of the CPM party came face to face creating a situation of unrest among communities. The incident reportedly happened in Kerala’s Muslim majority Malappuram district. The incident has not only sparked a debate on to the issue of ‘Love Jihad’ but also has opened up a tricky area for ruling CPM in the state. In this context we will look in to what has actually transpired on the ground and understand as to why CPM’s violent reaction to the incident has exposed double standard of ruling communist in the state on this issue?
The Incident
The 18-year-old girl in this incident is a native of Thodupuzha Cheruthoni in the Idukki district. She is a degree student at Santhigiri College in Vazhithala near Thodupuzha. The relation between the two happened over social media. Earlier this month, as soon as she turned an adult, she left for Malappuram to join with her lover. A young Muslim man from Malappuram was in contact with the young women when she was still a minor. He is employed by the Kerala government-owned Kerala State Financial Enterprises Limited (KSFE). Reportedly, the Muslim man decided to convert her to Islam and took her to a conversion centre in Malappuram, which is the controversial Maunthul Islam Sabha. It has been reported that many women converted in this centre has ended up in Syria, Iraq etc as ISIS brides. On investigation, police checked her phone location and found the girl in Malappuram. This was when they allegedly understood that she was at the Islamic conversion centre. Police reached there and the girl was taken in to custody. The young girl was later produced in the District Court at Muttom Thodupuzha. As lady was an adult, the court asked her opinion, and the student decided to go with the male friend of her own free will. Her relatives, several local CPM workers, and leaders were also present when this happened. Once the court was adjourned, and the couple came out of court, a pitched battle erupted between the two groups. What triggered the violence is said to be the fact that the grooming jihadi tried to convert the young girl from Christianity to Islam.
For CPM Love Jihad Is ‘Sacred’ If It Happens To Hindus Or In BJP-Ruled States
In the name of religious rights and for the purpose of minority appeasement CPM has long cultivated its patronage to instances of Love Jihad, this attitude of the party, whose main base are the Hindu and Christian voters has resulted in a situation of unrest within the party. Now the CPM is reacting as the ‘octopus grip’ of Love Jihad started to extend targeting daughter and sisters of party workers. The concept of Love Jihad in Kerala, which is a controversial term, refers to the practice of Muslim men wooing and marrying Hindu women with the intention of converting them to Islam.
Love Jihad is a term given by Christian groups in Kerala more than a decade ago for the pattern of men from the Muslim community trapping Christian women in relationships for their religious conversion through marriage. Over the years, the term has come to be used by Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and tribal groups too, while protesting against Islamic conversion of their women. Workers of the CPM in Kerala have raised the issue of “love jihad” time and again, but are suppressed by the senior leadership.
For example, in April 2022, another young Christian lady named Joisna Mary Joseph went missing in the Kozhikode district. Her family, local Christian ‘communist’ MLAs, and her church blamed Love Jihad. CPM leadership punished their Christian MLA, Linto joseph, who raised the alarm. DYFI came out in favor of Shejin and extended full backing for the marriage. The current DYFI national president, A A Rahim, and the former president PA Mohammad Riyas (son-in-law of incumbent Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan) supported Shejin openly. They threatened that nobody would be allowed to interfere in this marriage. These leaders remained silent when the Thodupuzha violence unfolded. George M Thomas, a two-time local legislator of the CPI (M) who also liaised between the Church and the Marxist party, assured the girl’s family that she would be brought back safely. He appeared on live TV alleging ‘Love Jihad’ and validated Joisna’s family’s charges. For his Love Jihad reference, the CPM censured former MLA Comrade Thomas.
CPM has often stated that ‘Love Jihad’ is non-existent and CPM, including its acting secretary has often stated that ‘Love Jihad’ is nothing but an imagination of BJP for political purposes. But as chickens are coming home to roost, with more and more CPM leaders and their families being affected by Love Jihad the party is being forced to accept the reality. In September 2021, the party circulated an in-house note to its cadre asking them to watch out for “educated young women in the professional colleges to the path of communalism and terrorism.” The note followed cases where Hindu and Christian women were found to have married Muslim men after their religious conversion to Islam and fled to ISIS-controlled zones to live an “Islamic way of life”. The CPM is changing its stance relating to Love Jihad albeit slowly. To cite another example, prominent Catholic Bishop in Kerala claimed that young men and women, belonging to the Christian community and other non-Muslim faiths, were being lured and targeted through means such as ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotic jihad’ in the state. It is interesting to note that the Bishop represents the main voter base of Kerala Congress (M) which is an ally of ruling CPM.
As the anger mounts and facts relating to Love Jihad come to the forefront CPM will be forced to take a stand against the issue. The Left should accept the reality and counter the issue of Love Jihad prudently by considering basic facts and reactions of people of Kerala otherwise Kerala will be forced to walk through a path of religious extremism in face of extremist elements unleashing their fury in light of inaction by the ruling communists.
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