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The Samasta Kerala Sunni Students’ Federation (SKSSF), affiliated to Samastha (EK Faction), an influential body of Sunni (Shafi‘i) scholars and clerics in Kerala has demanded a new ‘Malabar state’ be carved out from Kerala, reports Organiser.
The SKSSF was formed on 19 February 1989 and is known for its puritanical views on the religious aspects of Islam. It is well known for always politically backing the Muslim League.
The SKSSF mouthpiece Satyadhara’s editor Anwar Sadique Faisi triggered a massive controversy when he wrote a post on social media platform Facebook calling for the creation of a new ‘Malabar state’ out of Kerala. This demand is due to the Muslim majority in the Malabar region. According to Faisi, Kozhikode should be the state capital of the newly carved Malabar state.
The demand has been making the rounds for the past few decades.
Kerala has been a breeding ground for Islamic militants for a very long time. There have been more than 45 cases of ISIS-related activities in Kerala as of 2019.
Recently, two Muslim men belonging to the Islamic group Popular Front of India (PFI) were arrested in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly planning to conduct terror attacks, with police also recovering weapons and explosives from the accused.
Faisi says that Malabar is not given any importance by the Kerala government and lags behind in the education and healthcare sectors, when compared to other areas in the state. He adds that he wants the ‘Telangana model’ of agitation for the creation of a new state. Faisi, in his Facebook post, appealed to all religious-political-cultural associations to stand united for demand for the creation of the Malabar state.
Faisi is not the only one who wants a new Malabar state to be carved out of Kerala. Other Muslim organisations have also made similar demands for the bifurcation of the Muslim-majority Malappuram district in Kerala in the past.
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