The Southern Jihad

86
VSK TN
    
 
     
 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 and 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. For Vellore
    that was the second murder of a Hindu activist after AIADMK has come to
    power.[2]
  • In the
    early morning of April 2013 at Nagercoil, Kanyakumari district a veteran
    BJP leader who was respected by all communities and known for his soft
    nature was attacked by a gang. Then with the arrest of four youths, 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]
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. Then 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 1992 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 of 1989 to 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 taking 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 murde
r’, 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

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