May  2003 
Year 9    No.87

Special Report

Massacre in Marad

Despite its long tradition of Kerala multi–culturalism and secular, democratic politics, 
Kerala is fast turning into a communal cauldron, thanks in large measure to the short-sightedness of the Congress and the CPI(M)

Marad is no longer a warning signal. It is the reality. This small village near the ancient port of Beypore in the Kozhikode district of Kerala, is a reminder of the way this state is being converted into a communal cauldron despite its great tradition of multi–culturalism and secular, democratic politics.

Today, it is the volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayam-sevak Sangh who control every street, every by–lane in this village populated by both Muslims and Hindu fishermen. The 500–odd Muslim families who lived side by side with their Hindu neighbours in this small area have all left and there is no immediate likelihood of their returning home.

This is the second time Marad has become the centre  of communal clashes after the AK Antony–led United Democratic Front government came to power in Kerala. Last year, on January 3, 2002, communal clashes between Hindu and Muslim extremists started in the afternoon and by morning there were five dead, and several injured. This time it was a calculated one–sided attack by the Muslim extremist groups who came in four groups, armed with lethal weapons, at around 6.30 p.m. on May 2, 2003. Within just half–an–hour, when the police came on the scene, there were nine dead bodies and over a score severely injured men and women on the beach.

The government has acted swiftly and a judicial inquiry has been ordered into the communal violence in Marad, after the CPM–led Opposition made such a demand, supported by the Congress party faction led by veteran leader K Karunakaran. The police have arrested more than 50 persons involved in the crime; some of them were taken into custody from the Muslim Jumaath Masjid situated in Marad, as the criminals took refuge in the mosque after the carnage. Searches have been conducted in the whole area, a large number of weapons have been seized, and the Juma–masjid complex has been taken over by the revenue authorities under special provisions in the Kerala Police Act since it was a centre point for the conspiracies that led to the carnage.

It is too early to pass a judgment on the nature of the conspiracy behind this incident; the Kerala DGP said that it was a retaliatory attack carried out by the kith and kin of a person who was killed in the last conflict. But there are other indications too. It is now evident that the mosque and the mosque committee was involved, since  discussions on how to retaliate for last year’s losses took place there and the biggest cache of weapons seized by the police came from the mosque premises, showing a wider communal conspiracy here.

But what is more alarming is the fact that even members of secular forces and parties were actively involved in the conspiracies and attacks, a tendency that became evident even in the January 2002 clashes in Marad. Among those arrested in connection with last year’s incidents were members and activists of parties like the Congress, the CPI(M) and the Muslim League, the three mainstream parties in the state. This time too, supporters of all these parties are known to be among the criminals who perpetrated the attack.

According to the state intelligence department, of the 52 persons arrested so far, 28 belong to the Muslim League, 23 have CPI(M) links and at least one person has Congress connections.

This is the major problem facing Kerala today: The infiltration of communal and divisive forces even into mainstream secular parties who are unable or even unwilling to check the tendency and the political support such criminals have been enjoying from their masters. It is a horrifying scenario, of the rapid communalisation of a secular–minded people. The vulnerability of a political system thriving on the support of criminal gangs instead of political activists and the emergence of lumpen elements dealing in cash transactions, widely known as blade companies, in most of the sensitive areas, is proving to be the best recipe for the growth of communalism.

The recent growth of Hindutva forces in Kerala is astounding, both in terms of their money–muscle power and the political clout they wield — demonstrated by the increasing support they gain in elections. Unlike in the past, when the intelligentsia almost entirely supported left–wing and secular ideas, a sizable section of Kerala’s writers and middle class intelligentsia today support the RSS and its support organisations such as Thapasya, a cultural outfit of the sangh parivar.

The sangh parivar has always been outside the political power structure in Kerala, as they found themselves trapped between the two powerful fronts led by the Congress and the CPI(M). But this gave them a different image, a comparatively less corrupt and more idealistic one, an image which they capitalised on due to growing fears of Muslim communalism inaugurated by the Mahdani–led Islamic Swayamsevak Sangh, which later became the People’s Democratic Party, and the recent rise of the National Development Front (NDF), a barely concealed Muslim communal outfit.

Kerala’s ruling fronts have had their own limitations in dealing with the rising communal trends of both varieties. On the one hand, the Congress and its UDF allies maintained an open friendship with the sangh parivar to beat the left parties, soliciting their support even in the last elections which made Antony chief minister. On the other, they retained the Muslim League as a front partner. The League has been facing pressure from its own ranks about their leaders’ RSS connections and naturally, it is now the extremists and their sectarian agenda who carry much clout within the party. The League, or at least a sizeable section of it, is now being practically controlled by such forces at the grassroots.

The left parties, too, have their own problems. There has been an erosion in political values and there are many instances where CPI(M) cadres were known to be in the company of communal forces while one section within the party has been making efforts to woo the Muslim League. They did make covert alliances with the League in many places, rendering their present criticism of the League leadership for their surrender to the Muslim extremists a bit weak and insincere.

Take the case of arms seizure from mosques. In Nadapuram, again in Kozhikode district, Muslim League workers and the CPI(M) had been involved in clashes. These clashes in fact took a Hindu–Muslim communal colour and in a recent incident some weapons were seized from a mosque. But, half–way through, police inquiries into the incident were frozen under political pressure. Now, the police find the same kind of weapons and the same style of attack operations in Marad,raising serious questions about the political asylum these hoodlums enjoy.

Again, the police failed to even file a chargesheet against those who were involved in the last carnage in Marad, which took place one and a half years ago. The inquiry was practically abandoned, as secular parties took out processions to police stations protesting the arrest of their own cadre, helping the criminals escape.Some of those involved in the last incident have now been arrested in connection with the May 2 attacks.
All these point to the vulnerability of the so-called secular forces which ruled the state. Last week’s incidents at the government guest-house in Kozhikode, where the chief minister and four of his ministers were camping, gave ample evidence of how weak this administration has become. The ministers were not allowed to proceed to the site of the carnage because the RSS flatly refused entry to the Muslim League ministers. The chief minister had to plead with their top bosses for his own visit, and he left behind his ministers at the guest–house as he proceeded to Marad, after negotiations with the sangh parivar to ensure a smooth visit.

In addition, his police force is now facing criticism from the press for the way they have been working in cahoots with the RSS cadres who roam the place. All the Muslim families have left their homes or were driven out. The police have only carried out searches in the mosque and the Muslim homes, while the huge amount of arms stashed by the sangh parivar remain in safe custody.

Will those who left return? Not likely now, with the sangh parivar calling the shots as their own extremists sharpen their knives for the next encounter. But for those who witnessed the efforts of the common people here over the past 15 months, to heal the wounds inflicted last year — collectively rebuilding the lost houses and bringing both communities together in a variety of ways, it is a return to dark days.

Today, Marad is a place where the sangh parivar is jubilantly building a Hindu rashtra, an island of their ideal, with, ironically, the assistance provided by their Muslim extremist rivals who unleashed this unprovoked attack. Today, they talk about ethnic cleansing in a place where people lived together for thousands of years, practicing their various religions.