Statescan
Kerala Newsletter
Muslim Leaguer in Central Cabinet communalising Kerala polity
A minister of state in the central cabinet is under the suspicion of state people. This is not the first time when the minister comes under the fire of the people of Kerala. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in the Central Cabinet, E. Ahmad is the representative of Indian National Muslim League, which continues the legacy of Mohammad Ali Jinnah'ssame party which argued for and attained India'sPartition. The Congress-led United Democratic Front included it in the alliance as a permanent partner and it has been enjoying the benefits since 1977.
However, the earlier Congress party was not ready to consider the appeals of Muslim League to include it in the Central Cabinet, because Jawaharlal Nehru was not ready to accept it as a secular party. But Sonia Gandhi had given a clean chit to the party and included E. Ahmad in the Manmohan'sCabinet. When he was the industry minister in the state cabinet during 1980'sthere was a big controversy around him. A Kuwaiti national visited India without a proper visa and valid documents and he stayed and went around various places in Kerala. The shocking thing was that the then minister E. Ahmad was the host of that man. He used the official vehicle of the minister to visit every nook and corner of the state. And in the middle of the controversy, he fled very safely to his native place.
When E. Ahmad was the industry minister in the state cabinet during 1980'sthere was a big controversy around him. A Kuwaiti national visited India without a proper visa and valid documents and he stayed and went around various places in Kerala. The shocking thing was that the then minister E. Ahmad was the host of that man.
After E. Ahmad became the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in the Manmohan Cabinet, an unfortunate incident happened in the state. In the coastal area, Marad of Kozhikode District, a group of Islamic terrorists attacked and killed eight Hindu fishermen. After the incident, the police raided the place and sealed a nearby mosque. That mosque was the place where the terrorists stayed and kept their weapons before and after the brutal attack. Police recorded the blood marks and other signs of the cold-blood murders nearby. For a long time, police refused to give permission to open the mosque for any religious activity because it was very much a place of evidence in the Marad murder case. But the Central minister visited the mosque and forcefully entered the mosque and allegedly cleaned the blood spots and all other evidence with soap water with the help of his party workers. But police was not ready to register a case against him for violating the police order or trespassing a place which was under police custody. There were some outcries by various organisations and some organisations sent official complaints against the minister to Lok Sabha Speaker, some to Prime Minister of India and some went to the court against the minister.
The two latest incidents are also forcing people to watch the minister with suspicion. One is the recent raid at the Karipur International Airport in Calicut, where the minister has a enormous clout. The raid took place in connection with the illegal activities, such as smuggling, bribing, etc. It is alleged that the minister is behind all the day-today activities in this airport. After booking some small fishes, the entire CBI activities came to a stop and now the CBI is maintaining a studied silence on this subject.
The second incident is the case of kidnapping and killing of Malayalee civilian Ramankutty Maniyappan by Taliban in Afghanistan. People of the State are very agitated over the stand taken by Minister E. Ahmad. He is yet to visit the victim'sfamily and people are very much suspicious about the role of minister and his party in this incident. When the Taliban kidnapped Maniyappan, Minister Ahmad was in Pakistan. He was aware of Taliban'sdemand and their deadline for Maniyappan'srelease. Therefore, he must have taken special care and interests in this case because of its Kerala connection. But, Ahmad never did anything. So much so he did not even issue a statement on this matter. One local daily wrote an editorial questioning the role of Minister Ahmad in the whole episode. It claims that the ?credential of Mr. Ahmad is not so clear and the purpose of his Pakistan visit has not yet come into public officially. What was his Pakistan mission? Why did he not intervene in this case from Pakistan? Why he refused to go to Afghanistan from Pakistan directly to discuss the things with that government and why did he not at least reach Afghanistan to receive the body of Maniyappan?? Most of the people in the state are also asking these questions. And of course in the coming days the Maniyappan killing and the attitude of the minister will be discussed politically in the state.
