For centuries Kerala had trade and commerce with Arabia, due to its uninterrupted coastline with the Gulf. Later from the sixties, lakhs of Keralites found employment heaven in the Gulf. ?Hawala? meaning ?transfer? was the medium of funds for the Keralites to their families back home. Although illegal, it was a money transfer facility based on trust and truth.
With the fuelling of Islamic extremist thoughts in Kerala in eighties and nineties, this ?hawala? route was the source for ISI and Saudi Arabia for funding the jehadi elements in Kerala, Tamil Nadu etc.
While it was Abdul Nasser Madhani who was receiving ISI hawala money in the nineties, it is now NDF, SIMI, Islamic Student Movement (ISM), and Jamaat-e-Islami, which are receiving it now.
The riots in Chalai in 1983, the Poonthura riots, blasts in trains on December 6, the burning of Tamil Nadu state buses, the explosion of boat in Beypore, the recovery of gelatin sticks in Kozhikode, guns in Kochi and the brutal massacre of eight Hindu fishermen in Marad in 2003, were all fuelled by hawala money. The thousands of hi-tech mosques and madrasas visible in every nook and corner of Kerala display the power of hawala money.
Earlier itself, RAW, IB, coastguard and defence intelligence warned Kerala that land adjoining the entire cost of Kerala is being bought ?benamis? by Dawood Ibrahim using Indian currency printed in Quetta, Pakistan, and coming to Kerala by containers to Kochi. Large estates and isolated islands near Kochi international airport have been bought by jehadi groups for training in arms and explosives.
Now based on IB and RAW reports Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has informed the Kerala Assembly that Rs.10,000 crores of hawala money is flowing into Kerala every year and this has fuelled several mafia and criminal activities including land mafia.
According to media reports almost rupees five crores of hawala money is coming to two Muslim strongholds of Kerala, everyday, namely Koduvally in Kozhikode and Perinthalmanna in Malappuram districts. They have also links in Coimbatore where jehadi activity is very strong. Several extremists wanted in the ?Advani? assassination attempt were hiding in Muslim stronghold of Malappuram district.
Forgetting all these threats to the state, both the CPM and Congress are wooing the jehadi groups for vote bank politics and electoral victories.
IB and RAW have given strong messages to the state to put down ?hawala? and ?jehadi? activities with a strong hand as otherwise Kerala is on a powder keg waiting to explode. (SC)
