S Chandrasekhar
It is common knowledge in Kerala, that it is the Muslim League which is calling the shots, with the Congress already meekly surrendered to it, but PWD Minister VK Ebrahim Kunju made it blunt and brutal. Speaking at a meeting of Muslim League activists in Pattambi in Palakkad, he gloated “We are ruling Kerala. We manage affairs and execute plans. We are the last word and nothing anathema to us, will happen in Kerala.”
This speech created a political storm in Kerala. The NSS and SNDP which recently joined together to protect Hindus, hit back saying the Congress has failed to rein in the Muslim League. General Secretaries Vellappalli Natesan and Sukumaran Nair said what is going on in Kerala is blatant minority appeasement. They said the Congress-led UDF has lost moral and constitutional right to continue and asked it to resign and face the electorate. The results will show whether UDF can win with only Muslim/Christian votes. They said, Hindu unity was the need of the hour. While Hindus are begging for minimum wants, great gains are made by others, through mere signatures of their benefactors.
CPM State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said the Minister’s speech reflected the true power enjoyed by Muslim League. The BJP said the speech is a threat to Hindus and will disrupt communal harmony and balance.
Whenever Congress comes to power, Muslim League enjoys unbridled power. In the recent ‘Emerging Kerala’ development initiative hundreds of crores worth of projects were envisaged in Malappuram and Panakkad, the home of Muslim League President Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal. Three new universities are proposed in Malappuram, the AMU Campus, English and Malayalam varsities. Moreover government lands are usurped by ML leaders. In heart of Kozhikode, former MP PV Abdul Wahab has taken over rupees 300 crore worth of land and BJP has been agitating against it for long. All heads of departments handled by ML like PWD, Industries, Education, Local Self Governments, Social Welfare are replaced with Muslim officers. Muslim League controls almost 60 per cent of Kerala’s budget.
Added to this is its insult to State’s tradition and custom. League ministers refuse to light lamps at official functions. Minister Abdu Rabb changed his official house name from ‘Ganga’ to ‘Grace’.
A few years back when Minister PK Kunjalikutty had to resign due to his alleged role in the Kozhikode Ice-cream parlour sex scandal case, his supporters tore the National Flag at the Karippur Airport and hoisted the ML Flag.
Speaking at the inauguration of ‘Jania Jagrana Yatra’, the October 1-12 State wide campaign of the ABVP against Islam terror in campuses, Padmasri. P. Parameswaran said the political stance of ML is encouraging Islamic terrorism. The League has failed to discourage fundamentalist forces in the Muslim community. Its reluctance in lighting lamps, honouring Ganga, etc. has helped in keeping Muslims away from national mainstream.
