#CAAimpact: In a first, Islamists in Kerala to hoist National Flag and read Constitution in mosques on Republic Day

The state Waqf Board has instructed all mosques in Kerala to hoist the national flag and read out the preamble of the Indian Constitution on this Republic Day.

The unprecedented move to hoist the national flag in mosques came after the introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Act, as a protest against granting citizenship to the persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The board has also directed the Muslims to take oath to protect the Indian Constitution.

The Kerala State Wakf Board has sent the circulars to all the mahal committees and institutions under its jurisdiction. A copy of the Preamble of the Indian Constitution has also been sent with the circular.

“We have decided to go ahead with the programme in view of the country going through a crucial period. Of course, the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act [CAA] and anti-NPR are raging everywhere. We cannot remain aloof from the protests,” T.K. Hamsa, CPM State committee member, who is also the chairman of the Wakf Board told The Hindu.

He told the newspaper that the minorities especially the Muslim community were feeling insecure about denial of citizenship. “Such events would promote national integration in this unpleasant political situation,” Hamsa said.

There are around 10,000 mosques under the Wakf Board. In a political move to appease the Islamist leadership, the Latin Catholic Church in the state also called for reading out the preamble of Constitution in the church tomorrow.

A political observer, a known critic of Islamist-Communist nexus in Kerala, said that the Islamists in the state have finally forced to address the fundamental question: ‘Is Constitutionalism above Islamism?’. “In fact, the Islamist leadership has posed the question to itself, whether it considers the Constitution of India above their religion,” he told Organiser, adding that “The move is politically motivated, a part of the divisive agenda of CPM. TK Hamsa, who issued the circular, is the Islamist face of CPM ever since he left Congress and joined the Communist party.”

TK Hamsa has been acting as a bridge between CPM and Islamists in Malappuram for a quite long time. He was the architect of CPM’s electoral alliance with Abdul Nassar Madhani, a terror accused who is now jailed in Karnataka in connection with the Bengaluru blasts. In 2006, CPM had sent T K Hamsa to Coimbatore jail to visit Madhani and forge tacit alliance with his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Assembly polls.