Whitewashing Moplah genocide of Hindus

On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Khilafat movement, at least three Malayalam movies in praise of the Moplah genocide of Hindus, have been announced in Kerala. The Islamist-controlled Malayalam film industry goes on a Khilafat movie spree after the announcement of a film, based on the life of the notorious Hindu massacre Variyan Kunnathu Kunjahammed, by a film director Ashiq Abu. The move has triggered widespread anger and condemnation across the state as Kunjahammed was the chief of the jihadi force that led the anti-Hindu riots in Malabar during Khilafat movement in which thousands of Hindus were butchered, raped and forcibly converted to Islam.

 

In the film directed by Ashiq Abu, a hardcore Islamist in the garb of Communism, famous south Indian actor Prithviraj will play the title role. In a poster released by Prithviraj and others, the Islamist director and scriptwriters projected the Jihadi villain a ‘revolutionary hero’. The screenplay for the film was written by Ramees Mohammed, a Popular Front of India cadre who believes that cinema is the best way to ‘Islamise the society’.

 

Islamic radical outfits like Popular Front of India and Jamat-e-Islami, under the aegis of the ruling CPM, have been using 1921 scare to instil fear psychosis among Hindus. During the recent anti-CAA protests in Malappuram, the PFI-JeI extremists raised slogans like: “We haven’t thrown away the Malabar dagger that we had used in 1921.” They had also conducted several rallies, holding swords and other weapons with provocative sloganeering, to commemorate the anniversary of the Hindu massacre of 1921.

 

The Khilafat Movement of 1921 turned out to be genocide on Hindus in Malabar, northern Kerala, killing thousands of men, women and children. Hundreds of women were abducted and raped and forcibly converted. Thousands of men were converted and those who refused to convert to Islam were brutalised and killed. According to an estimate, about 5 lakh Hindus had to flee the troubled areas to save their lives. Islamic radicals burnt down houses and destroyed temples.

 

During the Khilafat, Kunjahammed established a Caliphate for a few days in Malabar, named ‘Al-Daula’, the Islamic State. However, Ashiq and his team claim, Kunjahammed founded a ‘Malayala Rajya’, an ‘independent nation’. The secessionist claim, which contradicts history, apparently hints at spawning the seeds of a religious separatist movement in Kerala.

 

A report published in Madras Mail (dated October 4, 1921) brings out the role of Haji. The report says, “Several recent reports show that between Variankunnath Kunhammad Haji and the Chembraasseri Tangal, it has been decided that all Hindus residing in villages at the mercy of rebel bands, should be put to death unless they accept Islam. Instances are mentioned in which Hindus had actually been forced to dig their own graves before being butchered. It is also reported that diabolical reprisals are being perpetrated against all persons known or suspected of supplying provisions to the military and police, one report stating that the Chembrasseri Tangal had ordered a Hindu to be flayed alive for supplying troops with milk. In villages like Melattur, Melmuri, Karuvarakundu and Toovur, the extermination of the Hindu population is being systematically carried on, but young women and girls who find favour with rebels are forcibly carried away.”

 

Condemning the Islamist-Communist efforts to glorify ‘1921’, Prajna Pravah national convenor Shri J Nandakumar said that the Mappila riots had nothing to do with the freedom struggle. “It was a planned massacre. Books like Malabar Kalapam written by K Madhavan Nair have mentioned the facts. Moreover, Ahmed Haji was a person with a shoddy background. There is a deliberate attempt from Leftists and a particular community to glorify him. Actors should desist from getting involved in such divisive campaigns,” he said.

 

“It is nothing but a sadistic act of a radical Islamic group. Exhibiting a movie in praise of Kunjahammad in Kerala is just like exhibiting before the Jewish people a movie hailing Hitler and Jewish persecution. Such moves are anti-humanist to the core which cannot be allowed in a progressed society,” Shri Nandakumar told Organiser.

 

Meanwhile, another CPM fellow-traveller P T Kunju Muhammed announced his latest movie ‘Shahid Variyankunnan’, based on the life of the same Kunjahammed. P T Kunju Muhammed is one of the directors of the CPM media venture Kairali TV.