A renewed demand to bifurcate the Muslim-majority Malappuram district has brought the issue of separatism back into Kerala’s political discourse. The call was raised by Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, General Secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulema and the self-styled ‘Indian Grand Mufti’, a prominent and influential Muslim cleric in the state. Known in Arabic as ‘Sheikh Aboobacker Ahmed’, Musliyar’s organisation returned to the spotlight on January 7 after reiterating the demand during the Kerala Yathra (Kerala March) when it entered into Malappuram district.
The statement was read out by Sayyid Ibrahimul Khaleel Al Bukhari Thangal, Kerala Muslim Jamaat State General Secretary and vice-captain of the Kerala Yatra.
The organisers asserted that the demand should not be viewed through a religious lens, but projected it as a people-centric administrative requirement.
Thangal claimed that the proposed bifurcation was intended to improve revenue generation and administrative efficiency and did not violate the federal structure. He argued that viewing district reorganisation through a religious prism was inappropriate and maintained that any such restructuring should follow a careful assessment of demographic and geographical factors across Kerala. According to him, the issue should be treated as a legitimate demand of Malappuram’s residents.
Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar’s Kerala Yatra began on January 1 and is being conducted from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram. The stated objective of the march is to deliberate on issues affecting Muslim communities in the state.
However, political observers note that the Malappuram bifurcation demand is neither new nor isolated. In September 2025, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader Kurikkoli Moideen MLA had argued that Malappuram, despite being overpopulated, does not receive funds proportionate to its population. “The district is being neglected by the government,” he had said.
The IUML remains the second-largest partner in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
Organiser had reported these developments earlier, pointing out that Kurikkoli Moideen’s argument closely mirrored demands previously raised by the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI) and its political arm, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
In April 2023, the SDPI organised a rally in Malappuram pressing for bifurcation and sought clarity from both the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the UDF. Analysts observed that while the IUML initially appeared cautious, it eventually articulated the demand publicly.
Over the years, calls for carving out Muslim-majority administrative or political units in Kerala have surfaced repeatedly.
In June 2024, Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS) leader Mustaf Mundupara stirred controversy by demanding a ‘Separate Malabar State’, arguing that Malabar residents, who pay the same taxes as those in southern Kerala, deserve comparable facilities.
In 2023, the Youth League, the youth wing of the IUML, reportedly demanded a new state comprising seven districts. It also called for the creation of a new district with its headquarters in Tirur, within Malappuram.
Earlier, in February 2021, the Samastha Kerala Sunni Students’ Federation (SKSSF), affiliated to Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulam, had demanded a Muslim-majority ‘Malabar State’.
That same year, the Youth League reiterated its demand for a new state comprising seven districts from Thrissur to Kasaragod, along with Mahe of the Puducherry Union Territory and the Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu, while once again pressing for Tirur as a district headquarters.
These repeated demands have revived memories of 1969, when the CPM-led government under Chief Minister E. M. Sankaran Namboodirippad created Malappuram district by acceding to the IUML’s demand for a Muslim-majority district.
The undivided Congress did not oppose the move, but the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the precursor of today’s BJP, strongly objected, branding Malappuram a ‘communal district’. Jana Sangh leaders, including Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Madanlal Khurana and Major General (Retd) Gurubachan Singh, staged satyagrahas in Kozhikode and courted arrest during protests against the decision.
At the time, the Jana Sangh had warned that such region specific restructuring based on religious demography could fuel separatist tendencies, weaken national cohesion, and encourage anti-national activities, even cautioning against the risk of future fragmentation.
Six decades later, similar demands have resurfaced in new forms and narratives. Security analysts caution that Islamic separatism, when packaged as administrative convenience, can function as a dangerous and strategic tool. Gradual territorial reconfiguration along demographic lines risks creating insulated Muslim zones where state authority weakens and parallel socio-political ecosystems may emerge.
Critics argue that demands for separate districts or states based on religious lines may represent only the visible edge of a deeper agenda. While presented as governance-related, such proposals have historically undermined public trust. Across several parts of the country, densely populated regions have witnessed demographic consolidation leading to law-and-order challenges and the emergence of no-go areas particularly Muslims dominated areas.
The role of Left politics in West Bengal and Congress in Assam has also drawn scrutiny. The communist and Congress establishments often been accused of nurturing Islamic radical elements, including facilitating the infiltration of illegal Bangladeshi migrants by offering political protection and administrative shelter. What began as electoral opportunism has now evolved into a significant demographic and internal security concern in eastern states particularly in adjoining states of Bangladesh.
Malappuram, in particular, has long remained under the scanner for Islamic radicalism, from the 1921 Moplah riots of the British colonial era to contemporary allegations of ideological and operational links between local Islamist groups and foreign extremist organisations such as Hamas and the Islamic State. Observers also point to a growing trend of cultural and ideological alignment with Arab lands and Islamist models.
