When will the political gangwars end in Kerala?
Owing to an altercation between students in a college in Kerala’s Kochi, a student activist of SFI has been stabbed to death. Kerala has a reputation of being the most mature state as far as political awareness among people is concerned. And even with that, contradiction would be, Kerala is also known for its gangwars. As a result of this, a life of a student would who have contributed to the future of the society is lost. No matter who has carried out this heinous act, it is highly condemnable. This has added another episode to the bloody history of Kerala.
And one has to be sure that this incident is not the end of it and is bound to have its undesirable repercussions, with may be another life being lost. Who knows! But this has been the way things have progressed in Kerala since ages. Most of Kerala’s history is soaked in blood. Swami Vivekananda, having witnessed casteism at its peak in Kerala, had called it an ‘asylum of lunatics’. One can see different stages of this from the Mappila uprising to Kayyur farmers agitation, the blood has flown much. The state fought both the British and the casteism (against upper castes) that had gripped its veins from within. Blood flowed like river.
Even the British didn’t exploit lower castes in Kerala like the upper caste Brahmins such as Nambooridis did. Violence was a part of any rebel in Kerala, so much so that women had to protest violently and even lose life to be able to cover the upper part of their bodies.
Narayana Guru had to build a separate temple for Ezhava community. Islam also found a stronghold in Kerala thanks to Malik Dinar. Three major ideologies changes Kerala’s topography. One was Narayana Guru’s, the other was of communism. And the exploited men and women of Kerala found respite in Islam too. Hence Islam spread rapidly in the state. All these ideologies have a strong role in the resistance people showed to the Zamindars of the state. Communism hijacked the agenda set by Narayana Guru in terms of people struggle.
However, even young muslim men have identified themselves with communism. So the inroads are kind of normal now. The islam has turned into a political force to reckon with, owing to social initiatives by the community members.
With this, casteists suffered a set back. Today, brahminical ideology has entered Kerala in a different form, that it is all set to devour the basic foundation for rationality set by Narayana Guru himself. Hindutva cannot be propagated without violence. Hence RSS has been resorting to this since long. And though this hindutva organization was successful in polarizing elsewhere in the country, it faced severe resistance in Kerala.
Sangh Parivar has been launching one sided war against rest of the country and was a force that couldn’t be arrested. But Kerala broke that confidence for RSS. Which is why the cry of ‘Kerala mein hindu khatre mein hai’ is getting louder at national level by BJP leaders.
RSS will try its best to drive fissures into the solidarity of Muslims in Kerala. Even the communists detest that because they fear the parties that come together in the name of religion may hijack the communist agenda.
Hence Communist-RSS, RSS-PFI, PFI-Communist friction is in its peak now. And reasons cannot be singled out for this. And if we observe the history, one would agree with the fact that communists have taken up a lot of people’s struggles to make themselves relevant. But, has it remained relevant in the present context is something we need to see.
Some muslim outfits are also consolidating themselves for reasons of faith and religion. All this has turned Kerala into a ground for gangwar. Students do need political awareness. But that shouldn’t cost them their future and dreams. Muslims are also part of the society that was exploited and they have all reasons to protest and consolidate when they see threat. But then again, this should not happen on the basis of violence which would finally cost everyone dear.
Muslims need to come together for progress and not blind faith. There is a dire need for some sort of a balanced narrative between Communist and Muslim outfits without benefiting the RSS and its subsidiaries. Communities should not come together for fanatic reasons.
All sorts of fanatism should be opposed and nipped in its bud. The thoughts of Narayana Guru should be revoked again Kerala. Blood to blood begets more dead bodies and nothing else. Political leaders need to understand this well and save the future of Kerala youths.
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AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan moves SC against Waqf Bill
New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI): Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
In his plea, Khan sought that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill be declared as "unconstitutional and being violative of Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 300-A of the Constitution" and sought direction for striking it down.
"The Bill violates fundamental rights enshrined under Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, and 300-A of the Constitution. It curtails the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, enables arbitrary executive interference, and undermines minority rights to manage their religious and charitable institutions," Khan's plea said.
On Friday, Congress MP Mohammad Jawed and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi moved the apex court, challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, saying it violated the constitutional provisions.
Jawed's plea alleged the Bill imposed "arbitrary restrictions" on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community.
The petition, filed through advocate Anas Tanwir, said the proposed law discriminated against the Muslim community by "imposing restrictions that are not present in the governance of other religious endowments".
The Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was passed in the Lok Sabha early April 3 with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
Jawed, a Lok Sabha MP from Kishanganj in Bihar, was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Bill and has alleged in his plea that the Bill "introduces restrictions on the creation of Waqfs based on the duration of one's religious practice".
"Such a limitation is unfounded in Islamic law, custom or precedent and infringes upon the fundamental right to profess and practice religion under Article 25," it said.
In his separate plea, Owaisi said the Bill takes away from Waqfs various protections which were accorded to Waqfs and Hindu, Jain, and Sikh religious and charitable endowments alike.
Owaisi's plea, filed by advocate Lzafeer Ahmad, said, "This diminishing of the protection given to Waqfs while retaining them for religious and charitable endowments of other religions constitutes hostile discrimination against Muslims and is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion."
The plea argued the amendments "irreversibly dilute" the statutory protections afforded to Waqfs and their regulatory framework while giving "undue advantage" to other stakeholders and interest groups, undermining years of progress and pushing back Waqf management by several decades.
"Appointing non-Muslims on the Central Waqf Council and the State Waqf Boards disturbs this delicate constitutional balance and tilts it to the detriment of the right of Muslims as a religious group to remain in control of their Waqf properties," Owaisi said.
