News that more than a score youth from Kerala have left to join the ISIS and that at least 11 of them are confirmed to be in camps run by the brutal Mideast terror group is disturbing, to say the least. But that should be no excuse to create insecurity and fear among the state's Muslims. So chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's statement against painting all Muslims as terrorists comes as relief to peace-loving members of the community.
Attempts to create anti-Muslim feeling will not be tolerated: Kerala CM
What is surprising, even unbelievable, about the ISIS recruitment in Kerala is how the state's law enforcement and intelligence agencies seem to have been totally unaware of the goings on. Especially at a time when intel agencies across India have been talking about this threat and have made several arrests. More shocking is the inaction from the state's cops even after they got reports from central agencies on the missing IS recruits.
Check the in-depth coverage: THE ISIS THREAT IN KERALA
Surely, there is a lot of explaining that both the current and previous Kerala governments need to do on this. And they need to crack down on officers who, either through willful neglect or because of political instructions, tried to keep a lid on the terror group's recruiting activities in the state.
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The statement of the Muslim League, a Congress ally and a party that is widely perceived to have offered political cover to extremist elements within the state, on controversial preacher Zakir Naik needs to be viewed in this context. There are reports that at least some of the terrorists who killed 20 people in a Dhaka cafe were influenced by Naik; and the father of two of Kerala's missing boys have said they were influenced by the preacher. Naik is banned in a few countries and the National Investigation Agency is examining his speeches to see if a case can be made against him. The Muslim League's alacrity in giving him a clean chit at this time smacks of another attempt to create vote banks by shielding militant elements. At least the party should have waited for the investigators to complete their job before coming out with such a statement.
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One reason for the Congress-led UDF's defeat in the Kerala assembly polls was the widespread perception of minority appeasement. The League's inopportune statement now puts the focus on how the Congress will respond to it and explain the inaction from the state police on terror recruitment during its tenure in power.
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The impunity with which the jihadi recruiters operated in the state calls for a thorough revamp of the state's police and intel machinery. If necessary, heads need to roll. Because by allowing these terrorists to act so freely and vitiate the state's social fabric, the cops and politicians have played with fire. They need to be held accountable for their action or inaction. The chief minister has to send across a message of zero-tolerance to officials not doing their jobs and politicians shielding jihadis. And, like he said, all of us would like to know the truth on this.
But perhaps even more important, the chief minister should do everything to reassure Muslims in the state and offer them security. No one should be allowed to paint all Muslims as jihadis. The father of one of the missing boys himself has denounced his son's actions. That is a display of the social harmony and lack of receptivity to militant doctrines that have always existed in Kerala's communities.
Kerala's Muslims need reassurance and support from the state police and government, and that support should also involve security to moderate voices so they can speak up against the jihadi preachers.
At the same time, Kerala's Hindus should also ensure that they don't fall prey to divisive doctrines and in any way marginalize the Muslim community. In a way, it is reassuring that the CPM-led LDF is in power now, and there is a no-nonsense administrator at the top.
(The views expressed are personal.)
