Kozhikode: CPI(M) district secretary P Mohanan on Wednesday stated that his controversial statement linking Maoists and Islamic extremists was aimed at the National Development Front (NDF) and Popular Front of India.

On Monday the CPM leader had said that Maoists were being 'nurtured' by radical Islamic outfits based in Kozhikode, triggering a row.

The comments came soon after a recent row over the arrest of two DYFI workers -- Alain Shuhaib and Taha Fasal --  after pro-Maoist pamphlets were seized from the duo and UAPA was slapped on them. Though the latter move triggered an outrage, Chief Minister Pinarayi and the CPM defended the action.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act -- UAPA -- is a draconian law which allows the Indian government to declare any organisation or individual as 'terrorist'.

Mohanan's remark linking Islamic radicals and Maoists came during a speech at a function here on Monday. 

Islamic terrorism was a term used to refer to specific extreme militant organisations, he noted.

It was akin to the usage of Hindu extremists or saffron terror and was not to be taken as generalisation of any particular community.

"Some are encouraging these Maoists to take up arms against the government," he alleged and asked the government to look into it.

The Maoists draw "strength" from Islamic militant organisations here, the Marxist leader also said. 

“Why is the Muslim League defending these organisations,” Mohanan wondered.

Muslim League leaders were quick to slam Mohanan's comments.

The CPM's second-in-command in the cabinet, E P Jayarajan, responded as if Mohanan had said something foolish. “People make all kinds of statements at street-corner meetings. Such comments need not be taken seriously,” Jayarajan said when opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala raised the issue in the Assembly on Tuesday.

“Such comments are not fit to be discussed inside the Assembly,” Jayarajan added.

Third suspect identified

Meanwhile, police said C P Usman (40), hailing from Malappuram, has been identified as the third suspect, who had absconded after Shuhaib and Taha had been arrested.

Describing UAPA as a 'draconian' law, senior CPM leader Prakash Karat had said the two arrested Left student activists have been 'wrongly' booked under it and had urged the party-led LDF government to intervene and "undo this mistake", thus bringing to the fore the deep divisions between the state and centre units.

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury too was disappointed. "I am against Maoist ideology," he emphasised, but explained he did not want his party activists to ignore the social condition in areas of Maoist influence.