The irony is that pro BJP -RSS website OPINDIA.com is implicitly expressing it’s sympathies for Aysha Renna who had braved the physical attack by the police in Jamia.
This once again underlines the propensity of all shades of fundamentalists / communalists to converge against the left. The reality is however, completely different :
Salutes to the people of Kondotty who said NO to Maududism.
The joint programme at Kondotty (Malappuram, Kerala) that was held on Saturday was the result of a meeting held on 24 December at the League House at Kondotty, at the initiative of the Muslim League and eminent citizens. The mass rally that was held on Saturday was decided upon based on clear decisions arrived at during the meeting.
The programme had the participation of temple and mosque committees, religious, social and cultural organisations, clubs, all political parties (except BJP), and traders’ organiations. The rally was supposed to start from Kodangad to the Vaidyar Memorial which is about 5 km away from the starting point.
Since the CPI(M) and the AP Sunni faction of Muslims also kept aside differences of opinion to cooperate with the League for the joint programme, there were clear guidelines laid out by the committee.
There would be the national flag at the front of the rally. No flag of any other organisation would be used. Behind the banner, in the front row would be the MLA, Municipal Councillors, and one leader each of all political parties. Only slogans that were pre-decided by the committee shall be used. In the public meeting at the end, there would be an introduction by the Convenor of the committee, and oath-taking led by the Municipal Chairperson. No other speeches would be there.
All these guidelines were followed. There was just one change – the MLA was allowed to make one announcement on stage.
Now, what did the Islamist fundamentalist Jamaat e-Islami do?
From the previous day onwards, they campaigned that Ayesha Renna would be leading the rally. When that did not work, they tried to get her at the front of the rally and hijack the protest. That too didn’t work. When the organisers concluded the programme by thanking everybody, the Jamaat e-Islami guys made a ruckus, got a mic and Renna gave a political speech of the Jamaat e-Islami.
The same stage had leaders of the CPI(M), DYFI and so on, who could have responded to the Jamaat e-Islami’s rubbish. But the decision of the committee was something else.
Thus the people told her, this is a common platform. If you want to deliver the speech of your organisation, do it somewhere else.
Jamaat e-Islami’s Ayesha Renna claimed that some people were put behind bars for taking part in protests against the CAA. The people she was referring to were those who destroyed public property during a hartal called by a few organisations led by the SDPI (the political party of the Islamist fundamentalist Popular Front of India, notorious for chopping off the hand of a college teacher some years ago). The hartal was more or less a failure, and the police is mandated to follow the law and court orders regarding hartals. DYFI activists who stopped Yeddyurappa when he came to Kerala have been remanded for 14 days. Such things are to be expected when illegal acts are committed. This doesn’t mean that no protest which is illegal should be staged. Just that the protestors should be ready to face the repercussions as well. Political organisations who are experienced in organising protests don’t go around lamenting when some of their activists are booked by the police for staging protests defying the law when necessary. They expect such things to happen, and are prepared for that.
But the Jamaat e-Islami couldn’t but help coming to the defence of their ideological brethren. Forging the widest possible unity for the common cause of fighting the CAA-NRC is the least of their concerns. They would be happy if the CAA-NRC is not withdrawn. They are perfectly fine with a Hindu Rashtra, as their founder Maududi said. Then it will be clear to the Muslims that there is no place for them in India. Then they can straightaway fight for the establishment of the Islamic State, led by the Jamaat e-Islami.
To return to the basic issue, there have been a number of programmes against CAA-NRC in Kerala, organised by joint platforms of organisations which have been long-time rivals. There was a protest programme in which both the Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader of Kerala observed satyagraha. There have been programmes organised by Muslim organisations, addressed by leaders belonging to various political parties including the CPI(M), Muslim League and the Congress. In none of these protests did the leaders of the political parties attack each other’s parties. They understood that these are joint programmes for a specific cause on which there is a common minimum understanding. If there are criticisms to be made against each other, that is done in other platforms, not in common platforms. The Maududist Jamaat e-Islami, however, did not bother to respect such democratic courtesies. In any case, their founder Maududi was opposed to democracy, because democracy would amount to human beings ruling themselves, while what the Jamaat e-Islami stands for is the “rule of God” (which effectively translates to the rule of a few religious leaders). Jamaat-e-Islami is fascist in Pakistan and Bangladesh where they have been enjoyed State power. In India their chances are slim, but that doesn’t make their ideology any less hideous. The people of Kondotty have said, “¡No pasarán!” (They shall not pass) to Maududist proto-fascism.