Comrades Use Kafir Slur To Woo Sanghis

The CPM’s political cynicism and double dealing, long a subject of speculation, is now scandalously out in the open

CPM’s assiduously cultivated image as champion of secularism, and unbending opponent of Hindutva’s polarising politics, has come under a cloud after the police report recently submitted to the Kerala high court, and other evidence emerging by the hour, indicates pro-CPM groups’ role in the ‘kafir’ controversy.

The controversy refers to a fake social media post during the recent LS polls deliberately meant to defame the Left’s rivals by playing on religious sentiments and by creating hate and division between communities.

The CPM had conspicuously been at the forefront of very strong pro-Muslim campaigns like pro-Palestine rallies and the anti-CAA agitation across the state, even occasionally inviting the charge of being more loyal than the king in its role as protector of minorities. But, following the kafir controversy, the party’s very claim to be pro-minorities is being questioned.

Kerala voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on April 26. In Vadakara constituency, arguably the most hotly contested seat in the state, CPM heavyweight and former health minister K K Shailaja, who won international acclaim for overseeing Kerala’s management of the Covid pandemic, was pitted against Congress’ charismatic young leader Shafi Parambil.

On April 25, with hours to go for voting, a WhatsApp screenshot began doing the rounds praising Shafi as a devout Muslim and exhorting Muslim voters, who formed 32% of the voters in the constituency, not to vote for a ‘kafir’ and a woman. “Shafi (the UDF candidate) is a pious young man who offers namaz five times a day and the other is a non-Muslim ‘kafir’ female candidate. Who should we vote for… let us think,” the WhatsApp message read.

The message, attributed to the UDF camp, soon went viral and Vadakara turned into a tinderbox.  Shafi’s campaign and UDF lost no time in formally announcing that they had nothing to do with the kafir message. But the police, bent on pleasing the ruling party, were already rushing to act on the complaint by local CPM leader Bhaskaran Master.  Vadakara police registered a case against Muhammed Khasim, Kozhikode district secretary of Muslim Students’ Federation (MSF), the student wing of UDF’s second largest constituent IUML.

Suspecting a nefarious plot, Kasim and the MSF leadership demanded a proper police investigation to identify the conspirators behind the campaign, while IUML alleged that the entire scheme was masterminded by CPM.

The CPM rubbished the IUML charge but the election result itself and latest evidence suggest the Muslim League was right all along. The CPM’s cynical ploy to defame Shafi and to consolidate Hindu votes in favour of Shailaja backfired – on June 4 when the results were announced, Shafi had trounced the redoubtable Shailaja by a humungous (in Kerala’s context) margin of 1,14,506 votes.

To date, however, the CPM remains in denial. On Friday, CPM state secretary M V Govindan, declared that CPM cannot he held responsible for the opinions and views of Left cyber groups.

Shailaja, on her part, too claimed that the whole kafir controversy was aimed at ‘destroying LDF’. Unlike Govindan, she at least seemed to concede that a section of the party had conspired to, if not actually create the fake message, then to at least spread it.

The opposition leader of Kerala, V D Satheeshan, has already come up with the allegation that government and Chief Minister are protecting the criminals. “The ‘kafir’ post could have caused communal tension on the day of the election. CPM conducted a hate campaign which was similar to terrorist activity during the election campaign.  It was an attempt to create religious divisions in society for political gain”, he said on Friday.

Noted political analyst Joseph C Mathew expressed concern about the CPM’s involvement in the controversy, suggesting it reveals a deeper ideological degradation of the party.

“The use of communal issues, such as the Mashah Allah sticker or kafir screenshots for poll gain, appears to target specific communities and undermines the party’s stated commitment to secularism and social cohesion”, he said/ Mathew believes the incident was not an isolated act by a rogue cyber group but rather a calculated move with the knowledge and involvement of the party leadership. “This kind of communal politicking can have far-reaching consequences for society and may ultimately backfire on the party”, he warned.

Left fellow traveller and critic N M Pierson said that when Left parties employ communal tactics for electoral gains, it undermines the fundamental principles of Left ideology. He pointed out that the decision-making process within the party has shifted, with cyber warriors now holding significant influence. “Previously, the state secretariat and state committee were the primary decision-making bodies.

However, now the opinions of cyber warriors carry significant weight, and even senior leaders are pressured to conform to their views”, he said. Pierson suggests that the leadership’s inexperience and lack of talent make them “vulnerable to manipulation by unorganized cyber groups, leading to misguided decisions.”

Murky Trail

In the preliminary investigation itself, police found that Muhammed Kasim had no role in the post. The investigation’s focus was shifted to pro-CPM cyber pages. The detailed report submitted by the police to HC revealed that the ‘kafir’ screenshot first appeared in pro-Left cyber groups.

It says that the “communal post was posted by Ribesh Ramakrishnan, in the WhatsApp group ‘Red Encounters’ on April 25 and on interrogation Ribesh could not reveal from where he obtained the post”.

The report says that the source of the same screenshot which was posted in pro-Left groups ‘Ambadimukku Saghakkal’ and ‘Red Battalion’ was Ribesh Ramakrishan, who is Vadakara block president of DYFI. The report also says that the admin of popular pro-CPM FB page ‘Porali Shaji’ also failed to reveal the source of the controversial screenshot posted on the FB page.