By Karoly,
Everyone has a day. So goes the popular saying put in a polite manner. This is very much applicable to Abdunnasser Madani, the chairman of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kerala. The erstwhile firebrand cleric who was the founder of the banned Islamic Swayamsevak Sangh (ISS), and who had to languish in jail without trial for ten long years for his alleged involvement in the Coimbatore bomb blasts is the media star in Kerala today.
“Madani” is the name most often heard in the Malayalam television channels nowadays. Both his supporters and adversaries vie each other to enhance his media popularity. When he was in Coimbatore jail his failing health was a cause of concern, considering the brewing resentment among the semi-militant PDP workers over his ordeal. However, today at the age of 44, fairly healthy and free once again, it appears Madani’s day has come, and he is here to stay to play his role for a long time to come.
What makes him a force to reckon in his second coming is not the same fiery speeches and such activities which made him a threat to the communal harmony in Kerala before being incarcerated. Rather it is his discovery how to adapt himself to the realities and make best use of his voter-base, albeit numbering just a few ten thousands, for his survival and vitality. When this matched the zeal of the communist party to encroach the base of the Muslim League in Kerala through any means, an explosive combination was formed, which has already starting smouldering today.
Abdunnasser Madani rose to public fame with his eloquent but fiery speeches in the aftermath of the demolition of Babri Masjid in December 1992. The Muslim League which was a part of the ruling Congress Party alliance at the center and the state during the period continued its support to the Congress in a highly controversial stance. Madani capitalized on the resentment among the Muslim youth and formed ISS, as a rival to the RSS, and managed to attract lot of disgruntled youth including from the Muslim League.
His confrontation, albeit mostly verbal, with the RSS led to a bomb attack on him which took one of his legs. Later ISS was banned, and Madani formed the secular party PDP, with the same membership base that of ISS, but claiming it to be a “Muslim-Dalit-backward alliance”. Madani was jailed in April 1998 by the then ruling LDF government led by Nayanar for his alleged involvement in the Coimbatore bomb blasts.
Today Madani is no longer too concerned about rebuilding Babri Masjid. Nor his current crusade is against the RSS or BJP as was formerly the case. Rather he has directed his energy against the Muslim League and the Congress by joining hands with the communist party. This has spawned some dirty allegations and linen washing in the public, like Muslim League leader P.K.Kunhalikutty comparing him to Narendra Modi, and Madani retaliating by blaring out to the channels Kunhalikutty’s previous letters to him – of an intimate nature – begging his political support.
So today Madani doesn’t find himself isolated as he was previously; but has got firmly by his side the Party secretary and comrades of the same party which took 10 years of his life from him. The party channel Kairali TV and publications are there to sing his praises. There is virtual immunity for him from the newly arisen allegations of terrorist links which could have normally landed him in jail once again. Madani has indeed come of the age in his wheelchair.
Another case study for survival by evolution and adaptation is that of Jamaate Islami. The Islamists committed to establish Allah’s Deen on earth too are striving hard to win a secular face, and obliterate past policies and literature difficult to justify. The crusaders against man made laws and ideologies who had once even forbade taking part in elections and accepting government jobs are no longer too strict on such matters.
The new jihad is against “imperialism”, and the Congress and the Muslim League which it regards as the minions of America, even if it means little more than bringing BJP to power by defeating the Congress. For this end the Islamis today are no longer averse to vote, stand elections and even form own party, but are also ready to join hands with the communists to defeat Muslim candidates.
In one perspective such a paradigm shift is a welcome thing, in that even formerly extremist organizations are realizing the need to get integrated with the mainstream Indian society and shun fanatical, confrontational and hardline stances. At the same time the question arises why all such dubious organizations go for the irreligious communists, rather than a secular party like Congress.
The reason could be that associating with the communists is the best means for proving one’s secularism. In the case of Madani the submission is so total that he has stated that he would support the Left even if they themselves call him an extremist. This is understandable, as he knows their wrath is more difficult to handle than that of the Congress, having tasted it himself as it was the Left government which had put him in jail in the Coimbatore bomb blast case.
In the case of Jamaate Islami, the communist relation is the short-cut to convince everyone that ‘we are not that fundamentalist as you think’, while the rhetoric against “imperialism” will hopefully keep the coffers ringing. It is difficult for them to get such an image by associating with the congress or staying under the shadow of the Muslim League. Far from being worried about any reaction from the community over this, the comrades have wisely realized that being called communists is much safer than being called Islamists under the current circumstances.
While we could wish all the best for these brothers in Islam in their endeavors for survival, still we must realize its dark sides too, both in the secular and Muslim perspectives. The game of CPM is not without cost – it risks eroding its own Hindu voter base and its secular credentials getting questioned by its controversial association with Madani. This could lead to polarization of non-Congress Hindu votes in favour of BJP, which is trying its best to fish in these muddy waters in the meantime. So, if the Marxist party is truly secular and people-friendly it should dumb these types of individuals and organizations and not try to meddle with the Muslim community.
What is more disturbing is to see the clerics and religious organizations who bank on the community’s resources and who never tire themselves of preaching ideals and reminding us about the hereafter every now and then are so willing to compromise even on issues of faith for their meanest interests. While this reinforces a theory that individual religious outfits are not capable of representing the community or protect its true interests, it also demands more creative and proactive role on the part of the religious-minded intelligentsia to check extremist tendencies and provide mature leadership to the community.
The precarious situations Abdunnasser Madani who formed ISS to rebuild Babri Masjid and Jamaate Islami set out to found Islamic rule have ended up provides some valuable lessons for us. It is not hard to see that their policies turned out anti-thesis to the true interests of the community and that their extremist stances of yore were faulty and didn’t do any benefit to anyone. The PDP, which displays the audacity to associate Muslim League with Pakistan (which even BJP doesn’t do) and Jamaate Islami which supported in principle the communist-BJP alliance in their no-confidence motion against the UPA are hardly helping the community’s cause.
This shows such indiscreet approaches with no regards to practicability, equity and moderation, and which jeopardizes inter-community relationships in a plural society like India has no room here. This is the most important lesson we have to learn in our own search for a politics for survival.