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Why CPM is targeting RSS in Kerala

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TS Sudhir
TS SudhirAug 30, 2016 | 22:00

Why CPM is targeting RSS in Kerala

In the run-up to the Assembly elections in Kerala, while I was reporting from Kannur, notorious as a CPM versus RSS battlefield of political killings, an old timer of the area told me, "If the CPM-led LDF comes to power and Pinarayi Vijayan becomes CM, Kannur will rule Kerala."

What he meant was that there would be a serious attempt to show the RSS its place in Kerala.

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If the statements made by the leading lights of the LDF government over the last four days are anything to go by, his prophecy has come true. The CPM, not amused by the BJP managing to open its account in Kerala, has decided to tame the RSS.

The salvo was fired by Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran who accused the Sangh of "turning temples into centres for storing arms" in the name of running shakhas. He claimed in a Facebook post that he had received complaints about "unauthorised'' activities by the RSS in temples under different Devaswom Boards.

He warned that the Vijayan government won't allow the temples in Kerala to be transformed into centres of anti-social activities that vitiate the secular character and peaceful atmosphere of the state.

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Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier said that the IUML is pursuing a communal agenda.

In one stroke, Surendran had labelled the RSS with several unflattering epithets. That it was non-secular, violent and engaged in illegal and possibly criminal activities. Given that RSS shakhas in many places are organised near Hindu places of worship, the allegation has set the alarm bells ringing in the saffron camp. They see this as a prelude to using the might of the police to raid RSS camps, to create an atmosphere of terror.

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In April, I met an RSS activist in his 30s who claimed to have been out of home for over a decade and had made the organisation's office in Kannur his home. "There are some 16 cases foisted on me. I have been acquitted in about half of them. But I am scared to go home, lest I be attacked by the CPM goons," he said. The fear expressed was that an aggressive and now in-power CPM would force RSS cadre to either go inactive or join the CPM.

Not to say that the RSS-BJP combine in Malabar has been staying quiet. Since May 19, when the LDF came to power, both the RSS-BJP and the CPM have attacked each other. Only last week, a 23-year-old BJP worker was killed while reportedly trying to assemble a crude bomb at his home near Koothuparamba in Kannur district.

Last month, again in Kannur, a CPM worker CV Dhanaraj was allegedly killed by RSS cadre. Within hours, CK Ramachandran, a member of BJP's labour wing was stabbed at home. The word "revenge" defines the hateful relationship between the CPM and RSS in Kerala.

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The RSS, wearing the badge of the targeted, does not see the decision of the endowments minister to go after the organisation as an isolated incident. It is seeking to project this as an example of the "anti-Hindu" character of the CPM.

Surendran's Facebook post had, in fact, followed public works minister G Sudhakaran's objection to lighting of the lamp and singing of religious hymns at government programmes and events. Sudhakaran's position was that under a secular constitution, patriotic songs should be sung at such functions instead of pandering to symbolic gestures of one religion or caste.

On Friday, chief minister Vijayan had frowned upon government employees making flower carpets in offices during work hours during the ten-day Onam festival. Though Onam is a secular festival, with people of all religions taking part in the festivities to welcome the mythological King Mahabali to his kingdom, the right-wing groups have taken objection to the chief minister opposing what it calls "Indian culture''.

These comments have pitted the RSS-BJP directly against the ruling CPM, pushing the Congress out of the war of words. Politically, it helps the BJP as it gives them a handle to attack the LDF with and be an active participant in Kerala's political theatre. The CPM, while being wary of a growth of the RSS-BJP, would look at the vote division between the UDF and the BJP as beneficial in the long run.

The RSS suspects there is a pattern to these statements and is demanding that Surendran, for one, back up his allegations with evidence instead of exhibiting "intolerance'' for an opposite political view. Having gained a foothold for its political cousin, the BJP-RSS combine has decided that punching above its political weight is the best way to gain traction in Kerala.

Last updated: August 30, 2016 | 22:00
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