According to many political observers, Kerala will be one of the least affected states by the consequences of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 being implemented. Despite this, Kerala has been hitting the national headlines, thanks to the two women protesters who vehemently opposed a belligerent squad of the Delhi police near Jamia Millia Islamia and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led state government which joined hands with the Congress-led opposition to protesting against the Act in public.
When parliament adopted the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 after the voting in the Rajya Sabha on December 11, Kerala was the one of the first states to take a strong stance against it. Both the ruling Left Democratic Front and the opposition United Democratic Front not only opposed the Bill, but in a very rare gesture of solidarity came together on a single stage to protest. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala and other members of the assembly held a satyagraha on December 16 in Thiruvananthapuram.
“The Central government, the state government, the citizenship laws are all made in accordance with the Indian constitution. The government’s commitment is towards the core values held by the constitution. The cabinet was also sworn in on the basis of that. Whoever may that comes forward to overthrow [this law], a fight for upholding the values of the constitution, is not in violation of the oath, but in allegiance to it. The state government’s commitment is towards the constitution and not towards the agendas created by people like the RSS. Let me take this opportunity to make it very clear,” Vijayan said at the protest.
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Kerala had made it clear that the state will not be implementing the Act, which it sees as an unconstitutional legislation. The opposition leader endorsed the chief minister’s words, saying that the state will not accept anything that destroys India’s democratic and constitutional values. Many political leaders and prominent personalities from different walks of life, including religious leaders, who attended the satyagraha also expressed solidarity.
But this unity among the political parties seems to be short lived, as the discontent within the Congress leadership has already come out in the open. Mullappalli Ramachandran, president of the party’s Kerala unit, who was not a fan of the idea of a united protest, has expressed his displeasure with the opposition leader. The UDF, after its meeting, has categorically stated that there would be no joint protests against the CAA from now onwards. The UDF will be organising programmes of their own.
The convenor of the front, Benny Behanan, told reporters that they wanted to send a message to the people that they would go to any extend to oppose the new act, by joining the ruling CPI(M). Sources inside the Congress says that a section of the leadership is wary about the fact that the ruling LDF has benefitted hugely from the joint protest, where the opposition leader played second fiddle to the chief minister.
The Indian Union Muslim League, IUML which is the second largest party in the opposition coalition, on the other hand, did not feel any discomfort in joining the ruling CPI(M). Their parliamentary party leader, P.K. Kunhalikkutty, while distancing the party from the dawn to dusk shut down called by some Muslim-dominated parties like the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Welfare Party of India (WPI), made it clear that they would collectively think of a hartal, if and when such a situation arises.
The dawn to dusk shut down in Kerala on December 17, which had the backing of some Maoist outfits, has created a stark fault line within the unified opposition to the CAA. The government did not go soft on the strikers. No holiday was announced, and the police acted stringently.
Even though they all had a common cause to protest, mainstream parties including the IUML did not support the hartal call. There were less violent incidents as compared to previous hartals called by Hindu outfits during the Sabarimala protests last year. The IUML and its youth wing, Muslim Youth League, had not only clearly dissociated themselves from the shutdown, but also urged their cadres not to participate in it. After the hartal, the main narrative of the anti-CAA protesters has been slightly distracted, due to this internal division.
Religious identity-driven organisations, which had been at the forefront of the shut down, maintain that they have every right to protest against the Act using their religious symbols and slogans, as the Act is essentially anti-Muslim and their identity has been targeted by the state.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan speaking at the joint opposition protest. Photo: PTI
Ladeeda Farzana (who goes by Ladeeda Sakhaloon on social media), the postgraduate student who had become one of the icons of the resistance in front of the Jamia Millia Islamia during the December 15 crackdown, was very vocal about her identity. Her post on the Facebook after the Jamia police action attracted mixed responses from the virtual and real political space.
“During the protest march some liberals dictated us to refrain from chanting Inshah Allah and Allahu Akbar. We have only submitted completely towards Almighty. We have abandoned the secular slogans long before. Those slogans would be raised again and again. Those slogans are our spirit, our imagination and one which refines our existence. You might be in a hurry to prove your secular loyalty but we are not. We are and will exist in every space as sons daughters grandsons and granddaughters of Malcolm X, Ali Musaliyar and Variyamkunnath (Kunjahammed Haji)- Muslim freedom fighters from Kerala known for the leadership role in the Malabar mutiny of 1921** -. For you people this might be mere slogans for us this is the one which liberate ourselves. At this point we are clear we don’t hold any burden of chanting of chanting of secular slogans and may not fit your secular vocabulary. Our engagement and approach altogether is different from you and is the fundamental difference, so please don’t dictate us,” wrote Ladeeda with the hashtag #Don’tBeOurFathers.
[** Clarification by the reporter]
The post triggered a flurry of tweets and memes by Sangh parivar-affiliated trolls, calling her an Islamic terrorist. Right-wing online publications wrote articles ‘exposing the radical Islamist girls’ at the forefront of the protest. She invited criticism not only from her detractors but from the community itself.
“Now if this is the tone and tenor of some segments of the protestors, I have no hesitation in saying they are playing into the hands of the Sangh parivar. Nothing will please them more than an opportunity to have an Allahu Akbar vs Jai Shriram kind of polarisation,” said Shajahan Madambat, political commentator and author, on Facebook. “Lailaha illallah…is a proclamation of faith and not a political slogan. …I am appalled by the lack of political education reflected in the below post.”
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On the other hand, Left and secular activists and political parties are also wary of the polarisation of these protests. The police crackdown on Jamia students on the night of December 15 triggered spontaneous reactions across Kerala. The youth and students’ organisations took to the streets on the very same night and protest marches, predominantly by the Leftist and secular students and youth organisations, continued till dawn. The Islamic organisations and their allies also had taken to the streets, but the response from the Left quarter, whom they no longer count as a natural ally, was remarkable.
“We are well aware that the fascist regime led by the RSS is targeting the minority community, especially the Muslims. The prime minister’s words referring the cloths of the protesters are a clear indication of that. But we cannot fight them with the same language. If we are to resist them, we should uphold our constitution and secular values. If we drag out any of our religious symbols and scripts to defend ourselves, we are just doing what they want us to do. We completely agree that the Muslim community are their main target, but they cannot fight this battle all by themselves,” said a DYFI activist who was present at the protest march in Kochi organised by the Leftist students.
The demonstrations against the CAA in Kerala have been taking a new turn, with every political formation opting for their own events after the initial united protests all over the state. The ruling LDF has called for a statewide human chain from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram on January 26, raising the slogan ‘Stand with our constitution’. The UDF is are mulling over some programmes against the Act.
Anyhow, the initial mode of a unified resistance has lost steam, especially after the joint protest by the ruling and opposition fronts and the subsequent shutdown by some smaller political parties.
Rajeev Ramachandran is an independent journalist based in Kochi.