Kerala: CPI-M distances itself from Jamat Islami

Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has alleged that the Jamat Islami is a religious fundamentalist outfit and said that the Communist Party of India-Marxist has never had an alliance with the organisation.

Responding to a question on whether the state government has initiated an inquiry into the activities of the organisation, he said that as it was a national outfit, it was the Centre's responsibility to probe its activities.

Balakrishnan claimed that Jamat Islami was operating under the guise of a social organisation, but the people of the state had seen through its gameplan and would not allow it to conduct any clandestine activities.

State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala also claimed that his party had never formed an alliance with the Jamat Islami, and accused the CPI-M of entering into a secret agreement with the outfit. 

Chennithala went on to add that the CPI-M has always promoted fundamentalist organisations in the state, citing the Left party's alliance with Abdul Nasser Madani and the People's Democratic Party.

The political denials come in the wake of reports of a secret meeting between the Jamat Islami and the Indian Union Muslim League. The league has put the blame squarely on the CPI-M and claimed that the latter had always protected organisations like the Jamat Islami.

Countering this allegation, CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had claimed that the Muslim League was trying to forge an alliance with the Jamat Islami, just like it had maintained a relationship with Islamic organisation National Development Front.