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Saffron turns sweet for Kerala minorities

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which played the anti-minority card virulently during its formative days in Kerala, is now wooing Christians and Muslims.

The party, thus, is trying for a rapport with the two communities, which constitute nearly 40 per cent of Kerala's population, by championing their interests over a host of issues and establishing direct contact with their religious and political leaders.

As is in evidence on the plan to install the late Communist Party of India-Marxist leader E M S Namboodiripad's statue close to a mosque at Palayam in Thiruvananthapuram.

The BJP's Thiruvananthapuram unit has taken up the issue on behalf of the minority. The move, BJP leader Ashok Kumar holds, would block the entry to the mosque and eat into its parking space. The campaign has already gained considerable support from various quarters. The party was able to rally Muslim religious leaders before other Opposition parties like the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League could enter the scene.

The Hindutva party also tried the same technique at the St Berchman's college campus, Changanacherry, when the Students Federation of India, a wing of the ruling CPI-M, attacked the college. After defending the authorities on campus, it took up the case with the Centre, recalling similar attacks on the St Thomas College at Thrissur and TKM College at Kollam.

Meeting Union Home Minister Lal Kishinchand Advani, state BJP leaders also requested for an inquiry commission to look into the attacks on minority institutions.

For many in this south Indian state, the BJP's new approach comes a surprise. Earlier, it had allegedly attacked minority institutions, including churches, mosques and even cemeteries.

The move is, therefore, seen as a strategy to woo Christians and Muslims.

In tune with this, BJP vice-president O Rajagopal had a two-hour parley with Changanacherry Arch-Bishop Joseph Powathil, who wields considerable influence among the Christians. A BJP leader said the two discussed wide-ranging issues.

"The CPI-M is the enemy of Christians, not the BJP," the leader quoted the bishop as saying.

Earlier, Human Resource Development Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi had visited the Parumala seminary of the Orthodox Church. And Delhi Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj is scheduled to inaugurate the golden jubilee of Knnanyites, another major Christian denomination, on November 21.

These direct contacts with the Church follow the BJP's attempt to coax the Christians into joining its fold through the Kerala Congress-Mani, a party which steadfastly champions catholic interests. It has had several parleys with KC-M leader K M Mani before and after the election.

The Union government's decision to clear the Sabari rail following the agitation of the KC-M is seen as a concession to the Christian party.

The BJP minority morcha held in Thiruvananthapuram last week was a Christian affair that focused on the alleged CPI-M violence against minority educational institutions. The party was successful in rallying several senior Christian leaders for the morcha.

The so-called secular political parties, who claim to be the messiahs of Muslims, have only contributed to the political exploitation of the community, said BJP leader and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. The Muslims have now started realising this. His victory at Rampur on a BJP ticket was indicative of this, he claimed.

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