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Church, Muslims demand poll tickets in Kerala

George Iype in Kochi

On the eve of the 13th Lok Sabha poll, minority politics and religion have emerged as crucial electoral factors in Kerala.

For, the powerful Catholic Church and the decisive Muslim community are drafting their own political agenda. Their demand: the Congress-led United Democratic Front should allocate a fixed number of seats -- four to each -- as minority leaders are "inadequately represented" in the 20 parliamentary constituencies of Kerala.

The Catholic clergy's demand does not stop there. They say that since the Church has been a traditional Congress supporter, the party should field Christian candidates in their community-dominated constituencies -- namely, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki and Thrissur.

Analysts say that these demands are the beginning of a new political trend.

The bishops of the three prominent Catholic groups -- the Syro-Malabar, the Syro-Malankara and the Latin Church -- had come together in a conclave in Kottayam late in July to unanimously pass a resolution demanding "deserving and legitimate representation for the community in the coming parliamentary election."

The demands, naturally, have generated a debate across Kerala. While the ruling Left Democratic Front has criticised it as "communal politics," there is division among the UDF partners as they fear that the Church and the Muslims can make or mar their electoral future.

According to Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, such open demands for Lok Sabha tickets are coming because the Congress has been "nurturing and appeasing communal forces."

"Temples, churches and mosques are to comfort people in times of adversity. But sadly, religious leaders are mixing religion with politics. We will oppose this communal move from the Church and the madrasas," Vijayan told rediff.com.

The CPI-M state secretary claimed that it was Congress leader Kunnoth Karunakaran who was encouraging the Church to directly participate in the election. In the 1996 Lok Sabha poll, Karunakaran had sought the clergy's help with the result that the Bishop of Thrissur -- from where the veteran Congress leader contested -- openly declared the Catholics' support for him. Despite this, the former chief minister lost to a CPI-M candidate.

Karunakaran, for his part, finds nothing wrong in the demand from the Muslims and Christians. "Each community has the right to highlight its own grievances. It is the duty of political parties to ensure that the welfare and interests of all communities are protected," the Congress leader told rediff.com.

But it is unlikely that the Congress would heed the Church's demand for four seats. Leaders admit that a massive reshuffle of the existing candidates has to be undertaken if that is to be done, which would upset many senior men as well the party's electoral chances.

The Church has always played a prominent role in Kerala's politics. But this is the first time since the controversial Liberation Struggle four decades ago that it has come out with such a direct political demand.

The Christians, however, claim that their demand should not be seen as a direct involvement in politics. "There has been gross indifference from political parties to the Christian community despite the fact that our contribution to the nation, especially in education and healthcare are the highest," Archbishop Daniel Acharuparampil, president of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council, said.

"There appears to be a feeling among political parties that the influence of religious leaders over the Christian community has weakened. The Church leadership has the duty to give leadership to make society an enlightened one," he said.

The Archbishop added that the Catholics' agenda is not to interfere in politics and select candidates. "But we think we have the responsibility to encourage Christian leaders in politics so that they can fight against discrimination and injustice."

Muslim leaders, who have been aligning with the Congress for years now, put forward similar reasons. They say that though they constitute nearly one-fourth of the state's population, political parties are discriminating against them. And according to Professor K A Jaleel, chairman of the Kerala Wakf Board, this discrimination is not prevalent in Kerala alone, but a nation-wide phenomenon.

For instance, Jaleel continued, in the dissolved Lok Sabha, there were only 28 Muslim members of parliament. "But in proportion to the Muslim population in the country, there should have been at least 70 MPs," he said.

"Therefore, there is nothing wrong in our demand. The problem is that if we keep quiet, political parties will continue exploiting the community as mere vote banks," Jaleel added.

While Muslims constitute 24.5 per cent of Kerala's 30-million population, Christians are nearly 20 per cent.

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