KOZHIKODE: Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS) state secretary Musthafa Mundupara has shot off a letter to former chief minister and AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy requesting him to mediate between Muslims and Christians in the state to sort out the issues between the two communities.
The letter was written against the backdrop of a school principal in Kollam district posting a highly provocative video against Muslims in the school WhatsApp group. The video warns Christians against the “machinations of Muslims to Islamise Kerala”.
Mundupara, who is also the CEO of ‘Suprabhatham’ daily, alerted Chandy about the deliberate attempts from certain quarters to destroy the communal amity prevailing in Kerala. “Prominent among them is the move from certain Christian groups against Muslims. These centres are propagating completely baseless allegations,” the latter said. He said an impression has been deliberately created that Muslims are robbing Christians of their benefits and that efforts are on to drive Christians out of Kerala. “Things have come to such a sad stage that communal venom is injected even in the minds of little kids,” he said.
A copy of the video posted in the school group has also been attached with the letter. Mundupara reminded the Congress leader that Kerala has a glorious past of peaceful co-existence by the two communities and expressed concern that it will become a sad memory if urgent steps are not taken to stop the polarisation.
“The issues can be resolved if responsible persons from two sides sit across the table and I believe that you (Chandy) is the apt person to initiate the dialogue,” the letter said. The video mentioned in the letter has been circulated widely on social media for the past few weeks. It is in the form of advice from an imaginary character named Josettan, who is presented as the spokesperson of Christians.
The video exhorts Christians to shed the lethargic attitude and “wake up to the threat posed by the Muslim agenda of Islamisation of Kerala”. It said there is a false sense of security among Christians in Kerala that they will not be forced to flee the state as had happened in other parts of the world. The video said the experiences of former Christian countries such as Turkey, Yemen and Egypt prove that the threat of Islamisation is not imaginary.
The relationship between Muslims and Christians in Kerala touched an all-time low after allegations of ‘Love Jihad’ were raised against the former. Muslims are also accused of drawing a major portion of the benefits provided to the minorities under various welfare programmes.
A newspaper article by Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali after Hagia Sofia in Turkey was converted into a mosque also strained the relationship. All attempts to set things right have come to nought amid reports that at least a section of Christians are cozying up to the Sangh Parivar.