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The Rediff Special/ Venu Menon

The fundamentalist underworld

The central government's concern over the spread of terrorism in Kerala has brought a clutch of local Islamic organisations under close scrutiny. Chief Minister E K Nayanar, while contesting Union Home Minister L K Advani's claims on the scale of their activity, admitted that certain terrorist groups have been operating in the state.

On the government's shortlist are radical Islamic outfits such as the National Development Front, the Jam-iyathul Ehsaniya and the Al-Umma, whose base of operations covers Kozhikode, Malappuram and Thrissur districts. The arrest of People Democratic Party chairman Abdul Nasser Madani for allegedly harbouring Al-Umma militants involved in the Coimbatore bomb blasts has spawned speculation about a nexus between the PDP and the extremist outfits.

In police perceptions the militant groups, which sprang up in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, pursue a subversive agenda that advocates violence and aggressive proselytisation. Their rank and file consist of discontented elements drawn from mainstream Muslim organisations such as the Indian Union Muslim League. Young men between 18 to 25 years, from impoverished Muslim families, flocked to these radical outfits lured by their hardline philosophy.

Though Al-Umma has been active in Kerala, its roots and theatre of operations lie in Tamil Nadu. The porous border between the two states has helped Al-Umma activists to slip across and blend with the Muslim population of Malappuram. Al-Umma's bid to establish itself in Kerala fell apart following the police crackdown of 1996 when its activists were rounded up on suspicion of complicity in a spate of killings of RSS workers.

The police say Al-Umma then regrouped under the banner of the NDF, currently under investigation for terrorist activities. The NDF, according to the police, projects a human rights facade but pursues Al-Umma's hidden agenda. Its 20,000 core activists are suspected to be behind last year's arson attacks on cinema houses in Malappuram and the cache of pipe bombs recovered from the Kadalundi river.

The organisation's suspected links with the perpetrators of the Coimbatore blasts surfaced with the arrest of NDF officebearer Zubair on the grounds that he had harboured Al-Umma activists Ommai Babu, prime accused in the blasts case. Babu was picked up by police in Kozhikode and his interrogation brought the PDP's Madani into the picture. The scenario put together by the police is that Babu arrived in Kollam on February 16 (two days after the Coimbatore blasts) and took shelter at the Anwarseri Trust, a sprawling educational complex run by Madani.

Madani's inclusion in the terrorist network took the state's political establishment by surprise. Until his arrest on March 31, he was coveted by both the coalition fronts for his political support. Madani had started out as a radical Islamic leader, but quickly mellowed after the Supreme Court banned his Islamic Sewak Sangh. He then floated the PDP and managed to carve a small niche for his fledging party by mounting a modest challenge to the Muslim League.

His old militancy was limited to making inflammatory speeches. The police now think he was in touch with the fundamentalist underworld and consciously abetted the Coimbatore disturbances. However, Madani has stoutly denied this, saying he has been framed for opposing the CPI-M in the last election.

The PDP leader will find it hard to shake off the perception of complicity created by his arrest. The Kerala public, rudely awakened to the spectre of terrorist violence by the bomb that exploded on the Chennai-Alappuzha Express train on December 6, is not sympathetic to suspected terrorists.

This is what worries the NDF leadership. "We are not a communal organisation, but a human rights group. We have no connection with either Al-Umma or the PDP," NDF chairman E Aboobacker said in Kozhikode. The 45-year-old school teacher is committed to an agenda of opposing "fascism" as represented by the RSS. He says he also wants to free society from hunger.

The NDF leader is unhappy at the terrorist tag pinned on him by the police. "Let them prove that we are indulging in terrorism. We carry no guns, we do not incite violence through pamphlets or speeches. What is the basis of the charge?" Aboobacker disclaims any knowledge of NDF activist Zubair's link with Al-Umma militants. "The moment he was held as a suspect we threw him out of the organisation. What more can we do?"

The authorities are not convinced. The NDF is under watch. Meanwhile, investigations into the Thrissur train blast have identified the culprit as Ayub, a 22-year-old native of Coimbatore who heads the Kerala chapter of the Islamic Defence Force, the terrorist group behind the bombing blasts on the three trains. Ayub is still at large. So are most suspects involved in the Coimbatore upheaval who took shelter in Kerala. The terrorists seem to be several steps ahead of the police.

The Rediff Specials

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