Marad Massacre : The Hindu Massacre by Islamic Jihadis in a Communist Bastion

Today's youth may discuss and debate the 2002 Gujarat riots, but are largely unaware of the 2002 and 2003 Marad Massacre, which occurred in Kerala, a state often touted as Number one, Cent percent literate and highly educated. The media was heavily focused on projecting the Gujarat riots, while the massacres in the communist-ruled state of Kerala received little attention. The Gujarat riots have been narrated as a state-sponsored genocide, while the Marad massacres, while brutal, were not on the same scale and was Muslim league sponsored bloodbath.

May 2, 2024, marked the 22nd Anniversary of this communal jihad in Malabar, often referred to by the mainstream media as the Marad Riot. In reality, it was not a riot but a unilateral attack, a massacre.

Eight Hindus were killed, along with one Muslim, Muhammad Azhar, who was also a victim of the attackers. Among the Hindu victims were members of the Mukkuvans (fisherman) community: Chandran, Dasan, Gopalan, Krishnan, Madhavan, Rajesh, Pushparaj, and Santosh. All eight are remembered as martyrs.

Marad has faced multiple attacks. On January 3rd, 2002, a massacre erupted over a dispute that began as a trivial quarrel over drinking water at a public tap originated into violence. As usual, the media syndicate in Kerala propagated many false narratives and same the case, news on Marad violence was not aired by lutyens media.

After the trivial quarrel, a criminal conspiracy was devised and executed at the Juma Masjid mosque in Marad. Following the massacre, extremists sought refuge within the mosque. When police attempted to enter, they were obstructed by local Muslim women who had surrounded the mosque.

Upon entering, police discovered Muslim men wearing blood-stained clothing. Inside the mosque, authorities recovered ninety homemade bombs, forty swords, petrol bombs, choppers, spears, Islamic arms and iron pipes. The Muslim terrorists were subsequently arrested, and the mosque was sealed off.

Marad and Nadapuram represent shifts from Kozhikode's hills to its coast. Following the attacks, relief camps were set up where Muslim Mahal committees supported Muslims with good food and facilities. However, Hindu victims lacked similar support in their camps.

During post-mortem, it was recorded attackers mutilated the private parts of the victims. Marad witnessed atrocities reminiscent of the Mopla Rebellion of 1921, where pregnant women were raped and stabbed to death, infants' throats were cut, and the corpses of women were violated.

Key political figures within the Indian Union Muslim League, both past and present, were responsible for these attacks. The Muslim League played a major role in the Marad incidents. The Muslim League subsequently launched attacks with direct assist of SDPI, NDF, and PDP terrorist organizations. Marxist parties in Kerala also supported the massacre. In the Marad violence, 62 members of the Muslim League were sentenced to life imprisonment. The Joseph Thomas Commission, appointed by the government, concluded that the Marad violence was a communal conspiracy.

Although the Joseph Thomas Commission found no further evidence of a foreign conspiracy, a Pakistani national named Fawaz was arrested for alleged involvement in the attacks. Evidence showed that a prominent youth leader in Kozhikode had been in contact with Fawaz multiple times. Evidence showed that Fawaz had stayed in Kozhikode prior to massacre, but the investigation did not progress.

The assistant commissioner of police testified before the commission, revealing that the National Development Front (NDF) had received substantial funding from unspecified foreign countries for terror training. The commission reported that the Crime Branch, under pressure, failed to investigate the source of funds for the large quantity of weapons and well-coordinated attacks.

Another disturbing aspect revealed by the commission was the nexus between Congress and communist politicians, bureaucrats, and jihadis. The assistant commissioner was severely criticized for attempting to shield one of the prime accused and for failing to maintain surveillance on a suspected militant despite intelligence warnings. This officer tried to remain involved in the massacre area even after being transferred in the 'public interest.' The commission noted that his appointment was "shrouded in suspicious circumstances" and that allegations of his links with terrorists could not be ignored. It was reported that this official had been appointed without the knowledge of the police head, apparently to oblige a Muslim leader.

The patrols and searches for weapons conducted by the local police were neither effective nor purposeful. In short, the local police displayed a lethargic attitude towards the situation at Marad Beach. The commission also strongly indicted the then Kozhikode District Collector, T. O. Sooraj Mohamed, for colluding with the Muslim League leadership in covering up the facts.

The commission noted that allegations of the Collector being a communalist cannot be dismissed as untrue. The Collector had taken custody of the mosque where the police had seized lethal weapons and sealed. However, the commission observed that he allowed Muslim League leader E. Ahmed, then an MP of Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency, and former Minister of State for External Affairs, to enter the mosque and offer prayers, even amidst the explosive situation in the area. The then Chief Minister A.K. Antony and the then Industries Minister and top Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader, P.K. Kunhalikutty, opposed any CBI probe into the massacre.

While there was scant evidence of a foreign conspiracy, the investigation revealed a plan to exterminate 27 families along the Marad coastline. In essence, this indicated a form of land jihad. This stretch of coastline was exploited for terrorist activities, facilitating the transportation of weapons and other military supplies by sea.

Under pressure from Hindu organizations, the then Chief Minister AK Antony was compelled to order an independent inquiry. Justice Thomas P Joseph headed the Commission of Inquiry, which uncovered the following facts:

1. Abdul Rahim's appointment as Assistant Commissioner of Police was suspicious, as weapons had accumulated at the mosque months before the riots, despite police presence.

2. Muslim fundamentalists, aided by external forces like ISI, had a covert agenda to eradicate the Hindu community from Kerala's coastal areas.

3. District Collector T.O. Sooraj Mohammed's actions were questioned for alleged communal bias. He misrepresented Marad's situation as peaceful in police intelligence reports to conceal his misconduct.

4. Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty and T.O. Sooraj Mohammed had prior knowledge of the riots.

5. NDF's encouragement of Bijili, alias Noufal, to seek revenge for his father's death in the initial riots was known beforehand.

The situation was anything but peaceful. The local MLA had twice written to the Chief Minister warning of brewing trouble. Police picketing was sporadic and ineffective. What perplexed the commission most was the District Collector's office's failure to maintain registers for reports from local police, intelligence units, or the district special branch. Despite communal tensions, Sooraj Mohammed allowed the then Central Minister E. Ahamed to pray in the locked Juma Masjid without repercussions.

The first Marad massacre occurred on March 28, 1954, when the Naduvattam Temple was attacked at Ezhunnallipu (Temple Celeberation) by Jihadis. In October 1952, the president of Gau Samrakshina Sammithi was killed in the coastal area known as Payyoli. Few would know Payyoli since it’s the hometown of PT Usha, the Olympian revered globally.

In 1952, a three-month series of violence erupted in Payyoli, which was extensively covered by the regional Newspapers of that time. In 1958, there was news coverage about a year-long campaign against the Ezhunnallipu by Jihadis at the Chavakkad Manathala Vishwanath Temple. Historically Chavakkad falls within the jurisdiction of the Kozhikode Samoothiri. Jihadis targeted Chavakkad and as a result, 130 Hindu families fled as anticipated by the Marad Jihadis. Marad spans a 65 km long coastal region, which Jihadists have gradually taken control of from Ponnani to Marad. It took 50 years for the Jihadi’s to assert control over the Marad region.

At that time, the Congress party was in power in the state under CM A.K. Antony. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) had recently lost a local panchayat election in Marad, where a Muslim candidate won with support from many Hindus. The CPM aimed to sow division for political gain. Meanwhile, the National Democratic Front (NDF) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) collaborated to instill fear among the Hindu community in Marad.

In many coastal areas adjacent to Marad and Ponnani, following the Marad massacre, a fatwa was issued and enforced prohibiting Mukkuvans from fishing in the sea on Fridays. The Moppila Rebellion of 1921 was a Jihadist initiative aimed at liberating Malabar, termed shamelessly the Independence Rebellion and was endorsed by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Today, Malabar is predominantly controlled by Islamists and is often referred to as the only Muslim-majority district in India. Recently, Muslim leaders from Malabar have expressed political aspirations, advocating for Malabar to be declared a separate nation and to establish ties with Pakistan.

The NDF now operates under the name of Popular Front of India (PFI). Recently under leadership of Sri. Narendra Modi, on 28th September 2022, the Government of India declared PFI as "unlawful association" and temporarily banned the organisation for five years under the UAPA act.

KT Jalil, a former SIMI activist and later a communist leader, came under investigation in the 2022-23 UAE - Kerala gold smuggling case, allegedly involving collusion with the Kerala government. In his PhD thesis, KT Jalil unashamedly wrote about Vaarian Kunnath Kunjahammed Haji, a key figure in the Moppila rebellion, advocating for the establishment of a region called Malayala Rajya. The "Peasant Revolt in Malabar: A History of the Malabar Rebellion, 1921" by RH Hitchcock describes the Moppila attack on Hindus diametrically opposite.

The Mukkuvans, or fishermen, in the Marad area are economically disadvantaged. Muslims were able to displace Hindu fishermen using funds sourced from Qatar and Arab, some were working in Persia and other Arab countries, as well as support from mosques. One could see in photographs from the 1950s, Hindu gods' names and saffron flags adorned fishing boats. Kadalamma is revered as the goddess of the Mukkuvans aka fishermen who rely on the sea, with Temples existing in many areas at that time.

As old fishing boats were replaced by new trawlers, these newer vessels predominantly belonged to financially prosperous Muslim fishermen. Consequently, boats named Masha Allah and Ayesha became common sights on the sea.

Economically, North Malabar and Nadapuram faced challenges, while Marad experienced communal tensions. Today, the coastal areas of Marad, Nadapuram, Naduvattam, and Beypore are predominantly inhabited by a single community. This community has targeted the sea route for Terror activities. In the 2003 Marad attacks, 393 people were arrested, including 84 Muslim League workers.

Riots often have hidden agendas. For instance, there are reports suggesting Tata's involvement in the rebellion in Assam. Similarly, the agenda behind the unilateral attacks in Marad was coastal evacuation. Several leaders of the Muslim League were implicated in smuggling activities, particularly targeting coastal areas such as Beypore. These areas were used for smuggling gold, arms, and foreign currency into Kerala. The Joseph Thomas Commission's initial report was submitted in 2009, but the Kerala government did not take action despite clear evidence of those responsible for planning and executing the attacks.

Despite portraying itself as secular when allied with the Congress, the IUML in Kerala supports terrorist organizations such as SIMI, SDPI, PDP, and PFI.

In the recent Wayanad election, the Congress candidate Raul Vinci faced challenges as the terrorist organization SDPI openly supported them, preventing the waving of the Congress flag.

The objective of political Islam includes establishing an Islamic state. Terrorist organizations like SDPI, PFI, and SIMI advocate for achieving this goal by 2047. Within the committees of the Indian Union Muslim League, there is promotion of the idea of an Islamic state.

The national mainstream media meticulously covers every development in Delhi or BJP-ruled states. However, there is notable silence concerning 'progressive' states like Kerala. Kerala, currently, has emerged as a center for severe Islamist extremism, as evidenced by the involvement of Kerala-based quasi-terror organizations like PFI.

This highlights the increasing influence of political Islam in India. Regardless of whether it's the CPM, Congress, or IUML in power in Kerala, there appears to be collaboration in fostering corruption and activities detrimental to national interests in the state known for highly educated "God’s own country."

References:

1. Maradile Oru Padanam ~ by M. G. S. Narayanan

2. Marad Massacre: A Chronicle of Violence ~ by H. Suresh

3. Religion, Identity, and Politics: The Marad Massacre in Kerala ~ by A. Jayashanker

Article by

Vimal M
Younginker
Mumbai, Maharashtra