WITH the Central government's concern over the spread of terrorism in Kerala, a clutch of local Islamic organisations have come 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 terrorist groups have been operating in the state.
On the government's shortlist are radical Islamic outfits such as the National Development Front (NDF), Jam-Iyathul Ehsaniya and Al Umma, whose base of operations covers Malappuram, Kozhikode and Thrissur districts. The recent arrest of People Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Abdul Nasser Madani for allegedly harbouring Al Umma militants involved in the Coimbatore blasts has spawned speculation about a nexus between the PDP and the extremists.
In police perception the militant groups, which sprang up after the Babri Masjid demolition, pursue a subversive agenda: advocating violence and aggressive proselytisation. Their cadre consist of young men from impoverished families and discontented elements from mainstream Muslim groups.
Though active in Kerala, the Al Umma's roots lie in Tamil Nadu. The porous border between the two states helps Al Umma activists slip across and blend with the Muslims of Malappuram in Kerala. Al Umma's bid to establish itself directly in the state fell apart following a 1996 police crackdown when its activists were rounded up on suspicion of complicity in a spat of killings of RSS workers. According to the police, Al Umma regrouped under the NDF banner.
The NDF, the police say, projects a human rights facade but pursues the hidden agenda of the Al Umma. Its 20,000 crore 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 perpetrations of the Coimbatore blasts surfaced when NDF office-bearer Zubair was arrested on the grounds that he had harboured Al Umma activist Ommai Babu, prime accused in the blasts case. Babu was picked up by the police in Kozhikode and his interrogation brought Madani into the picture. The scenario put together by the police is that Babu arrived in Kollam 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. Till his arrest on March 31, he had been coveted by both the state coalition fronts for his political support. Madani had started as a radical Islamic leader, but mellowed after the Supreme Court banned his Islamic Service Sangh. He then floated the PDP and carved a niche for his new party by mounting a modest challenge to the Muslim League. His militancy was limited to inflammatory speeches. The police now think he was in touch with the fundamentalist underworld and abetted the Coimbatore disturbances. However, Madani says he is being framed for opposing the CPI(M)in the last polls.
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 Al Umma or the PDP," NDF chairman B. Aboobacker told Outlook in Kozhikode. The 45-year-old school teacher is committed to an agenda of opposing 'fascism' as represented by the RSS. He says his other agenda is to free society from hunger. The NDF leader is unhappy at the terrorist tag. "Let the police prove 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. And the NDF is under watch. Meanwhile, probes 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 group behind the three train blasts. Ayub is still at large. So are most suspects involved in the Coimbatore upheaval who took shelter in Kerala. As of now, the terrorists seem to be several steps ahead of the police.
