Change in Kerala politics post Taliban takeover: BJP

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 4 (IANS) The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday slammed the attitude of rival parties in the state ever since the Taliban took over control in Afghanistan.

Kerala BJP President, K. Surendran said recent news reports over the 1921 Moplah (Malabar) rebellion being given importance is meant to give a clean chit to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban.

"For some strange reason ever since the new developments in Afghanistan, both the Left and the Congress-led opposition are playing a new political game. The Speaker of the Kerala Assembly, M.B. Rajesh has said both Bhagat Singh and leader of the Malabar rebellion Variyamkunnath Kunjahammed Haji are the same," a furious Surendran added.

Incidentally it was in August that top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader, Ram Madhav raked up the issue that the Union government is aware of the correct history of the Malabar rebellion and therefore, it will not give any space to such Talibani or separatist forces to create violence or divide people in the country, be it Kashmir or Kerala.

Both the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress leadership went hammer and tongs at the BJP as the news surfaced that popular leaders of the Malabar rebellion such as Variyamkunnath Kunjahammed Haji and Ali Musaliar along with 387 other leaders of the pre-independence movement, are set to be removed from the 'Dictionary of Martyrs of India's Freedom Struggle', jointly published by the Ministry of Culture, Indian government, and the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).

The Kerala BJP President said even when there have been reports of increased activity by religious and fundamental forces in the state, both the police and the ruling LDF government were acting irresponsibly.

"Just look at the recent events when six youths from Jammu and Kashmir were arrested from Kerala for possession of guns without a license, the operation of an illegal telephone exchange at Kochi, and it was known only after the Telangana police took a person into custody. A similar illegal exchange was found to be operative in the gold smuggling business being carried out in the state which was being controlled from Pakistan and the Kerala police has no clue of what's happening," Surendran added while slamming Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for his failure to act on these issues.