The Hindu in Hindi: Conflict in West Asia has started the game of opportunism in Indian politics, read the editorial of 15 November

Amidst the increasing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, parties in Kerala have started a political game of defeating each other.

Both the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have ostensibly sought to woo Muslim voters, protesting Palestine and condemning violence. There is no delay in protesting.

These protesters are focusing on the atrocities and alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

The CPI (M) has squandered the opportunity to connect with Congress ally and UDF main Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Muslim community, especially in North Keller.

Understanding that a section of IUML leaders and workers may be interested in associating with the Left. CPI(M) invited the group for an event in Kozhikode on 11 November to show solidarity for Palestine.

This call has made clear the need to provide and maintain a platform for the minority community of Kerala.

However, political observers have been surprised by the events that followed. Instead of immediately refusing the call, IUML sat with the call for some time, and finally rejected it citing rules.

The CPI, however, remained unperturbed and kept the proposal open in the hope that it would expose the mistakes of the Muslim community forums, which are united on most issues.

Furthermore, recognizing the divisions within the Congress in Malabar, the CPI(M) called for a solidarity invitation program to all those who are not happy with the Congress’s indecisiveness on the Palestine question.

While the Congress Working Committee (CWC) officially avoided mentioning Hamas or the word ‘terrorism’ in its October 9 resolution, CWC member Shashi Tharoor courted controversy by saying at IUML’s Palestine solidarity rally in Kozhikode that That Hamas is a terrorist organization ‘terrorism’.

During this phase of out reach, the Left IUML supporting Muslim scholars were encouraged by the support of the entire Kerala Gem-Iyathul Ulama. Despite IUML’s decision, these religious communities sent a representative to the Left party event.

The Congress, which had insisted from the beginning that IUML not attend the event, was surprised to see that it took so long to decline its invitation.

Much to the dismay of the IUML leadership, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) publicly reminded its oldest ally in Kerala that it had never campaigned with the Left party before on issues like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (Manipur) and the conflict. Was run. Both parties had the same stand on these issues.

Also, the Congress took a jibe at the CPI(M) for reaching out to the IUML despite repeated insults, saying the CWC was the first party to extend its unconditional support to the Palestinians under a resolution.

However, it may be true that this incident also shows that voters may find the National Party confused on this issue. Realizing this, PCC announced a similar rally in Kozhikode on 23 November and said that IUML would also be called in it.

Apart from its stated objective, Congress wants to use this platform to tell IUML that it has no hesitation in its mind.

Amidst all this political churning, the Central Travancore region is silent. The Catholic Church, which wields influence in the region, is not at all happy that these parties are vying for ‘Muslim votes’.

The growing support for Gaza in secular politics has become a hallmark of the control of political Islam. In fact, it seems that this issue has resulted in some Catholics giving more support to Israel. It is no surprise that the two groups in the Kerala Congress, which control the Catholic vote, have refused to speak out.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, BJP has adopted a defensive stance, and has talked about holding four rallies across the state focusing on the terrorism of Hamas.

The party hopes this will help it regain the confidence of Christian voters, who have been alienated due to the prolonged riots in Manipur and the government’s failure to bring the situation under control in the Northeast.

Author: Hiran Unnikrishnan

Source: The Hindu