IIt was a scam that changed the course of Kerala politics six decades ago. PT Chacko – the then Home Minister and the de facto leader of the Syrian Christians of Central Travancore – was forced to resign after being found. of travel With a female co-worker from Peachy’s. Only later, it emerged that he had been framed – which, coupled with his death a few months later, led to the downfall of the R Shankar-led Congress government in 1964.
Chaco’s followers were not limited to Catholics. Chacko’s loyalists walked out of the Congress after getting the support of Mannathu Padmanabhan, the founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS). Thus was born the ‘Kerala Congress’ in 1964, which was mainly supported by Nairs in South Kerala and Syrian Christians in Central Kerala. It ultimately brought down the Congress 63 seats to 9 In the 1967 assembly elections.
It took the Congress more than a decade to recover from that blow, co-opting both the Kerala Congress and the NSS, eventually earning the trust of these two dominant communities. This formidable caste reckoning along with the Muslims of Malabar would form the backbone of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) over the next four decades.
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karunakaran exit
In the mid-2000s, former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran – one of the architects of that caste alliance – left the Congress, taking a slice of the Nair community. The Nair vote bank which had deserted the Congress eventually shifted to Narendra Modi after 2014.
Many of them continued to vote for the Congress with the primary goal of defeating the Communist Party of India (Marxist), as voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party would be a wasted vote in the bipolar politics of the state.
While the swapping of a section of Nairs should have set off alarm bells within the UDF, the community shares many common interests with Syrian Christians, who often act as a joint pressure group. However, the Congress took it easy considering it a temporary phase.
shifting sands
With Nair ready to switch blocks, the BJP’s focus was now on Syrian Christians. Incidentally, the wooing of the Syro-Malabar Church by the party was helped by a wave of Islamophobia prevailing in the community. some 22 Christians have converted, who are reportedly got included in Islamic State (IS) triggered it in 2016, and Hadiya incident escalated the situation.
In early 2020 the Syro-Malabar Church Synod came out with a statement – ‘Love Jihad is a reality’ – For the first time making common cause with BJP. However, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) effectively used Islamophobia to its advantage in the 2021 assembly elections.
Cleverly directing the Islamophobia spreading through the church to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) within the UDF, the CPI-M won a hitherto unbeatable number of seats in central Travancore. Only a split in the Syro-Malabar Church saved the Congress or the close of 1967 at the last count.
Unlike in the past, the emergence of the BJP as the third pole means that the UDF, which had lost a substantial chunk of its Nair votes, is now staring at the imminent loss of a section of its Christian vote bank – once called fixed deposits. was considered.
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Demographics, Land and ‘Love-Jihad’
The unique demography of Kerala gives a certain weightage to the three communities in the three regions of the state. And central Kerala (or what was central Travancore in the pre-independence era) is considered the Christian-dominated belt of the state, especially when it comes to agricultural economy, land holdings and trade.
All this began to change with a gradual decline in the fertility rate among the Syrian Christian community, and the emergence of a new class of cash-rich Muslims with remittances from the Gulf. The loss of land and the displacement of Muslims into trade in their own jagir did not go down well with the community.
Thus, a combination of factors made central Kerala the most fertile ground for the spread of Islamophobia. Furthermore, Kerala has always been a deeply patriarchal society. Just think, even the ‘love-jihad’ angle is a product of patriarchal mindset, as it is applied only in case of women and not vice versa.
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race plays a role
Patriarchy aside, another reason Syrian Christians have a common cause with the BJP is caste, as they are believed to be descended from Brahmins who were baptized by St. Thomas, a disciple of Jesus Christ. St. Thomas is believed to have entered India through the port of Cranganore to preach Christianity even before making his way to Europe.
This caste consciousness also came with a sense of ‘savarna’ identity, which made Syrian Christians more amenable to the BJP’s hierarchical worldview. This consciousness is evident in the Malankara, Jacobite, Orthodox and Mar Thoma factions, apart from the dominant Syro-Malabar Church.
An important difference between the Nairs and the Syrian Christians targeted by the BJP is the approach of its leadership. The Nair community continues to support the NSS Congress led by G. Sukumaran Nair, despite switching over to the BJP. On the other hand, within the Syrian Christian community, it is the clergy class that drives the BJP’s agenda.
There had been cryptic signs before, but none as obvious as Archbishop Joseph Pamplemny’s open Proposal Trading the votes of farmers living in his archdiocese in exchange for increasing the support price of natural rubber.
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Challenge of Kerala BJP
Presently BJP lack of credible leadership There is a big hurdle in Kerala. State Vice President AN Radhakrishnan’s recent pledge to undertake the Malayattoor pilgrimage in solidarity with Christians on Good Friday ended in a public relations disaster as he gave up within 300 meters of the climb. He resumed the arduous journey on April 16, after being widely received on social media feedback Last time for his ‘cheap publicity stunt’.
The non-availability of Congress defectors has also reduced the BJP’s pressure in Kerala. It is not that prominent leaders have not deserted the Congress in recent times, but almost all of them have joined either the CPI-M or the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Left’s ally in Kerala.
The BJP’s latest gripe is Anil Antony, son of Congress veteran AK Antony, whose Christian identity was immediately invoked. However, Anil is a small fry whose induction serves only a symbolic purpose.
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Easter Ddiplomacy
One Interview Cardinal George Alancherry’s meeting became the subject of drawing-room conversation this Easter, thanks to BJP’s apparent tilt. It is just what the doctor ordered for the ruling party, whose cadres visited Christian homes on Easter Sunday as part of their outreach.
With his visit to New Delhi’s iconic Sacred Heart Cathedral, the Prime Minister himself led a syncretic Easter diplomacy, indicating that the BJP is prepared to break the Christian vote in Kerala.
Modi is coming to Kochi to make the most of his popularity among Kerala’s youth and urban middle class. ‘Yuvam 2023’– A youth convention organized by Vibrant Youth for Modifying Kerala – with a targeted mobilization of one lakh youth from across Kerala on 24th April. Several eminent persons sympathetic to Anil Antony and the BJP are also expected to participate.
The author is a Kerala-based journalist and columnist. He tweeted @AnandKochukudy. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)