SFI targets MSF in Islamophobia row as student politics intensifies in Kerala

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has launched a fierce attack on the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), linking its rhetoric with allegations of communal politics, in a move reminiscent of the Left’s earlier targeting of the Jamaat-e-Islami, while critics pointed out that the CPI (M) and its leaders have themselves been accused and convicted in numerous political killings in Kerala.

The controversy has sharpened the debate on hate speech and identity politics, with MSF state president P. K. Navas challenging whether SFI would ever dare to question other caste-based or non-Muslim organisations in the same manner.

The escalation began when SFI state secretary P. S. Sanjeev described MSF as the biggest communal organisation Kerala had ever witnessed, branding it as a textbook example of sectarian politics, while also portraying Navas as a hardcore communalist.

Sanjeev further alleged that MSF was providing platforms for Jamaat-e-Islami and the now-banned Campus Front of India, linking the federation to the remnants of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).

The dispute deepened after SFI state president M. Sivaprasad declared that merely uttering the full form of MSF—Muslim Students Federation—was enough to undermine the organisation, stressing the word “Muslim” in a way that MSF described as a clear indication of Islamophobia.

Sivaprasad argued that the name itself revealed the organisation’s nature, whereas MSF leaders countered that such rhetoric exposed the SFI’s communal mindset and its inability to engage with opponents politically after electoral setbacks.

Navas hit back strongly, arguing that SFI was resorting to sectarian venom because it had lost its monopoly over student politics in Calicut University, and he insisted that the Left student wing should reflect on its own violent past rather than attempting to discredit Muslim organisations.

The latest confrontation emerged soon after the Calicut University students’ union elections, where the United Democratic Students’ Front (UDSF), an alliance of MSF and the Kerala Students Union (KSU), registered a significant victory.

In that election, MSF’s Shifana was chosen as the union chairperson, becoming the first candidate from the federation to secure the top post in forty-five years, which marked a major setback for the SFI’s long-held dominance in the institution. Observers have noted that this political reversal has heightened the aggressiveness of SFI’s campaign against MSF.

The controversy took another twist when K. P. Shashikala, leader of the Hindutva outfit Hindu Aikya Vedi, openly supported the statements made by Sivaprasad and Sanjeev, an unusual development that exposed the convergence of Left and Hindutva positions on the issue of Muslim student politics.