The antidote of peace against extreme venom

The horrific blast during the prayer meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses at 9.40 am on Sunday morning at Zamra auditorium in Kalamassery literarily shocked not only Kerala but the entire nation. More than 2000 devotees including children and elderly had to flee for their lives when the IED blast occurred charring to death three people alongside injuring around fifty. The sweeping investigation that the central and state agencies launched within hours after the incident is still underway in earnest. The detectives initially hesitated to take into account the suspect Dominic Martin’s confession that he himself had made and detonated the bomb. But the foolproof probe and recovery of remnants of explosive led the police to his incrimination. The suspect, who confessed to have carried out the attack with thorough planning, said he had worked with Jehovah’s Witness for a long time and claimed to have been motivated by the indignation at the group’s ‘treasonous actions’ to commit the heinous crime. Not satisfied with the statement of the accused, the NIA, NSG and Special Investigation Team of the Kerala Police are working in parallel to answer the questions like whether anyone else was behind him and whether he has any terrorist links. The government and the people are in the hope that truth will come out eventually, ending the mysteries surrounding the incident.

At the time same, more explosive political and social controversies and aggressive showdowns are taking place in Kerala and the country at large. Within hours of the incident, Union Home Minister Amit Shah called up Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was in Delhi, to express his concern and alerted him for a serious investigation. However, Union Minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar unequivocally told the nation his findings and assumptions during the nascent investigation. “Being in charge of the Home Department, Kalamassery blast is an example of the shameful appeasement policy of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is besieged by allegations of corruption. The Chief Minister is protesting against Israel in Delhi while the terrorist Hamas' open calls for Jihad, attacks and bomb blasts against innocent Christians are taking place in Kerala,” he stated. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described this statement as ‘extremely venomous'. The Union Minister of the extreme Hindutva brigade was obviously venting the bitter communal poison in his mind as soon as an opportunity presented itself. No sooner had the news of bomb blast come out, than the Sangh Parivar mouthpieces and visual and social media platforms favouring them started a war against the 'Jihadists'. They were already upset about humanists in Kerala strongly expressing solidarity with women, children and ordinary people being killed by the Zionist regime in Gaza and Palestine. Hence, they seized the moment to circulate disparaging lies against ‘Jihadists’ who side with ‘Hamas terrorists’ and secular parties who openly oppose Israel’s bloody carnage. Even after the dawn of truth, the darkness still veil their eyes.

Hamas, which is fighting for survival in Gaza and Palestine, was elected to power by the people of that land in polls with a large majority. The United Nations has not designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Neither has the Government of India done so. The majority of countries of the world have not branded the Hamas attack on October 7th as a terrorist act. And then, who has given permission to extreme Hindutva to call all those who do not give the label of terrorists to Hamas as extremists? Those who are spreading hatred, despite police report finding no crime, over the video speech by former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in Malappuram calling attention to the torture of innocent people in Gaza, should be questioned in the first place. However, the Chief Minister’s all-party meeting that unanimously declared those casting suspicion on a community as the common enemies of the country was timely. Let’s welcome without reservation the meeting’s declaration to unitedly strengthen communal harmony and peace in Kerala. Let’s isolate the hate mongers.