By A. Harikumar
Jews from Israel had settled in the port towns of Kochi and Kodungalloor (Cranganore) in the south Indian state of Kerala even before the birth of Christ. The migrants who were called Malabari Jews blended perfectly with the locals and won their great esteem while maintaining Jewish religion and culture, and lived there harmoniously till Israel was formed in 1948, when most of them emigrated to the Jewish state.
However, regards for the Jews in Kerala have never translated into empathy for the Jewish nation. Attacks on Israel haven’t evoked sympathy here till the recent past. The radical Islamic groups in Kerala which are influential in the state controlled the public discourse by creating a narrative in the state portraying Israel as the cruel aggressor and Palestinians as the hapless victims of Israel’s imperialistic policies.
But the death of Soumya Santosh, an expatriate worker from Kerala employed as caregiver in Israel, in the Hamas attack a few days ago has changed the perspective of many in Kerala. Several Hindu and Christian groups in the state have challenged the conventional narrative which used to turn a blind eye at the plight of Israeli citizen during Palestine-Israel clashes and the right of the Jewish nation to defend its citizen from extremist attacks. Commenting on the new development, a leading English daily The New Indian Express recently published a story titled ‘Conflict in West Asia triggers Political Storm in Kerala.’ The report noted that the conflict in which a Kerala woman was killed has created political polarisation in the region.
Responses of Kerala leaders
PC George, a former MLA (member of Kerala Legislative Assembly, the representative body at the state level) and leader of Kerala Janapaksham (a political party), who is a strident critic of radical Islamic groups termed the attack on Soumya an extremist attack in his Facebook post and panned the state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan for not sincerely condoling the death. Kerala’s main political parties the Communist Party of India (Marxisit) (CPI-M) and the Congress have refused to name Hamas or term the attacks as extremist or terrorist attack when referring to the killing of the local girl. Their critics in Kerala termed it an act of realpolitik to keep radical Islamic groups in good spirits.
Striking a different note, the president of Kerala unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the ruling party in India, K Surendran termed the rocket attack in which Soumya was killed as ‘Hamas terrorist attack.’ Panning the chief minister and outgoing opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala in a Facebook post for their refusal to wholeheartedly condole the death, Surendran asked if both considered Hamas as an ally.
Social media response
In an article on the fierce exchanges between supporters of Israel and Hamas on social media, a popular Malayalam language news portal marunadanmalayali commented that a parallel to the real war between Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Hamas, has broken out between supporters of both groups in Kerala on online platforms. A large number of workers and sympathisers of the BJP are leading the onslaught against the Hamas supporters on social media. A former member of the BJP intellectual cell all India executive committee, tweeted with the hashtag “Stand With Israel.”
On the Facebook (FB), the media used by a majority of those who post in Malayalam language (language spoken in Kerala), people like KP Sukumaran (a widely followed blogger), RSS leader Nivedyam Ramachandran, journalist Reji Kumar who is coordinating editor of a Malayalam daily ;Metrovartha’ etc are among the hundreds who spoke out in support of Israel and its right to defend itself. All of them thanked Israel for the care and respect shown by the Jewish nation to the killed expatriate worker.
Kerala government
Meanwhile public statements of Kerala chief minister referring to the death of Soumya were in measured words so as not to offend supporters of Hamas. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former chief minister Oommen Chandy edited their social media posts on the issue and removed the words extremist attack arguably because of the fear of antagonising radical groups and losing their votes. Several leaders of Congress also did the same.
New Perspective
One of the main reasons for the change in attitude of different communities in Kerala towards Israel is, the presence of a good number of expatriate workers from Kerala in Israel at present. Any mishap to expatriate workers in attacks means many families in Kerala will also bear the brunt. The rise of Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s ruling party, and their emphasis on strengthening India – Israel friendship is another factor. Most importantly, sections in Kerala are apprehensive about the rise of radical Islam and terror groups in South Asia. There is an active interest in forging close ties with victims of terrorism worldwide to fight against the common enemy.