Kochi: On April 19, the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC), the apex body of the state’s Catholic Church, issued a four-page statement urging the faithful to reject political forces that “indulge in communal polarization.”
The statement also cautioned the laity against “divisive forces” who try to “impose any particular culture” and against those who have “dictatorial tendencies.”
Until now, church leaders, through their pastoral letters read out during Sunday Mass, would urge people not to vote for those “who do not believe in God” (read Communists).
In Kerala, a state whose political narrative is defined by its bipolar contests between the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), the role played by community leaders — of Muslims, Christians, Ezhavas and Nairs — provides for an interesting subtext. These community leaders, most of them outside active politics, could end up influencing the way Kerala votes on May 16.
While none of these leaders can claim to swing the votes of an entire community, it’s also true there will not be many among the 1,203 candidates who would not have reached out to these leaders and sought their “blessings” ahead of the election.
With its 34.8 million population, Kerala has a unique demographic pattern. It is the only state where two minority communities — Muslims and Christians — are as powerful and influential, if not more, than the Hindus. The Church, with its different denominations, has the longest history of influencing Kerala’s politics.
It played a crucial role in bringing down the first Communist government (led by E M S Namboothiripad). With its dominance in education and health, the Catholic Church in Kerala is almost a semi-government enterprise: it educates millions, provides jobs to thousands, takes care of the health of a large section of society and has its own legal system to settle community and matrimonial cases.
Unlike the Church, which has an indirect influence on the state’s politics, members of the Thangal family, considered to be spiritual leaders of Muslims in the state, have always had a significant say in the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the party formed in 1948 which is also the second largest party within the ruling UDF.
The influence of these two communities on Kerala’s society has been cited by both the RSS and the BJP to highlight the need to “consolidate” the Hindu community. The Ezhavas, the OBC caste that is most dominant among the Hindus, have had powerful social groups but the community has never formed itself into a political party. The reason for that, say experts, lies in the emergence of the Communist movement.
When Sree Narayana Guru came up as a social reformer advocating scientific temper and rational outlook, it fitted in well with the doctrine of the Communists, who then got the Ezhavas and a section of Hindus under their banner. Analysts also point out that as Christians and Muslims focused on educating their communities, it contributed to the rising influence of their leaders.
In Kerala, both Christians and Muslims have set up a number of professional colleges for minorities, apart from schools and colleges. Paul Zachariah, writer and political analyst, points out that Hindus benefited as much from these minority institutions.
“So this feeling among the Hindus of being left out is not a genuine one, but a politically generated one. There have been attempts to brainwash people and polarise voters,” he says. The increasing influence of caste and religious leaders among voters is an “alarming” trend, says Thiruvananthapuram-based social scientist M A Oommen.
“Kerala has evolved as a society that debates on the basis of public reasoning. That was also the basis of the Sree Narayana movement, which was a rational movement. But communities are being led by parochial and narrow-minded people,” he says, adding, “Kerala, which once showed the way in political movements, student movements and social movements, is in reverse gear as far as the democratic process is concerned.”