Former Kerala DGP T. P. Senkumar has come out with some communally charged statements just days after his retirement from the state police’s apex position. Though his right-wing affinities were well-known and evident even during his days in office, the ruthlessness with which he attacked the Muslim community and the blatant lies he made-up in his excitement to appease the Sanghi masters in the state has come as a surprise even to his staunch supporters.
In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to state that Senkumar’s anti-Muslim rhetoric has put seasoned Hindutva hate-mongers in the state like Shashikala and Gopalakrishnan to shame.
Senkumar’s right-wing leanings were all too well known that soon after his retirement as Kerala DGP, state BJP leader K. Surendran invited him “to join the BJP to fight against the LDF and the UDF fronts in the state.” Instead of responding with a yes/no, the former DGP immediately responded with a vilified version of the right-wing’s Islamophobic rants and unashamed lies.
Like most other uniformed men in the country who seek to appease the RSS and BJP in their bids to ensure plum post-retirement postings, Senkumar’s attempts indicate his desire for a position with the central government which would enable him assume a position of authority over Kerala’s leftist-government with whom he has had many issues.
This prospect of continuously harassing the state government could find favor with the BJP-led central government too, which has been trying everything to subdue non-BJP state governments, especially Kerala.
Apparently, the Kerala CM is helpless when it comes to locking horns with the center, as a corruption case involving his name is being handled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The ex-DGP claimed that “out of every 100 children in India, 42 are Muslims.” He couldn’t have based this statistic on a sigle credible source. However, it is interesting to note that this argument is very much in line with the statement right-wing terrorists and their leaders usually open their hate-speeches with, when they say that the Muslim population is growing at an alarming pace and that in the next 20-30 years Muslims would overtake Hindus and thereafter impose Sharia rule and prosecute all non-Muslims!
The DGP also said some very good things about Hindu terror groups like the RSS, ruling out any comparison of them with IS. He even said that RSS’s acts of terror were “nationalistic”, they didn’t pose any danger for the country. He shamelessly even hinted at the existence of “Love Jihad” in Kerala, a false allegation by the RSS and other Sanghi terror groups which was termed as “false propaganda” by a former DGP of Kerala police before the Kerala High court, with the latter having agreed with the conclusion of the police investigation to that effect.
Wonder what Senkumar was doing during all his time in office, when he had all the power to expose and end this so called Love Jihad, if it did in fact exist. Senkumar also suggests containing “Islamic terrorism” using good Muslims; and unsurprisingly, the good Muslims he named are certified “good Muslims” in the Sangh books as well.
Senkumar is an indication of where the state’s police force is headed. His outpour against the Muslims also explains the communal nature of Kerala’s police force, which never shies away from meting one kind of justice for the Muslims and another kind for the rest of the state’s population.
Hindu terror outfits and their leaders are free to spew venom, hold communally charged meetings, conduct processions carrying arms and to even kill Muslims at will. The police are very reluctant to charge UAPA against evident cases of conspired murders and rioting by Hindu terror outfits like the RSS, whereas the same draconian law gets slapped on Muslims, especially the youth, for petty reasons.
A pocket-knife or a packet of crackers recovered from a Muslim’s home would send the media in the state into a tizzy, with colorful stories of connections with ISI/IS/Lashkar/Hizb and what not, whereas, huge recoveries of bombs and weapons from RSS strongholds have never been taken seriously, and cases of temple desecrations, mosque attacks, threat-calls and seized consignments of explosives involving RSS perpetrators have either been written off as acts by mentally unstable ‘innocents’ or as “nothing serious”.
Having had the distinction of being one of the states with the largest number of RSS shakhas, the BJP has always faced a dilemma in Kerala; it was never able to make any significant inroads into the state’s political map. After all these years, it has only managed to have one member in the state’s legislature. For political gains, the BJP has always been trying to emulate the North Indian model of spreading hatred and fear, but a climate of communal harmony, a strong leftist presence, high levels of literacy and presence of groups capable of dealing with the RSS’s physical might have been obstacles in the Sangh’s grand design.
Senkumar has proven that he is the ideal man for BJP’s Kerala dreams; he can fabricate lies, has deep-running contacts in the police force and has demonstrated his hatred for Muslims and Communists.
He could do for Kerala BJP what Amit Shah did for the party in Gujarat. As someone who has not only headed the state’s police force, Senkumar’s cozying up to the BJP in Kerala could be a huge boost for the party, which has exhausted every other trick in the book.
This also opens up another danger; Senkumar had also headed the state’s intelligence wing for a significant period. The Sangh might expect him to share crucial information, which in their hands would become tools for engineering communal divisions and spreading hatred. If this happens, it could spell doom for Kerala’s climate of peace and harmony, which translates to votes and political future of the BJP.
[Shaj Hameedis a Dubai based writer. He can be contacted at shajhameed@gmail.com.]