GONE WITH THE WIND

In the media celebrations following the senile death of Panakkad Shihab Ali Tahngal, the public were bombarded with the word Secularism. Television channels and newspapers were vying with each other in eulogizing the deceased as the Knight of Secularism, who almost single-handedly prevented his co-religionists from jumping into the nascent bandwagon of extremism. The enticement offered by men (who had stormed out the outfit with a few followers in tow, grunted disdainfully, spat out venom and argued truculently) with thicker beards and luring voices, he knew, would lead the lambs to the wrong path of terrorism. People looked eager to buy the new philosophy hand over fist. For Thangal it was nothing short of a disease that snatched thousands in a blink. The thought of lurking dangers threw him into a tailspin. More than anyone he knew the new adversaries would derive satisfaction from rubbing on his failure to uphold their religion—specially endorsed by god as the latest, best, most scientific and comprehensive. He found himself in a tight spot with no wriggle room at all. It was obvious that the people had not been taken to his position of clinging to power with a party which had silently let the mosque fall into pieces. To be fair, he was very much in two minds whether to sulk and quit. But he also knew with nothing to wet their beaks around the number of grumpy deserters would only escalate. To ward off unfortunate events, he would keep wide awake to the urgency of the situation. With the rank and file bitterly disappointed and wildly distraught, it was natural events were gathering mass and momentum like a huge snowball rolling down a steep slope. He met followers to brainstorm, to knock the manners of governance into them. He knew he was going to walk on a tightrope over a very deep precipice. He admitted their feelings and even empathized with them. He understood their having gone haywire and floated out proposals to bring back normalcy. Freeze your anger now and slide it aside, he exhorted in a mellowed and velvety voice. The leader made sure the youngsters would chicken out before trekking the arduous road of firebrand identity politics.
And eventually he did win in keeping the party in one piece as a communal outfit, pulling it back from becoming a terrorist gang. His secular message “Please allow us remain secular communalists or we will turn secular terrorists” was well taken heed of by the secular leaders of the secular parties in the secular Kerala.
(The Muslim League is the only honest political party in Kerala. They have never tried to hide their colors by cosmetic labels like Bharatiya, Janata, Kerala, Congress, Socialist, Revolutionary, Indian, National, Democratic, etc.)