How Indian Communists Are Fighting the Spread of Hindu Nationalism

In 2021, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and The Quint published articles reporting the ‘marriage of Engels and its attendees, Lenin, Marx, and Ho Chi Minh’ in Athirapilly, India. They were, in fact, Mayalis (natives of Kerala). It’s not uncommon for Malayis to name their children after their favourite communists, nor is it uncommon to see hammers and sickles graffitied onto the sides of buildings throughout the state. As Marxism shook up the political landscape overseas in the earlier half of the 20th century, Indians watched on and absorbed these values as their own, tweaking them often and liberally, most recognisably in the southern state of Kerala. Communism in India does not come without opposition. Many Hindu nationalists naturally see Kerala’s government as a threat to their right-wing agenda. Also, critics have argued that the government encouraging migration to the Persian Gulf so they can bring back money for their families, is hardly the most Marxist policy. However, to this, the CPI(M) (Communist Party of India–Marxist) would say such a contradiction is the cost of achieving religious freedom, electricity, education, and free healthcare in Kerala. It’s not perfect, but in the current day case of India, an alternative would be difficult to achieve. 

Enabling a Low-Caste Voter Base

Since partition, Muslim and Hindu relations have been strained with Indian Muslims marginalised throughout most states. However, Muslim support has ensured the CPI(M)’s longevity in Kerala, which became, in 1957, the first state in the world to democratically elect a communist government (Kaul and Kannangara, 2021). This is partially because Dalits (directly translating to ‘broken or scattered people’), the lowest caste members in India, tend to be Muslims. Ezhava people, who are also low caste people in Kerala, and the largest voter base in Kerala (26%), have also become drivers of Indian Marxism (Santhosh, 2022). With the CPI(M) encouraging political mobility through its investment in education, Kerala remains the only state in India that sends 100% of its population to primary school and has a literacy rate of over 94%. Religious tensions pervade all of India, and Kerala is hardly immune to this, but communism has, by and large, managed to ensure that Muslims are protected in the country’s southern regions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brazenly escalated domestic political tension, and reinvigorated partition-like anti-Muslim sentiment in order to ‘keep Hindustan, Hindu’. 

Referring to India as ‘Hindustan’ is controversial, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, argued that it was used to insinuate that India belongs to Hindus.  There have always been religious tension in India, though under Nahendra Modi, the situation is intensifying. It was only in 2020 that 53 people were shot, lacerated, or burned alive in Delhi during anti-Muslim motivated protests (Gettleman et al., 2020). In northern states such as Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, where the most notable recent Islamophic attacks have taken place, Modi conflates Hindu identity with Indian identity, thus demonising Indian Muslims as invaders and outsiders. As a result, outward displays of Muslim identity become opportunities to terrorise and isolate. However, more so in the south, Muslim identity is accepted and celebrated because Marxist influence rejects religious hierarchies and caste systems that tend to oppose Muslim Indians (Daum, 2022). Undeniably, the education of low castes, especially low-caste Muslims, has benefitted Marxist strongholds, especially as Hindu nationalism looms overhead. 

Gulf Money

The Kerala-Gulf diaspora is a questionable phenomenon. Mayalis often make their fortunes overseas in the Gulf states with the intention of returning home. There is a specific appeal for Muslims from Kerala who are drawn to the Gulf because of cultural and religious similarities (Jaffe and Doshi, 2017). In 2010, it was reported that more than 3.5 million Mayalis living in the Gulf sent back around $6.81 billion (USD) to Kerala (Govind, 2008). Selling out may not be a conventionally Marxist move, but Gulf oil has built Kerala’s roads and ensured every home has an indoor toilet and electricity which is an enormous feat considering that India is gripped by intense socio-economic divides. 

Conclusion

Communism in Kerala has an identity intrinsic to India, one that is religiously tolerant, one that must navigate strict caste identity, and one that battles the threat of Hindu right-wing nationalism. Indian politics have always been complicated and often contradictory, and Communist politics in Kerala is no different. Unlike most communist revolutions, there was no uprising that catalysed communism in Kerala. Instead, it simmered, starting as mere whispers during colonial rule as Indians sought to reverse the divisive structures imposed by the British. With Islamophobia venomously pulsating through the country, Communist religious tolerance in Kerala is more important now than ever.

Sources

Daum, P.  Kerala: a state of hope for India’s Muslims (Le Monde diplomatique: 2022).

Gettleman, J; Yasir, S; Raj, Suhasini; Kumar, H. How Delhi's Police Turned Against Muslims (The New York Times: 2020).

Govind, B. GCC residency cap may force lakhs to return (The Hindu: 2008).

Freedman, Stuart. https://www.stuartfreedman.com/media/b44e9e08-d01b-46d3-9e6e-59bf8e2f482f-india-kerala-a-man-watches-a-communist-rally.

Jaffe, G; Doshi, V. One of the few places where a communist can still dream. (The Washington Post: 2017).

Kaul, N., Kannangara, N. The Persistence of Political Power: A Communist ‘Party Village’ in Kerala and the Paradox of Egalitarian Hierarchies. (Springer: 2021).

Santhosh, R. The churn in Muslim politics in Kerala (2022) https://www.india-seminar.com/2022/758/758-08 R.SANTHOSH.htm.