By Haritha John / The News Minute
The developmental woes of Kasaragod in Kerala are quite well known but its dark underbelly of religious divide, especially in its northern part which borders the volatile Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, becomes newsworthy only when there is a violent flare-up. For an outsider, Kasaragod is still a sleepy place with many myths and syncretic folklores but beneath the veneer of rustic charm lurks a seething mistrust fed by insecurities, that dates back to the Babri Masjid demolition of 1992.
Incidents of moral policing, when a group suspects that a boy and a girl found together are from different communities, are a common occurrence here. Two motorbikes grazing against each other on a busy road, a stone thrown at a house by a drunkard or someone peeing in public, all can attain a communal colour within no time leading to scuffles, murders and even riots. Such incidents are unnerving as they have acted as triggers for violent backlashes in the past leading to loss of life.
While the politics and social dynamics of southern Kasaragod reflects the secular fabric of rest of Kerala, the Hindu-Muslim divide is explicit in several parts of northern Kaasaragod including the Kasaragod town, where residential segregation on religious lines and organised attempts for economic exclusion are visible to anyone who has stayed long enough.
This division gets reflected in the electoral politics, especially in local body polls, and is the reason why wins over the years have become predictable. For instance, it is common knowledge that the Thalangara ward in Kasaragod municipality will only elect a candidate from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Karanthakkad or Korakode wards are destined to have Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors.
“People here seem to think, speak and act only in terms of religion. After Poinachi, the entire part of north Kasaragod that extends to Talapady you will find a political climate that is totally different from other parts of Kerala. There are entire residential areas where only Hindus or Muslims reside,” says Muhammed Khader, 75, a resident speaking about religious segregation in Kasaragod town. In the 2020 local body polls in Karanthakkad, IUML did not even contest against the BJP, as they knew it would be an absolute win for the latter. Similarly, in Chalukunnu ward of the Kasaragod Municipality BJP did not field a candidate as it’s an IUML area.
The same story repeats in locales spanning from Chandragiri to Talapady and in towns like Kumbla, Uppala, Manjeshwar, Cherkala, Badiyadukka and Perala. While Hindus are in a majority in Karanthakkad and Kudlu in Kasaragod municipality, Muslims dominate places like Thalangara and Thayalangadi. In Manjeswar block panchayat, Hindus are the majority in Permude, Enmake and Kadambar while Uppala and Bandiyod are known as Muslim areas.
This story was originally published in thenewsminute.com . Read the full story here