The Jihad Committee, which has been regularly indulging in communal riots in the state, disintegrated when its leader, Palani Baba, was murdered. Thereafter the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munetra Kazagham (TMMK) was launched in 1995 by Hyder Ali, a SIMI activist and former associate of Palani Baba in the Jihad Committee, who left Al Umma after a tiff with its president Basha. He was joined by Jawahirullah, another SIMI activist.

When Al Umma was banned for the Coimbatore blasts in February 1998, it changed colour as “Manitha Neethi Pasrai” (MNP). Thus, neither the banning of SIMI and Al Umma, nor disintegration of the Jihad Committee, reduced Islamic fundamentalism in the state. In fact, it started growing in different avatars with the support of the Dravidian parties, which go to any extent for the sake of vote banks. At present, the state has as many as 24 extremist organisations including recent additions such as the Popular Front of India (PFI), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Tamil Nadu Tauheed Jamath and Indian Tauheed Jamath, etc. Their aggressiveness has increased manifold over the last two years, with the state government turning a blind eye in order to protect its vote banks.  

Recent Incidents

28 October 2011: A pipe bomb was planted en route BJP leader L.K.  Advani’s yatra between Thirumangalam and Srivilliputhur; investigation has been slow and tardy.

25 June 2012: State Intelligence and local police busted a training camp secretly conducted in Ramanathapuram; 30 youths from Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were detained but left off later. The name of the organization and the reasons for youths coming from far off places and the secret nature of the camp were kept secret by the police for reasons best known to them.

14-18 September 2012: Muslim outfits mobilized thousands of people including women and children and hit the arterial roads (Mount Road and Cathedral Road) close to the American Consulate, to protest against the movie ‘Innocence of Muslims’. The crowd indulged in violence and American Consulate was attacked; vehicles were stoned and police were not spared. The entire stretch of Mount Road was used for namaaz and the violent protests continued for four days. For the first time in the history of this country, the American Consulate remained closed for four days. The AIADMK government did not take any action against the marauders, but made a scapegoat in the Chennai Commissioner of Police and transferred him out.

23 October 2012: Dr. Aravind Reddy, secretary BJP Medical Wing was murdered in Vellore. Though initial arrests were made by police citing enmity due to real estate businesses, it has now come out that he was murdered by jihadis (Al Umma).

26 October 2012: BJP National Executive Committee member H. Raja attacked in Illayangudi.

6 November 2012: RSS Tiruppur district secretary Anandan severely assaulted in Mettupalayam, near Coimbatore.

19-22 December 2012: Tamil Nadu Touheed Jamath issued handbills in Triplicane area with irreverent comments on saint, Ramalinga Vallalar. Members of Hindu organisations lodged a complaint with Zambazar police and the police booked a case against the complainant under non-bailable sections, while the accused was booked under bailable section after a mob besieged the police station. A police officer justified this action by saying that if a Muslim is arrested they would mob the station in hundreds!

January 2013: Vishwaroopam, a Tamil movie produced by actor Kamal Hassan, faced the ire of Islamists. Though the movie talked only about Taliban terror, 24 Islamic outfits hit the streets and protested against the release of the film. In an act of appeasement, the government imposed a temporary ban. The Chief Minister conceded through a special press meet that she couldn’t provide security to all 524 cinema theatres and that the government would facilitate the negotiation between Kamal Hassan and the Islamic outfits. She made a special mention about “Tamil Nadu Tauheed Jamath”, saying that with 7.5 lakh members it is a pan-Indian organisation. Islamists welcomed her statement by pelting stones and throwing petrol bombs at some theatres in the state. No arrests were made, possibly under government orders.

19 March 2013: BJP functionary, Murugan, murdered in Paramakudi.

15 April 2013: Hindu Munnani functionary, Manjunath, grievously attacked in Coonoor; five TMMK cadres arrested.

17 April 2013: Hindu Munnani functionaries Hariharan, Venkatraj and Jayakumar attacked while pasting posters condemning the attack on Manjunath in Coonoor; 10 TMMK cadres arrested.

21 April 2013: Senior BJP leader M.R. Gandhi attacked in Nagercoil.

15 May 2013: The state government announced that Memorials for Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan would be constructed to commemorate their fight against the British.

May 2013: Seeman, president of Tamil separatist outfit, “Nam Thamizhar,” brought Kashmir separatist leader Yasin Malik to Chennai to deliver a special address during a public meeting in Cuddalore, in memory of LTTE’s defeat. He even approached the Chennai High Court and obtained permission for the event, and until then the state government was not even aware of the visit of Yasin Malik. Waking up at the eleventh hour, the state government banned the public meeting. But, the event was held inside a marriage hall and Yasin Malik and Seeman addressed the gathering and were allowed to leave. No case was registered against either, despite their anti-national ranting.

1 July 2013: Hindu Munnani state secretary, S. Vellaiyappan, hacked to death by terrorists in broad daylight in Vellore.

6 July 2013: Muslims assembled in thousands and went on a rally without permission to the Secretariat violating the ban order, demanding enhancement of reservation from 3.5% to 7.5%., exemption for Muslims from Tamilnadu Marriage Registration Act 2009 and release of Muslim prisoners who have served more than 10 years in jail. The city came to a standstill for a few hours and even though the police stalled their march and dispersed them, no legal action was taken against them.

19 July 2013: BJP state general secretary, auditor Ramesh, murdered in Salem.

After an uproar from Hindus across the state in the aftermath of several murders of Hindu activists and leaders, the AIADMK government was forced to speed up the investigation and finally the police apprehended Police Fakrudhin, Panna Ismail and Bilal Malik who were involved in many terror acts and murders. However, other activists who aided them have not been apprehended so far. Those absconding are also suspected for involvement in the bomb blast at the BJP office in Bengaluru.  

19 June 2014: Hindu Munnani president (North Chennai), Suresh, hacked to death by jihadis.

October 2014, at S.P. Pattinam in Ramanathapuram district, local sub-inspector Kalidas was attacked with a knife by an extremist named Saiyed. He fired in self-defence resulting in Saiyed’s death. But under pressure from Islamic organisations, the AIADMK government slapped a murder case on sub-inspector Kalidas and sanctioned a solatium of Rs 5 lakh to the extremist’s family.  

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When we analyse the Ambur violence in the backdrop of these incidents, we can clearly discern that extremists have been emboldened by the vote bank chasing and minority appeasing mentality and lackadaisical attitude of political parties. The have developed a mindset of showing numerical strength even for petty issues and indulging in huge protests to intimidate the police and government.

The state government (whether DMK or AIADMK) doesn’t give enough freedom to the police to crackdown on extremist elements. They give oral orders to police and pressurise them not to take any legal actions against Islamic fundamentalists. Even if some officers take or attempt to take legal actions against fundamentalist organisations and activists, they are either transferred or subjected to enquiry or arrested. As a result, the police force has become weak and spineless.

As a corollary, Muslim protests have acquired a new dimension over time. The Ambur violence shows how they have evolved, using teenagers to indulge in stone-pelting police and public property, a practice normally seen in Kashmir where the separatists involve teenagers in stone-pelting. Yet, for the first time in Tamil Nadu, such a strategy was employed in Ambur, along with blades, surgical blades, knifes and wooden logs. Surgical blades are normally used by jihadis in Kerala, but have now come to Tamil Nadu.

Employing jihadis from outside the area or the state to execute crimes (either violence or murder) is the latest strategy being adopted in Tamil Nadu. In Ambur too, jihadis from outside were deployed, a large many of them teenagers (youth not more than 17 years old). Thousands of members of various organisations were gathered through Facebook and Whatsapp messages. Sources say activists from other states and even foreign countries are seen across the state in various towns; they are mainly housed in mosques and jamaths.  It is imperative that the police investigate their identities and antecedents, especially why they have entered the state, and whether they carry valid travel permits and Visas.

Although it is almost a week since the Ambur violence occurred, barring the BJP, no other political party has had the courage to condemn the violence, only because it was perpetrated by one community!

Self-styled Dalit champions like Thirumavalavan and Krishnasami, who run the so-called Dalit parties and join hands with minorities to separate Dalits from the Hindu mainstream, have not had the guts to protest against the disappearance of Pavitra. They have not even cared to meet her husband, Palani.

Helpless Police Force

Some junior police personnel, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Tamil daily ‘Dinamalar’ (30 June 2015) that:

“On 27th night we were only 800 personnel on duty. But those [who] indulged in violence were not less than 6000 people. When Superintendent of Police Senthilkumari was attacked, we acted in defence and tried to stop it. The violent people pelted stones on us and attacked us with wooden logs. As we were less in number, we simply couldn’t do anything.  We were forced to run for life. Many police women wept and cried out while they were running for cover and security. The Muslims burnt down buses and other vehicles which came that way.  They attacked the bus passengers. We had to remain as mute spectators for two reasons.

Firstly, we were instructed not to ‘lathi charge’ the violent men as the RK Nagar by-election (where Ms Jayalalithaa was contesting) was going on, not to shoot down the perpetrators and to talk to them and pacify them. The higher authorities have told us, “You must take the blows but should not return them or retaliate”. So, we had to withdraw.

Secondly, we were very less in number. This must be the first instance in Tamil Nadu in which 54 police personnel have run away from the scene of violence after getting severely assaulted. We are ashamed of it. There was no mistake on our part; we had to abide by the orders of our superiors. After getting assaulted by the violent men, we had to take treatment at hospitals. Our superior officers came and met us at the hospital and consoled us. But they didn’t even enquire what happened and how we got hurt”.     

Investigation handed over to CBCID

The Crime Branch CID (CBCID) has taken over the investigation and has taken Inspector Martin Premraj into custody at an undisclosed place for interrogation. They have taken the investigation into four directions namely, Ambur violence, Pavitra’s abduction, interrogation of Pallikonda police and death of Shameel Ahmed.

Meanwhile TMMK branch secretary Sikkandar (32), TMMK town secretary Imran (26), Iqbal (34) of Reddi Thoppu, Muneer (24) of Gaspah and Thauhath (24) were arrested. With this the number of arrested persons has gone up to only 118. 

Union Home Ministry’s move

The Union Home Ministry has asked the Intelligence Bureau to investigate the violence. Sleuths from IB have met the injured police personnel recuperating at Vellore and Ambur government hospitals. They have gathered some vital information such as (i) the attack was pre-planned by a fundamentalist outfit (ii) they conducted 12 secret meetings in this connection which were funded by a few industrialists of Ambur and Vaniyambadi and (iii) the names of the important persons who instigated the activists to indulge in violence.

Chief Minister must act NOW!

When the state fails to protect the police and security forces doing their duty, the latter naturally refrain from taking action against fundamentalists and start fearing them. This does not augur well for the security of the state and the consequences can be disastrous.

During the ‘Vishwaroopam’ episode the Chief Minister admitted: “Tamil Nadu Touheed Jamath is a huge organisation with more than 7 lakh members; it must be taken into confidence and the issue must be negotiated with them, for it is also a pan-Indian organisation. The government cannot afford to provide security for 524 cinema theatres, as we do not have enough strength in the police force.”

Then, when the jihadis indulged in mayhem, killing half dozen people and maiming scores of Hindu activists and leaders, the then Director General of Police met the Chief Minister at her Kodanadu (Ooty) office-cum-residence and presumably as per her instructions came out with a detailed press statement. It said, “The Hindu activists were murdered due to money laundering, real estate issues and illicit relationships. This has got nothing to do with jihadis.”

Later in the assembly, the Chief Minister stated, “Most of the criminals are first time offenders. Hence it would not be possible to gather intelligence inputs about them. Crimes cannot be eradicated totally, but could only be controlled”.

The Chief Minister has till date not said a word about the unprecedented violence at Ambur. Is it not the duty of her government to clear the atmosphere of fear which has engulfed the state, especially since the formation of her government in 2011? The Chief Minister owes an explanation to the people about the increasing Islamist aggression, and also immediate and necessary action to restore peace and harmony.

(Concluded)