Vishwas Varghese
Yet Another Kashmir In The Making?
If I were to ask you to name the one Indian state or territory in
which the majority of the population is Muslim, you would probably
reply "Kashmir". If so, you're wrong. There is another
region of India, which is hardly noticed and yet slowly, steadily
the population of this region has been engulfed by Islam to the
point where 93% of the citizens are Muslim.
I am talking about the emerald isles, where lush coconut palms,
sweep against a coastline of glimmering white sands, where
crystalline coral reefs in the clear water gleam through a prism
colored by the ranges of blue from topaz to aquamarine and from
turquoise to lapis lazuli. Cradled by the Indian Ocean to the west
of India, stand these majestic isles which are located in one of
the most strategic areas of Asia; the Lakshadweep Islands.
The fact that these islands have been part of India since ancient
times is apparent from the fact that the "Dweep" part of
Lakshadweep means simply "Island" in Sanskrit. Since
these islands are all part of the same coral bed, it's quite
plausible to say that at one time they were all segments of one
large island, parts of which got submerged under the ocean. The
present day islands are located in the Arabian Sea off the coast
of Kerala, some 200 to 300 km away. They consist of 36 coral
islands covering a land area of 32 sq. km. Of these only ten are
inhabited. In descending order by size, the names of the inhabited
islands are Minicoy, Andrott, Kavaratti, Kadmat, Agatti, Amini,
Kalpeni, Kiltan, Chetlat and Bitra. The primary centers are
Kavarrati, Minicoy, and Amini. The total population is about
52,000
A whopping 96% of the inhabitants of the Lakshadweep islands are
now Muslim, that's more than 93% in Kashmir. Their primary
occupation is fishing and copra production from coconuts and
lately also includes tourism. Ethnically the people of the islands
are none other than Keralites who speak Malyalee, except in
Minicoy where a local dialect called Mahl is spoken.
The popular myth which is brandished about the origins of
Lakshadweep is that the people there were savages until they were
"rescued" by Hazrat Ubaidullah who set off from Mecca
after Prophet Mohammed appeared to him in a dream, commanding him
to leave for distant shores to propagate Islam. In actuality
however the Islands were a part of Bharat since ancient times.
Archaeological remains of Buddhist temples that date back to a
period earlier than the origin of Islam itself, have been
uncovered on the island of Androth. The Islamic zealot Ubaidullah
was shipwrecked on the shores of the island of Amini, where the
Muslims were met with fierce opposition. After widespread
bloodshed and carnage, the women from the islands were raped and
kept as captives by the victorious Muslims. Since then Islamic
proselytizing by the power of the sword began to make its gradual
manifestation apparent until the present day. Despite the
Islamization of their islands, the inhabitants still retain some
of their caste rituals and traditions in the songs that they sing
about the Muslim invasion as well as the Portugese Invasion which
followed.
The strategic location of the islands makes them a perfect spot
for Islamic terrorists from the ISI, Afghanistan and the Arab
states to smuggle guns, drugs, explosives and animal products. In
addition, pearls are illegally harvested to finance the Jehads
which are staged in India, and other parts of the world. The local
politicians are involved completely in the subversion. Many of
them are well known to members of Congress and the Communist
regime of Kerala. Although no one is allowed to go to the
LakshaDweep islands without a permit from the Indian government,
anyone who is on a "cruise" has the full freedom to
visit the islands without impunity! Most of the crew members of
ships from Pakistan, Oman, UAE and Yemen use this as an excuse to
smuggle goods to and fro from the island. In addition since so
many of the islands are uninhabited, they serve as the perfect
secret rendezvous fro these kind of criminal activities. Apart
from a small patrol craft base in the islands, there is hardly any
Indian military presence in Lakshadweep.
The Union Territory of Lakshadweep has a single Lok Sabha seat.
Since they are so isolated , news about India's Independence
reached Minicoy, the southern most island, only after five years.
From 1957 to 1967, Lakshadweep only had a nominated Member of
Parliament to the Rajya Sabha. The late Nallakoya Thangal of
Androth Island represented Lakshadweep then.
The Lakshadweep Lok Sabha Constituency was constituted in 1967.
Since then, eight elections have been held including one without
any campaigning. In the first Lok Sabha Election, held in 1967,
five candidates contested for the seat. The seat was won by Sayeed
who was just 26 years old then. In 1971, the islands witnessed no
campaigning, as Sayeed was declared elected unopposed. Thereafter,
he has been winning elections from this constituency successively.
Sayeed had served as Minister of State in the Charan Singh and
Narasimha Rao's Governments. His contacts with the Congress are
what initiated him to the shady world of the ISI controlled
Islamic Mafia.
The Congress style politics also resulted in the classification of
Lakshadweep's inhabitants as "scheduled castes and
tribes". As a consequence many of them get free education,
financial assistance and government jobs on the mainland.
The Muslims of Lakshadweep are mainly Sunnis, apart from a
smattering of Wahabis and Ahamadiyyas who are not very popular
with the other population. There is a substratum of Sufism
underlying their faith and practice. The Sufi leaders, known as
Tangals, are extremely powerful and wealthy. This is primarily
because The Tangals of the Sufi orders are all believed to be
descendants of the Prophet and sought after for their miraculous
propensities in Muslim countries as far away as Malaysia and
Egypt. Their trips overseas are referred to as "Safar",
journeys to distant lands returning with overflowing wealth and
donations from Muslim organizations. The wealth of the islanders
is quite obvious from the heavily ornamented women who wear gold
on almost every visible limb.
The paradox of such immense wealth being present in an island
which has only coconuts and fish as its primary income can be
explained from the fact that the Muslims of Lakshadweep are
experts at acting as conduits for the ISI, the Islamic Mafia and
many other Islamic terrorist organizations around the world. Most
of them have inculcated their hatred of India from their
"study" trips abroad to Arab countries. In addition a
huge amount of drugs and arms are shipped from the islands to
nearby Oman, from where they are transferred to Afghanistan,
Pakistan, etc. The downstream traffic to the Indian mainland
includes arms and explosives which are used by the Islamic groups
in Kerala and transferred over to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, etc.
Property on the islands cannot be owned by non-islanders,
therefore, Islamic elements have maintained their stranglehold on
the economic and geographical resources of the region.
Considering the overwhelming strategic importance of the
Lakshadweep Islands, it is almost criminal to neglect them. A
massive combing of the islands and its citizens, beginning with
the politicians and ending with the Sufi mystics who go on "Safars"
only to come back laden with money for Islamic terrorism, needs to
be undertaken. Given the loyalties of the population, how are we
to know, if they may not decide to help the Pakistanis, were a war
to take place. The importance of their location can be gleaned
from the fact that they are the only pieces of land which lie in
the middle of the expanse of the Indian Ocean. Such a location
makes them perfect for refueling of planes and submarines.
For too long have the Lakshadweep Islands remained enveloped in a
fog of mystery and isolation. The government can do all it needs
to keep the delicate ecological balance of the isles protected,
but this does not mean that the security of India's shores should
be undermined. Unless we want a mini Kashmir threatening us from
the South, it is time that the Indian government took control of
the Lakshadweep Islands by enhancing the military presence there.
Otherwise it won't be too long before the Muslims of these Islands
start demanding a "separate state" from India.
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