TJ Joseph is finally terminated from his college. You know this man. He was the one who raised unwanted controversy with his question paper in Newman College. The hell broke loose in Kerala after the question paper row erupted. I am not going to look into the correctness of this professor’s act. That is for you to decide. Personally, I don’t support him and his act.
This topic is about a different topic. The professor’s hand was chopped off by a set of hooligans in the name of a great religion. We might phrase it ‘eye for an eye’. I agree with you, but the subsequent developments in the political circles need a closer look. It shows how our politicians respond to certain situations and thus becoming political opportunists.
Sooner, Kerala is going to witness two political carnivals. The first is the local body elections, and the second and the more important one is assembly polls sometimes early next year. Of the two major coalitions in the state, it is the Congress-led UDF faced the dilemma due to ‘Joseph crisis’. For the other, the CPM-led LDF, it is a losing battle. They are well aware of the chances in the next polls. However, the amusing thing is the silence of UDF leaders, particularly, the Congress after the dismissal of TJ Joseph. They are literally caught between the devil and the sea. One side, they cannot displease the Muslim community by supporting Joseph openly. If they support Joseph, it would be seen them supporting his action. This would help their opponents weaning away Muslim votes in the state, particularly in Malabar region. Muslims have not spoken against Joseph actions as a community, but it doesn’t mean as individuals, Muslims are happy with alleged discredit of their Prophet. So, if the Congress support TJ Joseph, it would be seen supporting his action against their community’s feelings. I wonder what happened to the Kerala Congress factions. One must take note of their actions.
On the other hand, the Congress leaders can’t technically accept the dismissal of Joseph, because of the predominant Christian belt in the central Kerala. Like Muslims, the Christians as a whole haven’t supported his action. Neither they deplored him. However, individual perceptions may vary. If the Congress deplores him and regard the college authority’s action is correct, it would definitely antagonize individual Christians. In that case, that will not be a good omen for Congress and the confused set of Kerala Congress factions in central Kerala. (Already, another Joseph has complicated the matters.)
Adding salt to the Congress wounds, the LDF minister MA Baby has deplored the actions of the college authority. You know, even in a democratic country like ours, no one is going to vote and help a candidate win an election just because of his personal charisma and other qualifications. It is the permutations and combination of communal factors that decide the winnability of a candidate in India, and Kerala is not a exception.
I think now you see why Congress maintains a studied silence over this issue.
17 September 2010
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did you get a look at the question paper ?? What exactly did he put out ?
ReplyDeleteYou can open this link
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hindu.com/2010/07/06/stories/2010070657111100.htm
"The question paper, for an internal degree exam in March, contained a text taken from an article written by P T Kunjumuhammed, a director of several award-winning films and former CPI(M) legislator.
ReplyDeleteReferring to his film Garshom, Kunjumuhammed explained in the article that the thread for a scene in the movie, in which the protagonist speaks to God, was picked from his own experience about a madman who used to speak to God. While reproducing the conversation as a passage for punctuation, Joseph replaced the mad man with Muhammed, thus making it seem like a dialogue between God and Muhammed."