The importance of being KT Jaleel, the perennially controversial Muslim mascot of CPI(M) in Kerala

Political reactions

Though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has not yet responded to the latest controversy involving Jaleel, senior CPI(M) leaders MV Govindan and EP Jayarajan have already rubbished the remarks, saying that they are in conflict with the party’s Kashmir policy, which won admiration even from political rivals because of its secular, democratic, and inclusive vision.

KT Jaleel in Srinagar in Kashmir. (drkt.jaleel/Facebook)

However, party representatives are active both in television discussions and on social media to term the controversial remarks as minor aberrations and project Jaleel as a highly talented academic personality.

Though not even a primary member of the party, Jaleel is the Muslim mascot of the CPI(M) in Kerala.

For Vijayan, he is the Trojan horse still capable of making deep inroads for the Left parties in the Muslim-majority Malappuram district, the stronghold of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second-largest constituent of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala.

The IUML-Jaleel equation

On its part, the IUML is yet to forgive this former leader for wresting its then stronghold Kuttippuram in his maiden electoral battle in 1996, handing a humiliating defeat to IUML strongman PK Kunhalikkutty.

Though he changed constituencies within the Malappuram district in the next three Assembly elections, Jaleel managed victories with high margins and turned a main enemy of the IUML.

Though Jaleel’s Kashmir comments earned sharp reactions only from the BJP-RSS and Sangh Parivar elements on the first day, Saturday witnessed attempts by the IUML to make the battle broad-based by pushing Congress leaders into the field, seeking his removal from the post of legislator, besides police action.

IUML leaders have said no sensible Indian could make such statements on Kashmir, and anti-India forces would use them against the country on international platforms.

History of controversy

Even though he withdrew the controversial comments from social media, saying they were misinterpreted, Jaleel was not ready to tender an apology or express regret. After all, this is not the first time he has found himself embroiled in deep controversies.

Hardly two weeks have gone by since the revelations that Jaleel wrote a letter as Kerala’s higher education minister in June 2020 to the UAE authorities seeking a ban on the Gulf country edition of Malayalam daily Madhyamam. He called for the ban saying the newspaper published reports about Covid-19 deaths of expatriates in that country.

K T Jaleel with former Kerala industry minister and CPI(M) leader AC Moideen at the Dal Lake in Kashmir. (drkt.jaleel/Facebook)

But the real reason was that Madhyamam belonged to a trust run by the Muslim organisation Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposes the CPI(M) and its government in Kerala.

When the gold-smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh made this revelation, many experts pointed out that such a letter was improper and illegal, especially coming from a person holding a constitutional position.

When the controversy snowballed into a question mark on the CPI(M)’s proclaimed stands on the right to free expression and media freedom, the party said the letter was not in consultation with it. It also publicly denounced Jaleel.

Though the chief minister assured the Madhyamam editor that an explanation would be sought from Jaleel, no such attempt has been made so far.

The gold-smuggling scandal

In September last year, Jaleel invited party censure by demanding an Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid and other actions on Kunhalikkutty and his son, who allegedly deposited black money at the AR Nagar Cooperative Bank in Malappuram, where some irregularities were detected during auditing.

The demand arose when central agencies, including the ED, acted against the Pinarayi Vijayan government in the gold-smuggling scandal. Those under surveillance included Vijayan and Jaleel.

At that time, Vijayan snubbed Jaleel publicly for unnecessarily facilitating the interference of central agencies in the day-to-day affairs of the state’s cooperative sector.

Jaleel was one of the suspects in the gold-smuggling scandal, and the central agencies have not yet given him a clean chit.

A devout Muslim who swore by the holy Koran while taking oath as minister, he was accused of conspiring with a set of officials of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram to fraudulently import goods, including a consignment comprising 250 cartons of the sacred text, which weighed about 4.5 tonnes, into Kerala using the diplomatic route claiming duty exemption.

Swapna, the key accused in the gold-smuggling scandal and a former employee of the consulate, revealed that she maintained high-level connections in the government and frequently interacted with Jaleel, who was in charge of the Waqf Department and facilitated the transport of these materials from the UAE.

In the face of the investigation, Jaleel argued that accepting copies of the Koran from the UAE during the holy month of Ramzan was part of a “cultural and religious” custom.

The Jaleel-Vijayan chemistry

KT Jaleel and other Kerala MLAs in Kashmir. (drkt.jaleel/Facebook)

Detractors of Jaleel have accused him of being a member of the kitchen cabinet of Vijayan since his ouster from the IUML in 2005.

The following year, Jaleel won the aforementioned landslide victory against Kunjalikkutty and consolidated his position as the Muslim strongman of the CPI(M) in Malappuram without being a party member.

Before leaving the IUML, Jaleel was the general secretary of its youth wing. After growing close to the CPI(M), Jaleel supposedly won Vijayan’s admiration by helping evolve strategies to sideline veteran party leader VS Achuthanandan, the arch-enemy of the Vijayan faction in the party.

Political observers still remember the pre-election Kerala march conducted by then CPI(M) state secretary Vijayan in 2009.

Jaleel marched alongside Vijayan as the only non-party member of the core team, shoulder to shoulder with senior CPI(M) leaders.

When Vijayan became chief minister for the first time in 2016, Jaleel became the minister in charge of local self-governments.

Soon after, Jaleel faced the charge of directing the Kottayam-based Mahatma Gandhi University to “gift” marks to a student who scored less in the engineering examination. There were allegations that he misused his power by giving such an instruction. The university decided not to act on the directive after it courted controversy.

Two years later, he faced charges of nepotism after his relative KT Adeeb was posted as general manager in the Kerala State Minorities Development Corporation. Adeeb had to leave the post eventually.

In April 2021, Jaleel was forced to step down after the State Lokayukta made scathing observations on him for nepotism. After his resignation, Jaleel raised allegations against the Lokayukta, casting aspersions on his career as a judge.

K T jaleel and other Kerala MLAs in Kashmir. Photo: Jaleel’s FB page

A native of Tirur in Malappuram, Jaleel began his political career in association with the now-banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in the late 1980s.

Having established himself as a powerful orator and organiser of the SIMI, he severed ties with it to join the Muslim Students Federation, the IUML’s student wing.

Jaleel studied history at the PSMO College at Tirurangadi in Malappuram. He later worked as a lecturer in the same college.

Jaleel obtained a PhD from Kerala  University for a rereading of the role of freedom fighters Variamkunnath Kunhamed Haji and Ali Musliyar in what later came to be known as the Malabar Rebellion of 1921.

The research work later took a book form with a foreword by Vijayan. The book portrays the rebellion as a rural uprising in the context of anti-colonial strife.