Popular Front may be behind attack on Kerala prof

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The attack on college professor T J Joseph in Muvattupuzha is suspected to have been carried out by members of the Popular Front.

Home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the attack appeared to be a “conspiracy to target the fundamental principles of our country,” and that the role of outfits like the Popular Front were being investigated.

Mr Joseph, who underwent a 15-hour emergency surgery to have his severed hand reattached is stable. It will take a few more days before the success of the operation can be gauged.

Reacting to the incident, Muslim writer Hameed Chennamangaloor said, “the circumstances are ideal for fanatics to convince their community members here that the problems their community faces in Iraq or Afghanistan are their own. The fact is that the problems of even Muslims in Kerala are quite different from their community members in northern states.”

Mr Chennamangaloor told ET that it was quite possible that the assailants in the Muvattupuzha incident were hired and not committed members of a religious group. “Some of these groups have more funds than even mainline political parties like Congress or CPM, and can hire any number of goons,” he said.

Adds Mr Chennamangaloor: “What we should have is more cultural integration between different religious groups. Unfortunately fanatics are highlighting non-existent issues, puffing up differences and causing cultural disintegration.”

Mr Joseph was on his way home, after Sunday Mass, with his mother and sister when he was pulled out of his car, pinned to the ground and his right hand hacked off with an axe by a car-borne gang. He had incorporated a question in his college’s internal Malayalam examination that was considered disrespectful to Islamic faith.