KOZHIKODE: Malayalis cutting across political affiliations lashed out on social media at an article that appeared in a recent issue of RSS weekly Organiser that was notable as much for the writer's ignorance about Kerala as for the venom he spewed.

The article 'Kerala: God's own country or Godless country', which can be read on the Organiser website, identifies the author as Surendra Nathan, a Mumbai-based lawyer . The article begins as an "analysis" of food preference of Keralites and credits the popularity of beef in the state to a communist conspiracy mooted by none other than the late CPM patriarch EMS Namboothiripad.

According to the article, EMS apparently went around Dalit houses gorging on cow meat and soon hotels in the state "run by Christians and Muslims" started to serve beef.

The author's ingenuity however might not have had the effect he intended. "So it is the communists who introduced beef to Kerala? I was never their fan but if this is true, then they are great," posted Kiran Joy from Brisbane in a Facebook comment.

The article also states that Kerala "has the highest number of youths of opposite sex living together without marriage" and alleges that former additional solicitor general Indira Jaising "a militant feminist and Bharat's foremost communist ideologue" is responsible for the "widespread" live-in relationships in the state.

Nathan also goes on to say that Malappuram district is "a miniature of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" where one can find "cow slaughter houses at every nook and corner" and that late Muslim League leader C H Mohammed Koya was "a hard-core Muslim fundamentalist".

For CPM politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan this was no laughing matter. He said the RSS has challenged the history, culture and self-esteem of the state through this article. "For a long time the Sangh Parivar has been targeting Malappuram. It is suspected that they are planning a communal riot in the district," Vijayan said in a Facebook post.

