K Sethuraman

MALAPPURAM: As the debate over the controversial statement regrading the Muslim population in Kerala made by former police chief of the state, T P Senkuamr still continues, a senior IPS officer in state K Sethuraman who served as district police chief of Muslim majority Malappuram district for four years came up with the statement that the increase of Muslim population will make the state better place to live in.

In a note posted on his facebook page on Monday, Sethuraman said that if Muslim population increase in state it will reduce communalism and casteism.

"As police officers, we have travelled throughout the state and know people from every corner of the state. Everywhere I have come across only Hindu, Muslim, Nair, Ezhavan, Christian, Dalit etc. But in Malappuram, one can find paccha Malayali (a genuine Malayali). Any one is ready to help another. People are extremely law abiding, cordial and helpful", he says in FB post.

Reffering eminent personalities from Muslim community he hails actor Mammootty's roles on silver screens. We need more Basheer(lead role of the movie 'Mathilukal' which has won many awards). "One cannot think of any other actor than Mammooty in 'Vadakkan Veera Gatha', 'Amaram', 'Rajamanikyam', 'Pranchiyettan' etc.. Who is more progressive and liberal than M N Karassery in Kerala ? Sethuraman says about renowned writer. He says Muslims have among them the best of critics and rationalists in Kerala. Hamid Chennamangalloor seamlessly writes about Kerala society and polity. No one challenges fundamentalists better than E A Jabbar and Ayub Maulavi.

In Kerala, Muslims are part of state building, thanks to mainstream politics. It is encompassing and liberal. Any one can go to Panakkad, the ancestral home of Thangal family or Kunhalikkutty Sahib and feel at home. Learn from Minister K T Jaleel about best of Islam and get guided by his simplicity and commitment. Is there any non Muslim more secular than former minister Aryadan Mohammed ? I doubt. Young Muslim MLAs and politicians are highly promising. They are going to make not just Kerala, but India better, the facebook post says.

More Muslims means more Indians, more Malayalis, more investors and more consumers. Hence more development, the note continues. Yusuf Ali has done more than any bureaucrat or diplomat in bringing investment and development in Kerala. The number of Muslim investors are too long to mention here. Without remittances from Islamic countries, Kerala would have been a basket case, post says.

He says, it is a myth that Muslims tend to have high fertility. "The real problem is labelling (as Muslims). Even ordinary people don't want to be labelled. Cant we let the children and youth pursue and experiment with different perspectives?. Can't we let the children and youth free to live on my own without the externally imposed imagined identity?, he asks

The religious fringe elements have made life miserable for everyone. They can't look at children as children, mothers as mothers. They label them as Muslim children, Hindu children, Christian children, Nair children etc. No child is born religious. No prophet or God is bigger than child to the mother, it says.

