“A picture is worth a thousand words,” says a popular adage, establishing the theory that visuals convey better than a story in written words. Hence, a video from the entrance of an educational institution in Kerala going viral on social media may be an example that will help illustrate the clout of the Campus Front of India (CFI), one of the recent entrants into the political arena.The CFI activists in the video dare the belligerent rivals “to touch their flags”. The other group, belonging to a prominent political ideology in the state, replies in an apologetic tone that “we have not touched your flags”. It may sound like a scene from a National Geographic documentary where a single beast can be seen defying a herd of enemies, merely with its countenance and posture. Here comes the question on how the CFI, which is in the news for various incidents from campuses across the South including the swirling hijab row, managed to grab the sentiments of the Muslim community as well as the public in a short time, with fewer cadres in its fold.The beginningStarting in Kerala in 2004, the CFI turned into a national organisation in five years. “Apart from Kerala, we have structured state committees in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Bihar. In other states including Assam and Delhi, we have a presence and activities are regular,” says Muhammed Shan, CFI’s Kerala state vice president.The outfit is earning instantaneous endorsement across central universities, minority institutions and many campuses, especially in south India, with Muslim students as its face. A survey of students across universities in south India and Delhi shows it is growing as a cadre-based mobiliser of Muslim students.According to the CFI, its Muslim face is not deliberate. “It may be because the CFI attracts the most marginalised, where Muslim and Dalit students belong,” says Shan.‘Not linked to PFI’Contrary to the popular perception of its link with the Popular Front of India (PFI) commencing with the resemblance in names, Shan states that CFI is an independent organisation.Launched in 2006 through a consolidation of hardline Islamic organisations, such as the National Development Front, the Karnataka Forum for Dignity and the Manitha Neethi Pasarai of Tamil Nadu, PFI, later brought organisations such as Community Social and Educational Society of Rajasthan, Goa’s Citizen’s Forum, Nagarik Adhikar Suraksha Samiti of West Bengal, Manipur’s Lilong Social Forum and Association of Social Justice of Andhra Pradesh into its fold.“CFI is an independent students’ organisation. We don’t have an affiliation with any political party or any organisation. It works on the ideological basis to create students with socialist, moralist and justice to and resist Sangh Parivar ideology. The higher body is a national committee and state committee followed by district committees and area committees. The last in the pyramid is the unit committee,” says Shan.Even as it’s been gaining popularity in the student fold, CFI has also earned notoriety and been linked with PFI, for what federal agencies call instigating communal hatred and anti-national activities.Under watchBoth organisations had come under the radar of intelligence agencies, especially from 2012. The trigger was the exodus of northeastern students who fled home from cities such as Bengaluru, Pune following online rumours of retaliation against them after an attack on Muslims in Assam. However, both PFI and CFI had denied any misconduct on their part in this incident.The politically hyperactive entity respond to each and every event that concerns not only the Muslim community but also human rights. It often chooses issues that suit its political interests. It may be noted that CFI was at the forefront of the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and anti-NRC (National Register of Citizens) protests in Delhi and other cities and towns.CFI has the view that its members should come from the campus and any student can be a member. “We conduct career guidance programmes every year under the banner of CFI. We also organise programmes for students of plus two and SSLC to alleviate the fear of exams and, as a result, students get admission to many institutions. Naturally, they start bonding with the organisation for these motivations. We also provide motivation to students of professional colleges too. This will naturally lead them to be part of the units in CFI,” says Shan. According to him, the organisation does not guide its members to join any of the organisations once they leave campus.Numbers gameHow does CFI transcend the idea more effectively than other organisations, especially which are bigger in numbers and reach?“We are utilising the maximum strength of the cadres and moving in one direction without any other distractions. We are using social media effectively as the mainstream media is not giving proper coverage to CFI. We are spreading the fact to the public through the effective use of social media. This is more effective in Kerala as the society is a more educated society,” says Shan. He also acknowledges that it is the support to identity politics in Kerala that is offering a helping hand to CFI in gaining acceptance in the public sphere.However, investigative agencies, as well as rival organisations, are not ready to buy this claim.“They normally pick emotive issues. Then they create or weave a narrative on that issue irrespective of the fact or truth of it. Then they identify a targeted group. Their narrative will have many motifs that this group or section can easily identify or assimilate. Then they spread the narrative. They mainly use social media for this as it is quicker, cheaper and more effective. A large percentage of the group will respond to this spontaneously. Based on the emotional chord, the issue will lead to the rise of a crowd, which is leaderless. When the crowd is ready, those who plan it join it and ride on the popularity. Then guide them according to their plan. They repeat this in constant intervals at different locations, to create an aura of resentment. Soon this will result in a grievance-based radicalisation in large numbers,” says a highly placed officer who has more than two decades of experience in handling ultra groups across the country. He quotes the example of a hartal started by some “unknown” faces in WhatsApp in Kerala on April 16, 2018, to manipulate the anger and protest at the Kathua rape and murder, later known as “WhatsApp hartal”.According to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a reply to a question in the assembly, 385 criminal cases were registered against individuals for instigating the “WhatsApp hartal” aimed at creating a communal divide in the state. As many as 1,595 people were arrested in connection with the case.‘They want embers to burn’Incidentally, the other prominent organisations, with respect to the membership and influence in the community, consider the emotive actions by CFI detrimental to the cause of the community in a pluralistic society.“We all have an opinion on any topic, whether it is CAA or hijab. However, we are not taking it in an emotive manner in a similar line to the Sangh Parivar. We do not endorse their style of agitation,” says Dr AI Abdul Majeed Swalahi, a scholar and state president of the Ithihadu Subbanil Mujahideen (ISM), youth wing of Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM), an Islamic organisation founded in 1952 and part of the Islamist Reformist Mujahid Movement. He has been actively participating in the campaigns against the Islamic State across Kerala.“They, whether it’s SDPI (political arm of PFI) or Jamaat-e-Islami, don’t want to conclude an issue. They want the embers to burn. They have space and importance only when the topics are unsettled. In numbers, they are far behind many. They are prominent only in social media. They have a cadre team that ignites these issues through social media. This will create arguments and debates over there,” observes Swalahi.He argues that these issues should not be treated emotionally. These organisations want to create suspicion about all institutions of democracy, he says. “We are always telling our community and its members publicly that our country, India, is one with protection for Muslims. However, these elements scoff at it. Their agenda is 100 per cent political Islam. This is part of a global agenda from the Islamic Brotherhood. Wherever political Islam is active, there is no peace for Muslims there. You know who other than Hezbollah damaged a country like Lebanon? Hamas is the enemy of Palestinians. You know how peaceful is the UAE as a country in terms of religious freedom and tolerance. You can see what the Houthis are doing there,” says Swalahi. “We, as an organisation of Muslims, are telling the youth about this danger. If we don’t make constant resistance, the children may get swayed by their ideology.”Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Assembly Elections Live Updates here.
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