Kerala is known for its enchanting beauty: the swaying palms, the sky-kissing hills, the sun-bleached plains, the lush paddy fields, the placid lakes, the shimmering lagoons, all make it a veritable paradise on earth.

Kerala is not only touted as one of the finest tourist destinations in the world but also heralded for its political tranquility and communal harmony. At the United Nations, Kerala was often pointed out as a case study for 'model development' for the third world. Even the most vociferous critics of Kerala would agree to the fact that the state has achieved parity in Human Development Index (HDI) with developed countries, ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.

However,  Kerala today is at the crossroads as it is facing a critical election that may have long-term ramifications. For the first time, the alternate governance of the state between UDF and LDF is facing a serious challenge from the resurgent forces of communalism and intolerance championed by BJP. The tactics to advance their objectives are primarily based on false narratives meted out to the electorate through public pronouncements and social media.

Does Kerala need BJP as a savior to cure all its ills? I have recently read an article in which an NRI from U.S. is making such a case! There are many NRIs in U.S., while enjoying the benefits of a democratic and secular society for them, may want to deny the same opportunities to the minorities and Dalits in India. It is hypocrisy at its best as some of them support every liberal Democrat politician in U.S. while rooting for the most radical rightwing hardliners in India.

First, one needs to understand that BJP is a political wing of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) along with several other sister organizations such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal. Many of these offshoots are said to be active in the U.S. promoting their hateful ideology under the cover of promoting Hinduism.  

Let us take a look at the writings of M.S. Golwalker, the supreme leader of RSS who has laid out the principles for the organization to follow. In his book 'We or Our Nationhood Defined', he expressed his admiration as how Germany managed the Jews.

'...To keep up the purity of the nation and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of Semitic races - the Jews. National pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit by.'

Golwalker was vehemently opposed to the concept of a secular Indian State. He further wrote in the same book on his concept of Non-Hindu people in Hindustan.     'The non-Hindu people of Hindustan must either adopt Hindu culture and language, must learn and respect and hold in reverence the Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but of those of glorification of the Hindu race and culture ... In a word they must cease to be foreigners, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment-not even citizens' rights.'

In the past several years, Kerala has seen some of the highest growth rates with RSS outfits where Para-military training and boot camps for the young people have become the order of the day. I am told by several people with inside knowledge that the young minds are fed false propaganda and continually injected with communal poison primarily against Christians and Muslims. 

What would be the impact of such long time indoctrination of a target group? We need to remember that Kerala was spared of the post-partition upheaval and mayhem many States in the North have experienced. Keralites have had no first-hand experience of running away from their own burning homes with their lives and living in some kind of a temporary shelter made up of tents, subjecting their children to starvation and diseases.

I had the opportunity to visit few riot-stricken places in India the last several years. Along with a team consisting of NRIs, I have visited Gujarat after the Godhra incident and subsequent riots. I have witnessed burned out homes, talked to some of the brutalized and injured refugees living in camps and listened to one horror story after another about the charging of a violent mob and the killing spree that ensued. Most of the victims in the Gujarat riots were Muslims.

I have visited Orissa after the Khandamal riots where thousands of homes where Tribal Christians were living were burned down, scores were killed including priests who were serving the community in their hospitals and schools, nuns were raped and business establishments including stores were reduced to rubbles.

Two years ago, I also visited Muzaffarnagar, U.P. and witnessed first hand the suffering of the refugees from the communal riots that took place just before the Parliamentary election. The leaking tents housed around 5000 people in that camp. The children were getting sick from the cold and rain and many of them were dying as I was led to the nearby cemetery to see a long line of buried sites.

Why do these riots continue to happen? Why not every Indian citizen, regardless of caste, religion or region is accorded the same constitutional protection as regards life and property? Why the perpetrators of these heinous crimes mostly escape justice? These questions often go unanswered; however, if one would study the founding principles of RSS which pretty much control the BJP agenda from Nagpur and observe the line of thinking of the current leadership, may reach the conclusion that the party has profited much from the political polarization and division that has taken place. Muzaffarnagar is a case in point; they successfully divided and created enmity within the Jat community that resulted in a huge win in U.P. in the 2014 election.

There appear to be some eerie similarities to certain developments currently taking place in Kerala and what has happened before the riots in Gujarat. According to various reports, the rioters that took part in the atrocities mostly belonged to the backward castes. K.B. Hedgewar, the founder, formed the RSS primarily as an upper caste organization; however, it has been successful lately in wooing ST/SC/OBC leaders under the 'Hindutva' agenda. The recruitment of Vellappally Natesan to the NDA fold seems to echo the same trend that should evoke serious concern and ring alarm bell for the long-term Social and Political tranquility of the State.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi touted the success of  'Gujarat Model of Development' during the 2014 campaign for the Parliamentary election. For those who are keen observers of economic development know that Kerala is either number one or two in terms of United Nations' own Human Development Index. According to report on Global Hunger (2009), among the major 17 states in India, Gujarat ranks 13th with a Hunger Index of 23.3. The state has been declared as a -alarming state- along with MP, Jharkhand, and Bihar. It takes some audacity for someone from those states to lecture Keralites on Human Development!

Why then Kerala needs BJP? The party strategy is becoming increasingly clear; it wants to divide the people of India along religious lines and to communalize them for its narrow political objectives! Rahul Gandhi once said the following 'the core philosophy of the BJP has always had a strong communal and centralizing tendency. It is an ideology that seeks to perpetuate status quo which makes it impossible for the poor and the disadvantaged to rise above their stations through hard work. Under the current BJP leadership, this ideology has acquired a particularly virulent character. It has shed any semblance of respect for the democratic, secular and inclusive fabric of our nation. It is a politics of hubris, anger, and divisiveness. The actions of the current government at the center and [the] recent statements of senior leaders of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar clearly suggest that this is indeed the direction they are taking. Tolerance and mutual respect appear to have little place in their thought process'. 

There may be some who believe that BJP winning a couple of seats in a 140 member Assembly wouldn't have much of an impact. I beg to disagree. BJP manifesto in Kerala may not tell the whole story; however, scanning of the current national political landscape would give a glimpse of what would be in store if electorate in Kerala is to allow BJP to open an account in this upcoming election. The whole political dynamics in the state could drastically change and the legislative assembly may  soon be besieged by folks who will be busy fighting over hot-button issues such as doing away with existing civil codes, banning of cow slaughter and mandatory teaching of Sanskrit and Vedic history, all in coordination with the Center and  a powerful party apparatus. In other words, a culture war that is currently being waged by the Sangh Parivar across the country will be soon showing its ugly face in Kerala as well along with potential challenges to the religious freedom of the minorities.

It is regretful that many in the UDF leadership kept their silence all these years when BJP was sowing the seeds of divisions and creating conflicts elsewhere. It was incumbent on many of them to speak out in the face of violence and atrocities orchestrated by the Sangh Parivar organizations. However, they chose not to do so. Even now, there are some who are prepared to wheel and deal with these regressive forces for temporary gains. If that is true, history may prove that how short-sighted some of these leaders were about the long term damage their actions might have inflicted on the future well-being of Kerala.

This election is all about choices. It is extremely important for the Kerala voters to make the right choices. The question is whether the Non-resident Keralites would like to see the continuity of a peaceful   and pluralistic Kerala with an inclusive agenda or enable those regressive forces to take a foothold in the legislature and disrupt the status quo? We will wait for that answer on May 19th.

(Writer is a former Chief Technology Officer of the United Nations)