The south is usually free of communal violence. But the BJP VHP-RSS campaign on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue has resulted in the virus spreading southwards: the first victim was Karnataka, and then last fortnight.... Kerala. The bloodletting began with the murder of an innocent Maulvi, A.V. Ali, in Trichur district. He was hacked to death, allegedly by RSS men, retaliating against an attack on two of their activists by Muslim youth. Following this incident, peaceful Kerala went up in flames: by October 19, six persons killed, scores injured. and property worth lakhs burnt or looted in over three dozen clashes.

Worst hit wa Mattancherry, a business centre in Ernakulam district... Mobs went on the rampage for 11 hours, looting and then burning. The administration was clearly caught napping... despite prior warnings of tension....

....Hindu-Muslim tension had been mounting for some time now, particularly as the BJP state President K. Raman Pillai took out a rath yatra in Kerala modelled on L.K. Advani's controversial journey.

As in other parts of the country, the people of Kerala were paying the price for the Hindu fundamentalists... campaign.

Source: The India Today, 15 Nov., 1990