The 'Kerala Story' of Professor TJ Joseph, a victim of Radical Islamic Terrorism

The ordeal endured by Professor TJ Joseph serves as a tragic chapter at a time when there have been numerous debates on the topic 'Kerala Story'. However, this incident inflicted upon an ordinary human being in Kerala remains an undeniable reality. Despite the passage of 13 years, the recent verdict by the NIA court, which found six additional accused guilty of terror charges, has led to the resurfacing of a harrowing tale.

Professor TJ Joseph, who experienced this indescribable horror, firmly believes that justice for the 'victim' will never be served. He expressed the same in a heartfelt conversation with Republic Media Network.

"I am not a petty man seeking revenge on those who attacked and took everything away from me,” he says with a calm yet imposing voice. “The law of the land has been enforced. That is all there is to it,” Professor TJ Joseph underlined, insisting that he would express himself in his mother tongue Malayalam, the same language he was teaching as a professor.

“I just pity these accused. They are victims of an archaic law that they thought was divine. These people are mere instruments in the hands of those who conspired to attack me,” he pointed while lamenting that the real accused are scot-free.

When asked whether he is referring to leaders of the Popular Front of India, he nodded by saying that reports suggested their role in this. “The folks were just a rowdy gang who were sent to attack me. The leaders who sent them are all free and the accused are merely ‘instruments’ in their hands.

Welcoming the ban on PFI, Professor TJ Joseph elaborated that its ideology still exists in the hearts and minds of many. “These followers must come back to scientific thinking and be part of a modern progressive society,” he stated and went on to say there must be a cultural change to eliminate this sort of thinking.

Social condition of Kerala

Professor TJ Joseph emphasised the need to have social leaders and thinkers that work to bring sanity, honesty, and progressive thinking in society, and for this, there must be a large set of social and cultural reformers in the state. “Unfortunately, for Kerala, such a group does not exist and even if they do, they are not doing their job,” he said, criticising the social condition of Kerala.

When probed about what he thinks of Kerala whose politicians often boast of the state as a progressive secular society, without mincing any words against religion's influence on the state’s society, he stated, “Kerala is living in the times of 18th century Europe where reasons and logic took a beating and commands of religion became centerstage of a society's life.” “Man has been bonded by the influence of religious orthodoxy that is disabling men to think freely.”

Clarifying that he is not targeting any particular religion, Professor TJ Joseph stated that people are following religious leaders blindly. He recollected the time when churches in Kerala had dedicated libraries that had books of all streams of thoughts within the premises back when he was a child. “The churches sold all the books from the 1960s and libraries began to disappear from the 1960s from their premises,” he cited.

Speaking about the attack on him, he says it took him some time to fight out with himself as he believes some of the codes that were set in his system were so ingrained since childhood. He also expressed how the turmoil in his life over the last decade made him look at life from a different perspective and choose atheism and decided to break free from the ‘clutches of orthodoxy’.

When probed whether this is because of the trauma he had undergone, he said that he was a person who was limited to his family alone. “I was an ordinary person. Yet, this tragedy struck me. It made me think,” he said.

“The rest of my life is dedicated to getting rid of men’s hearts from the clutches of blind faith. I would do so in my little ways to create such a society,” he said, hinting that he won't be part of any ‘isms’ of the world.

The story of TJ JOSEPH

TJ Joseph, head of the Malayalam Department in Newman College, Thodupuzha, faced a brutal attack from the members of the Popular Front of India, the banned radical Islam outfit, on July 4, 2010.

On a rainy morning, while driving home with his mother and sister after attending a Sunday Mass in Muvattupuzha, Kerala, a Maruti Omni waylaid his car, hardly 100 metres from his home.

Six men emerged from the van, one of them wielding an axe. Another brandished a dagger and began attacking the car from all sides, trapping him inside. Despite pleading for his life, Prof Joseph was forcibly pulled out of his vehicle, his hand was chopped off with multiple strikes of the axe. He was subjected to relentless assault, resulting in severe injuries to his legs as well.

His son and wife rushed to the scene upon hearing the commotion and managed to save Joseph’s life, but the attackers detonated a crude bomb before fleeing. Neighbours took the 52-year-old teacher to the hospital while his severed hand was taken separately. In a gruelling 16-hour surgery performed by six doctors, his hand was reattached, and his wrist and arm were repaired after a strenuous effort.

The incident stemmed from a controversy surrounding a question Prof Joseph had included in an exam paper. The question involved a dialogue from a book, where he unintentionally used the name "Muhammed" for a character, unaware that it could be misconstrued as a reference to the Prophet Muhammad. Despite no objections from the students who took the test, tensions escalated outside the campus, leading to protests and his suspension from the college.

Prof Joseph went into hiding, but the assailants made repeated attempts to locate and harm him. His family kept weapons handy at their home for self-defence. Despite the police providing assurances of protection, the attackers nearly succeeded in their pursuit on multiple occasions. Finally, in July 2010, they orchestrated the vicious assault that left him severely wounded.

The police swiftly apprehended 31 individuals associated with the attack, all affiliated with the PFI, a controversial Muslim group. Thirteen men were convicted, with 10 receiving eight-year prison sentences in 2015.

The terror act took life to a downward spiral in Joseph’s life: he lost his job, underwent numerous operations to repair his injuries, and faced financial struggles. The death of his wife Salomi, who took her own life due to depression troubled him further.

The college management awfully didn't stand by him and suspended him. The aftermath of the suspension saw a wave of support for Prof Joseph from teachers, literary figures, and the general public.

However, the college administration, run by the Catholic community, took a vehement stand against him. They terminated his employment, sparking outrage throughout Kerala. Teachers rallied to raise funds for his medical treatment, while letters of sympathy poured in. Protests ensued, including a hunger strike staged outside the college.

The college management took nearly four years to reinstate the professor just three days before his retirement and three days after his wife took her own life. Unfortunately, the local Roman Catholic diocese maintained a critical stance, emphasising that the question had "blended blasphemy and religious insult", even when the courts cleared his name. The diocese claimed his reinstatement was due to humanitarian considerations rather than public pressure.

The reinstatement provided Prof Joseph with access to his salary arrears and retirement benefits

With his injured hands, Joseph wrote an autobiography 'A Thousand Cuts',  with brevity and resilience of his left hand. The book was also translated into English and sold over 30,000 copies. The book revealed not just his travails of being a victim of terror but how systematically the church isolated him and his devout Christian Family.

The church allegedly kept issuing various diktats within the community that led to people boycotting him. Now retired, he lives with his extended family, finding support in their presence.

The silver lining

“The pension kept me and my family alive,” the 65-year-old man said and added that he is content with his life. With both his children well settled - daughter and her spouse working as medical professionals abroad while the son and daughter-in-law are working in a share trading company and Railways respectively - Joseph moots to pen his next book.