Communal agenda or fitness fad? Exercise routine stirs controversy in Kerala

KOZHIKODE: The Sunni group led by A P Aboobacker Musaliyar has come out against the Multi-Exercise Combination (MEC 7), the workout plan that has become increasingly popular among all segments of people in Malabar.

Muhammdali Kinalur, district secretary of the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS), has raised serious apprehensions over MEC 7, saying that the intention behind the seemingly innocuous physical exercise appears to be mysterious.

MEC 7 is an exercise plan developed by P Salahudeen, an ex-paramilitary person from Thurakkal in Malappuram district, in 2012. From a modest beginning, MEC 7 has become the latest trend among the health-conscious people of all ages, especially in Malabar. Currently, there are over 1,000 units spread across north Kerala and the organisers are planning to introduce it in other states and even other countries.

It was the CPM Kozhikode district secretary P Mohanan who cast aspersions on the physical activity. Addressing a public meeting held as part of the area conference of CPM in Taliparamba last month, Mohanan alleged that the Jama’at-e-Islami is organising physical exercise in many areas with the support of the workers of the Popular Front of India (PFI). He alleged that the exercise is only a cover for the ‘extremist intervention’ of the organisation.

The allegation was later taken up by the Kanthapuram faction of Sunnis, though from a different angle. SYS state general secretary Abdul Hakkim Azhari said the exercise is “an affront on the modesty of women”.

“WhatsApp groups are formed in the name of exercise and women are dragged from their households,” he said.

Perode Abdurrahman Saqafi, another Sunni leader, said Jama’at-e-Islami has come out with a plan in the name of kalari and exercises “to destroy the Sunni ideals”.