Jubilee hall inaugurated at Tali in Kozhikode amid protests

Local Self-Government Minister M.B. Rajesh inaugurated the renovated Independence Golden Jubilee Hall at Tali on Saturday amid strong protest by people led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Local Self-Government Minister M.B. Rajesh inaugurated the renovated Independence Golden Jubilee Hall at Tali on Saturday amid strong protest by people led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) district president V.K. Sajeevan.

Around a hundred people marched to the hall an hour before the inaugural function, protesting against the change in name of the hall and making it a memorial for freedom fighter Mohammed Abdur Rahiman.

The police created a barricade around 100 metres away from the hall and the protestors were unable to go beyond that. Six BJP councillors of the Kozhikode Corporation, T. Rinish, Navya Haridas, C.S. Sathyabhama, N. Sivaprasad, Anuradha Thayat and Ramya Santhosh, were arrested reportedly for staging a protest.

Mr. Rajesh, in his inaugural address, criticised those who protested against the renaming of the hall. “These are people who see only the name and not the human being behind it. These are people who have no idea about the history of Kozhikode and its rich heritage of communal harmony,” he said, urging the people of Kerala to stay united against attempts to sow seeds of communal thought in the State.

Terming the incident an attempt to sabotage history, he said memorials were being used for political gain everywhere outside Kerala. What happened at Tali was a test dose to check if the effort would succeed there as well, he added.

Pointing out recent changes in NCERT history textbooks, he said society should be vigilant against a group of people who knew nothing about the heritage of Kozhikode. “When the name of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of the country, has been removed from textbooks, an attempt to remove Mohammed Abdur Rahiman’s name from the hall is no surprise,” said the Minister.

Earlier, Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas inaugurated ‘Noushad Park’ in front of the hall, named after autorickshaw driver Noushad who died in an effort to save two people from a manhole at Tali. He said the Corporation would continue the Tali Heritage Project. Another heritage project was being introduced at Sreekanteshwara Temple (Puthiyambalam), he added.