“SHANGHAI ALIAS MALAPPURAM”

most cities in india dream of one day becoming “Shanghai” – the heart of chinese economic miracle. they all dream of a future where skyscrappers and expressways will replace slums and gutters. it’s not what we palakkad-an’s dream of , we just want to be the next malappuram the fast developing Shanghai to the north .

why is our district the most backward ?. is having a 70 hindu population the reason? or is it that we are supposed to be always the picture perfect valluvanadan villages for the mollywood? what ever the reason , we the people of the district are the only ones to be blamed.

yes i am envious of malappuram , envious of the pace at which they have rushed past the economic stagnation of the 80s , envious of the kind of leaders they elect and the say they have on the way the state is run. the infrastructure development is astonishing, almost all the major roads are rubberized and broad , they have some of the best hospitals in the state , shopping malls and hangouts are world class . you have MLA s fighting to better the achievements of their predecessors , ministers promising medical colleges , political parties fighting for the ‘right number’ of ministers. wow…

your neighbour to the south , us , we are proud of being the largest district( by area) , for being the hottest region and many other trivial stuff , and ya for being the most illiterate district and the one with the worst sslc results. our leaders don’t care and we care less, hence we elect anyone who runs on the “party ” ticket . green or white we will always vote red , hence we shornurites voted a lady whose track record as sreekrishnapuram MLA was shameful with huge majority . yes it is true that we don’t have the “vote bank” or the gulf ” black money” but at least we could elect someone capable , can’t we? . iam not a communist hater or a congressman , i still believe that the best MLA kerala has ever seen is mr v.sasikumar of perinthalmanna , but the cpm in our district always field weak candidates , congress is no exception but mr c.p mohammed of pattambi is a clear exception.

the infrastructure in the district is dismal , we are in dire need of a good hospital ,the two major railway stations urgently need a face lift . education sector needs critical attention , we cannot afford to be the worst in this knowledge era . protests wont work , actions needs to be taken , if not we will always remain the laughing stock of kerala.

MUSLIM MALBAR – PART 2

this may or may not be considered as a follow-up to the first article ” muslim malabar – history” . here i would like to focus on the present condition muslim women.

as i mentioned earlier the muslims of malabar were the most backward among the three major communities of the state at the time of independence,  the gulf boom in the 80s and 90s brought them to the forefront of the socio-economic life of the state. though at present the community is more dynamic than the hindus  still they lag behind the mainstream by a generation or two . this is most evident in malappuram which could be called the defacto capital of muslim malabar where the community is plagued  by  social evils like gender inequality and  child marriages  .

muslim women would be the worst of their sex with respect to any social indicators in this state , which is known for its achievements in this field . the oppression of women is so widespread in the community that it would be hard to find working muslim women brisking to work during the peak hours in any major towns of malappuram , this inferior status of women is so deep-seated in the muslim psyche that once while taking case history when i asked a man whether his wife worked he looked at me in contempt and never replied. many of my lady friends doing bds  considers ( rather forced to consider) this degree as a means to get a good husband and 80% of them would not practice it  after getting married . if this is the case with well-educated and comparatively free women the condition of the underbelly of the society is better not described . this attitude towards the social status of women will come as a shock to anyone from outside the community , which was the case with me .

child marriages are so common in the community that no one ,how rich or poor are immune from it . nearly all muslim women gets married before 23 and would be pregnant by the next year , they have no choice in postponing this as the appropriate marriage age for a muslim woman/ girl is set at  18 . nearly 10% of the muslim students in my batch were married by first year and another 20% either got engaged or got married by the next.

one perfect example for this is that of one of my closest friends who got married in the second year , the marriage was basically a love marriage with blessings of both the families   and the husband is an MBBS doctor  . the girl got pregnant the next year and took a years leave , we must remember the fact that this girl repeated the entrance exam  to get into the course in the first hand , she want to continue her study but her husband and the families are against it , as of now its unclear whether she would continue or not.

marriage is the most relevant and discussed topic in the college campuses of malappuram whether it be boys or girls their basic aim in life  is to fall in love / get married before they are old( over 21 years in case of girls) . being a minority in my college the majority expects me  to be like them , so one of my friends asked me when am i going to get married – at 20 marriage was the least of my concerns but i answered 28 or 30 ( as my dad got married at 29) , he was shocked to hear my answer. then came nearly half an hour of lecture about how a man is to get married when his organs are at the height of their activity ( which is supposed to be 24) and how i will end up with an old lady ( aged 24 or 25) if i married ” late” . i still remember his emphasis on “pleasure” and “virginity” .

this article was never intended to hurt the sentiments of the community , but was written from first hand knowledge by the author who is  trying to cope with a world which to him is “stranger than fiction”

NRI’S CAN VOTE

while addressing the  pravasi Bharatiya divas prime minister manmohan Singh hinted about allowing the non-residential indians to vote in the next general elections. this is a very ambitious plan which is certain to have its ripples felt in the political corridors of Kerala.

malayalis are known to be politically aware whether he be a residential or non residential.the first thing a malayali does is to glance through the day’s newspaper (which are nothing more than tabloids) , then discuss the days politics at work or street corners(whether employed/not) and in the evening fight with his wife and kids to watch some news channel.though he is unaware about things happening outside the state he would be a phd in state politics.

nris make up about 3.6% of the population of the state mainly men in their prime.though politically aware and active they could not vote as they were outside the state. if they are allowed to vote the election they will be a significant force who may decide the outcome like a swing vote bank. this will be more profound in the Malabar. in districts like kannur and kasargode .

demographically speaking muslims constitute the biggest chunk of the nrks from malabar, if they are allowed voting rights their vote is expected to  go the udf way. but the twist in this tale is the fact that irrespective of the religion a person returning from gulf will be having a right-wing mentality.my observation may be controversial but if you take a sample survey among the nris in the gulf majority of the hindus would be discontent due to the curtailment of their religious rights and the muslims , due to the interactions with the brethren from else where would have adopted the hijab way.so a hindu is more likely to swing towards the bjp and a muslim – away from the iuml.this muslim votes may go to pdp or other right wing parties . so bjp and pdp will have the final bargaining power.they may switch allegences.as bjp is not in a place to win in kerala its vote will be a deciding factor in districts like kannur,thrissur and palakkad. the pdp factor will be more visible in malappuram,kozhikode and kasargode which as of now will go to the cpm.

but we all know the politics of kerala. by the next LS elections congress will be in power, there must have been some scandal before the election and there will be a pro ldf wave that will bring the udf tally back to single digits. but if the regular cycle gets interrupted by any chance and the nris are allowed to vote the bjp and pdp factors must be king makers.

BJP HAPPY WITH KERALA RESULTS

bjp state president Mr p k krishnadas told yesterday that the party have made improvements in the vote percent in the  three assembly segments where the by elections  took place on November 7th.there was an increase of 1% in kannur to 5% of total votes ,in allapuzha an increase of 1% to 3% of total and in eranankulam to 7% from 5%.the party which have always been alleged of selling votes to ldf and udf is largely supported by the upper castes.

UDF SWEEPS BY-POLLS

UDF candidates have won all the three seats in the by poll conducted on November 7th.according to the latest reports the UDF candidates A.A shukur ,A.P Abdulakutty and Dominic presentation won the Alapuzha,Kannur and Eranakulam seats respectively.this is a serious blow to the ruling LDF coalition especially taking into account the high-octane election campaigning it did  .Kannur saw the fiercest of fights where the defeated candidate Mr E.P Jayarajan is a stalwart of the CPM.

the poor performance of LDFcan be attributed to various factors like anti incumbency,infighting in CPM,the corruption allegations against many CPM leaders and the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

bjp which have lost its hope of bagging any seats in the state came a distant third in all these seats

the results are more or less on expected lines as Kerala politics have become so predictable.the power always alters between the two fronts which are virtually undifferentiable from each other . people do not have a choice and this was mirrored in low percentage of votes polled in urban areas(kochi).the results are in line with expectations as an overwhelming majority  is predicted for udf in the coming elections.

the margins of victory in various constituencies are

KANNUR 12043

ALLAPUZHA 5701

ERANAKULAM 8630