When the Kerala government helped restore an iconic 19th century Thalassery mosque

Although the partition of the Indian subcontinent did not affect Kerala the way it did many states in the north, there were stories of displaced Muslims who regretted moving from Malabar to places like Karachi. While almost all of these people were ethnic Malayalis, members of other Muslim communities from the north also wound up their lives in Kerala and moved to Pakistan. In some cases this migration led to particular problems for those who stayed behind.

In its heyday as a trading hub, Thalassery (then known as Tellicherry) was a magnet for many trading communities from the north of the Vindhyas. Among them was the Memons, a mercantile Sunni Muslim community with origins in Gujarat and Sind. When the British left India and divided the country, some members of the small Memon community in Kerala decided to migrate to Pakistan. While this emigration seems like a small footnote in history, an ornate mosque built by a merchant named Mehman Seth in the 19th century, became an unlikely victim of the partition.

The house of worship was classified as an “evacuee property” as it was an asset left behind by a family that migrated to Pakistan. The mosque, which has shades of Rajasthani architecture and beautiful interiors with German lamps, fell into disrepair in the decade after the division of India, becoming an emotive issue in Thalassery where the loyalty of local Muslims to India was never suspect.

At that time the mosque was being managed by the district collector of Cannanore (now Kannur) who had the additional role of deputy custodian of evacuee properties.

In 1958 the local Muslim community appealed to Thalassery-born Badekkandy Pocker, who had been a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and was serving as the MP from Malappuram. Pocker, along with MLA CH Mohammed Koya wrote to Home Minister Govind Vallabh Pant to intervene in the matter.

“The Home Minister of India, while forwarding a letter received from Sri B. Pocker of Ernakulam regarding repairs to the above mosque has recommended to this government that the matter deserved consideration,” the Kerala government’s chief secretary wrote in a letter to the chief settlement commissioner at the ministry of rehabilitation in New Delhi in July 1958.

The secretary said the Kerala public works department estimated the cost of repairs to be Rs. 3,000. According to the prevailing rules, only two months rent could be spent to repair any evacuee property. “The monthly income of this property comes to Rs 128/- only,” the secretary wrote. “In view of the restriction, the Deputy Custodian is not competent to sanction the repairs costing Rs. 3,000/-.”

The mosque had almost Rs. 18,000 in its account, but since it was an evacuee property, the decision to allot funds for its repair rested in the hands of the ministry of rehabilitation. Raja Lal Gupta, under secretary from the ministry, wrote to the custodian of evacuee property in Kerala and Bombay to approve the sum of Rs 3,000 to repair the mosque.

“It is therefore requested that instructions may be conveyed to the Deputy Custodian, Cannanore, by Telegram in order to enable him to effect the repairs immediately,” Gupta wrote in a letter to the custodian.

The way this matter was handled by both the Kerala and Central governments just over a decade after the bitter and violent partition of India showed the inclusive path that the newly-independent country was taking. It was these kinds of decisions that promoted social cohesion in the country and also created an immense amount of goodwill for India in the Muslim world.

Successive post-independence governments in the country mostly had a compassionate approach towards such issues, but when it came to the issue of Malayalis who wanted to return to Kerala from Pakistan, a clear line was drawn. The Indian National Archives have several files of Malabaris requesting naturalisation in India. Their plight was depicted well in the 2007 film Paradesi, starring Mohanlal.

As we approach the 79th anniversary of Indian independence many scars of the violent vivisection of the subcontinent are yet to heal. However, if the wider region is to reach its immense economic potential, it is imperative to put the ills of the past behind us, while remembering the lessons of history.