Reluctant to understand what and where it really happened, many ‘animal lovers’ including central government ministers, lashed out their intolerance towards Malappuram while they kept muted towards the incarceration of pregnant student activist Safoora Zargar.
Kerala always being unique in its ways to deal with crises has made another watermark which will be etched in the history of humanity. The recent crash landing at Calicut International Airport echoed the humanity of Keralites, especially people from Malappuram. Though the crash took the lives of 19, quick action of people in and around the place rescued the lives of hundreds. Restrictions within a containment zone, COVID fears and protocols, and the downpour at night couldn’t hold them back. Amid the widespread notion that it is the expatriates who spread the COVID around, people rushed into the crash site and took the victims in bare hands out to hospitals. Not waiting for the authority to take over the situation, they hurried into action and volunteered meticulously. The indomitable courage catalysed them. The air crash of Manglore has to be read along with this, when people tried to pick up what they wanted from the scattered luggage instead of giving a hand. People from nearby districts, Calicut and Kannur helped in hospitals with food and other arrangements. The rainy midnight witnessed a long queue of donators in front of the blood banks of hospitals. They were ready to stay awake till dawn to save lives. Kerala spent the night with wet eyes and praying lips. The morning brought a kind of relief and the media columns were filled with admirations for the selfless acts of people in Malappuram above and beyond the call of duty. Throwing the protocol away, police saluted the volunteers at their quarantine centres for their courage and kindness.
When Air India Express also took a bow to praise the humanity of the people in Kerala, some ear diaphragms were not permeable to the news, obscured by preferentialism. This selective approach or rejection is clearly a political agenda as Kerala, especially Malappuram is not within reach for the particular political theory. The benevolence in people of Malappuram adds its colour when India faces a high humanitarian crisis in the name of caste and creed, and when people are myopic to the sufferings of others or they remain culpably indifferent.
A myriad range of inhuman incidents occur in different parts of India but are buried under the veneer of politics. To mention one, the corpse of a Dalit woman was taken off from the pyre in UP, by the so-called upper-class without letting them perform the last rites, insensitive to the ceaseless plea of the family. Many COVID related inhuman incidents were reported. Victims who died of COVID-19 in Chennai and Nellore had to be buried in the middle of the night amid heavy police protection following an attack by a mob of angry locals who feared contagion from the mortal remains. A few unpleasant incidents happened in Kerala too. In Kottayam district, spreading false statements about COVID 19, a leader in the place provoked the common people and they protested against the cremation of the first COVID died person leading to a stalemate over the cremation. The funny part is that the leader belongs to the political party which seems to be unaware of the Karippur incident.
When Malappuram becomes the paragon of humanity, they seem to be unaware of it. The news didn’t spread like wildfire. Social media looked as if nothing happened.
This rescue action is not an odd instance for people of Kerala especially of Malappuram. They brave all the hurdles they face in front and find kindred spirits in all when such mishaps occur around. How Kerala survived flood is another example. The airport accident and rescue action happened just after two months of the recent elephant death incident in Palakkad district which drew massive criticism across the country bid to blame on Malappuram. The ill news of pregnant elephant death spread like fire and many from every nook and corner of India had taken it a chance to ‘roast’ the district. Those with vested interest spew language of hatred through social media platforms which were flooded with the same for a period. Reluctant to understand what and where it really happened, many ‘animal lovers’ including central government ministers, lashed out their intolerance towards Malappuram while they kept muted towards the incarceration of pregnant student activist Safoora Zargar. The incident was used as a hate campaign for political propaganda depicting the district as the most violent district in India. some celebrities were no different in their attitude towards the same. Media at the national level show their xenophobic propaganda when it comes about Malappuram generalising the entire district by very random incidents. When Malappuram becomes the paragon of humanity, they seem to be unaware of it. The news didn’t spread like wildfire. Social media looked as if nothing happened. Those who contemned the elephant death are disappointed with the rescue of hundreds as it was like a puff of air when they awaited with eagle’s eyes to derogate the district. It couldn’t help them add the communal colour. Yet the district is often pictured as the place of extremists, terrorist we may call it as. Yes, they are extremists. Extremists of humanity and love. There is no need to dig deep to blast the bombs of love.
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സൈനബാ നീ ആള് പുലിയാണല്ലോ . നന്നായിട്ടുണ്ട്