Changanassery Municipality in the Kottayam district of Kerala has decided to sound a special siren in the evenings, indicating the end of Ramzan fasting. The Municipal Secretary issued an order and appointed two employees for this purpose. They will sound a distinct municipal siren every evening until the end of Ramzan month.
An order assigning government employees was issued last day. The siren will sound at 6.39 pm daily, and the practice will continue until 21.4.2023. Municipality employee Biju is responsible for communicating the siren. Health Supervisor Sonsunder has also been given supervisory duties.
Sonsundar should ensure that the siren sounds on time. The order also states that if the siren malfunctions, further action should be taken to find a solution in coordination with the municipal engineering department.
On the 23rd, Changanassery Puthurpally Muslim Jama’ath Committee Secretary M H M Haneefa gave a letter to the Municipality asking for special sirens to be sounded during the fasting period. The municipal council readily agreed. There are BJP councilors too in the Municipality.
A copy of the order issued by the Municipality is being widely circulated on social media. At the same time, there is a strong protest against the siren blaring incident. Sandhya Manoj is the Changanassery Municipal Chairperson, and Benny Joseph the Vice Chairman. Both are ‘Independent’ candidates, but Kerala Congress (M) and the Marxists rule the Municipality.
Hindus and Christians account for more than 45% each in Changanassery. As per the last census, the Muslim population is less than 7%. Some consider these alarm bells a sign of things to come all over Kerala. Others allege a total ‘Talibanization’ and demographic jihad in Kerala.
Kottayam is considered one of the last areas in Kerala without a sizable Muslim population. This is also why a massive influx of Muslims is flowing into the region. Such moves are suspected to be part of communist evil moves to appease a particular section at the expense of the majority. The Marxists never ruled these areas until recently.
Politically, things changed drastically after Kerala Congress (M) party’s faction led by founder leader K M Mani’s son and Rajya Sabha MP Jose K Mani was expelled from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in mid-2020. He was accused of not following an understanding to share a panchayat president post. Kerala Congress (M) was a vital constituent of the UDF for the last 38 years, except for a brief period in between.
Jose then joined the Communist-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). Many leaders and Jose’s electorate considered the move a betrayal to Mani, who was insulted by the communists while the Congress was in power.
Mani held the record of presenting the highest number of budgets (thirteen) in the Kerala Legislative Assembly as Finance Minister and the longest-serving member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. He faced several corruption charges, including the infamous ‘bar license bribery case’ until he died in 2019.
