THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Not many expected the poor, marginalised people at Elavupalam in Peringamala panchayat to put up a spirited fight against the Indian Medical Association’s proposed hospital waste treatment plant deep inside the forest. And behind their united stir, there exists a story of communal amity which the people here had been nurturing for decades.
A visitor to Elavupalam, located on the Thiruvananthapuram - Kulathupuzha Road, will get a picture of the communal amity right at the gateway to Thannimoodu. The arch, which has been erected jointly by the local mosque and the temple, projects the residents’ take on religion and faith.
“We don’t have any difference of opinion regarding our religious rituals. Hindus and Muslims take part in all festivals alike,” says Subaidha Beevi who runs a provision shop and snack bar near the Darul Islam Jamaath. Seven years have passed since the Hindus representing the Kallumala Tahmpuran Devi Temple and Muslims faithful of Darul Islam Jamaath jointly erected the arch.
Ask anyone here and you will get the reassuring answer that people here are not differentiated in the name of caste and religion. S Mohanan, BMS Peringamala panchayat committee treasurer and one of the functionaries of the Thampuran Devi temple said both Hindus and Muslims have been celebrating all the festivals together.
They might not be highly educated or great thinkers, but everyone have realised the very essence of the saying Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu.It is this unity which has made them culturally a close-knit society and gave them the strength to fight the aggressive attitude of IMA. The waste treatment plant was to come up on the riverbed of a tributary of Vamanapuram river inside the forest.