KOZHIKODE: Contrary to the popular perception that Malappuram was calm in the tumultuous days after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, the police have recorded that there was unrest in several areas in the district, resulting in seven murders.
The website of the Malappuram police says: “There were seven murder cases and many arson cases reported in Edakkara, Manjeri and Kondotty police station limits in 1992 after Babri Masjid was demolished.”
The information appeared in the section which describes the history of the Malappuram police. “Violence erupted in the coastal belts in police station limits of Parappanangadi, Tirur, Tanur and Ponnani and there has been lots of damage. Police were able to prevent further violence within several days (sic),” says the website. IUML has questioned the validity of the information on the website, which was last updated on May 18, 2022.
The popular narrative is that the intervention of political leadership, including that of the Panakkad family, prevented communal clashes in Malappuram. “It is a false claim that Malappuram was free from any violent incident during the post-Babri Masjid demolition days. Anger was teeming among a section of Muslim community, which resulted in violent upheavals in some places,” says activist A P Ahamed.
He says the IUML leadership by and large stood for peace, but things were not in its control in many places. “Shobha Paramba in Tirur witnessed some stone-pelting incident on a place of worship. But the timely intervention of the leaders from both the Muslim and Hindu community prevented an escalation,” Ahamed points out, adding that he is unaware of the seven murders.
“We know about one or two such incidents,” he says. He believes the IUML, which was in power in Kerala at the time, wanted peace for political reasons. “Those who were angry over the demolition of the masjid were against the League at the time,” Ahamed says.
However, IUML Malappuram district general secretary P Abdul Hameed rejects outright the information on the website. “No such incidents happened in Malappuram. The district was peaceful. If anything of that sort had happened, it would have been widely reported in the media,” he says.
He says members of the Panakkad family were actively involved in exhorting the people to remain calm. “We suspect the role of certain police officers in Malappuram in spreading such misinformation. Their aim is to degrade Malappuram,” Hameed says.
The information on post-Babri clashes appears in the section where important incidents from the district are detailed. The incidents include the Kunhali murder, language agitation, collectorate bomb blast, arson at Angadippuram temple, Pookkiparamba bus accident, Kadalundi train accident, among others.