KANNUR: The body of IUML national president, Malappuram MP and former Union minister
E Ahamed, who died in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest, was buried at the Kannur City Juma Masjid khabaristan, near his ancestral home, with state honors on Thursday noon.
Thousands paid homage to the departed leader when the body was kept at his house ‘Sithara’ and later at the Kannur corporation ground and Dheenul Islam Sabha Higher Secondary School ground before the funeral. When the body was being taken from the corporation ground, where he was the municipal chairman in the 1980s, hundreds were still there in the queue to pay their last respects.
Literally, thousands of people from all walks of life, even from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Puducherry had thronged to have a glimpse of the departed leader.
Senior IUML leaders including national treasurer P K Kunhalikutty, general secretary K P A Majeed and national secretary Abdusamad Samadani were present right since morning. IUML state president Panakkad Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal led the final round of prayers at City Juma Masjid.
Minister for ports Ramachandran Kadannappally paid homage to Ahamed, representing the state government, while people’s representatives including MPs M I Shanavas, P K Sreemathy, MLAs K M Shaji, K C Joseph, Sunny Joseph, P K Abdu Rabb and Ebrahim Kunju were also present.
Leaders of almost all political parties, including AICC general secretary Mukhal Vasnik, KPCC president V M Sudheeran, former
BJP state presidents P K Krishnadas and C K Padmanabhan and
Kerala Congress
(M) chairman K M Mani, were also there to pay their last respects. Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar was also present.
Ahamed had collapsed in Parliament on Tuesday. He was immediately rushed to the hospital in a critical condition and put on ventilator support. However, he was declared dead in the early hours of Wednesday. His family members had complained that the hospital authorities did not allow then to visit him in hospital.
Born in Thana in Kannur town on April 29, 1938, as the son of O Abdul Khader Haji and E Nafeesa Beevi, Ahamed (79) came to active politics through the MSF. He was five times MLA and seven times MP and also he had served as Union minister twice.
A political strategist who tried to get a national identity to the Muslim community, he maintained a vision of his own in matters of religion and global issues. It is this vision that helped him successfully handle the crisis situations faced by Indian expat workers in Gulf countries on many occasions. He also represented India in the United Nations Security Council.
After the funeral, an all-party condolence meeting was also held. As a mark of respect, a dawn-to-dusk hartal was also observed in the district on Thursday.
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