By TCN News,
Kozhikode: A memorial for famous freedom fighter E Moidu Moulavi was inaugurated in Kozhikode yesterday by noted writer MT Vasudevan Nair. A national museum also has been arranged as part of the memorial.
Museums are essential to keep history from not drowning in ignorance, said MT Vasudevan Nair. The work of a museum will never be complete but rather will grow as new additions are brought to it always. The history of the freedom struggle is going away from the young kids. Many do not know about the freedom struggle or its leaders, he added.
M Rasheed, Moidu Maoulavi’s son and noted writer, expressed his joy at the opening of the museum in memory of his father. He prayed that the museum be a centre of knowledge about the freedom struggle.
The first freedom struggle museum in South India will be set up in the Moidu Moulavi memorial museum, said the MLA A Pradeep Kumar. An open stage will be built for public programmes. The memorial will be a centre for the freedom fighters to meet.
A Pradeep Kumar, MLA, presided over the function. Mayor AK Premajam, Collector Dr PB Saleem, former Mayor M Bhaskaran, Kerala Sahitya Academy secretary Purushan Kadalundi, Information and Public relations Department Deputy Director T Velayudhan, social activist A Vasu, Premnath and VT Murali spoke.
Several documents related to the freedom struggle and especially about Moidu Moulavi are exhibited in the museum. The photos exhibited are divided into four sections, the first two being from the time of the arrival of the Portuguese to the Kurichyar Revolt, the second related to the Indian national movement, its major incidents and leaders, and the fourth about the role of Malabar in the national movement. Newspaper cuttings of the important incidents of the freedom struggle are also among those historic relics exhibited.
The foundation stone for the memorial building was laid by the then Chief Minister AK Antony in 1996 near the Beach Hospital. When funds were lacking, the Moidu Moulave Memorial Committee arranged funds from different quarters to complete the work in 15 years. Funds from the Culture Ministry, MPs and MLAs, (Kozhikode) Corporation and the state government amounted to Rs 48 lakhs, according to reports.