By Shafeeq Hudawi, Twocircles.net
Kozhikode: On Friday, in an unfortunate case which alarmed the Muslim leaders of the state, a newborn was denied breast milk by the father under the influence of a spiritual leader.
Aboobacker Siddique, a middle aged man hailing from Omassery in Kozhikode, along with 75-year-old preacher Hydrose Thangal Musthirivalappu was arrested by the police on Saturday following an order issued by district collector N Prasanth and Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights member Nazeer Chaliyam.
The superstitious father reportedly refused to let his wife breastfeed their newborn kid for more than 22 hours. The baby, born around 1.30pm on Wednesday, was not fed till 12.15pm the next day despite the intervention by hospital staff, police and other health officials. A video that spread in social media soon after the incident showed the father saying that the infant should be breastfed only “after five azan calls to prayers”.
According to activists, malpractices including sorcery and black magic have been practised in Kerala among Muslims like any other sect. In 2014, a woman was killed by a priest during sorcery in Kerala leading to widespread agitations and marches against black magicians. However, the current incident has come as a shock for Muslim leaders in Kerala, and they say they will raise awareness among believers against such misleading spiritual leaders.
Who is the controversial preacher?
Hydrose Thangal has been practising at Kalanthod near Mukkam in Kozhikode district. According to Ithihadu Shubbanil Mujahideen (ISM), the youth outfit of Kerala Nadwathul Mujahideen leader Nizar Olavanna, Hydrose is not the lone Muslim preacher, who exploits the belief of the common men.
“People belonging to all religions use to visit this preacher. That priests preach superstitions is an open secret. But, none dares to take on them fearing they will hurt communal sentiments,” Nizar says.
ISM, however, took a march to the house of Hydrose Thangal demanding action against spiritual trade centres that exploit common man.
According to Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF) state general secretary Sathar Panthalloor, backwardness in the region and lack of proper education have a role to play in such atrocious comments being made. Sathar, who condemned the deed citing Islam doesn’t allow such practices at any cost said “People drift towards this kind of centres while they succumb to weaknesses due to various personal problems. These centres take advantage of the misbelief of the common men.”
According to a local journalist who spoke to Twocircles.net on the condition of anonymity, Kalanthod is infamous for such preachers and their irregularities and has two other preachers, Kareem Musliyar and PKS Thangal, who work on similar lines. “People from various districts, mostly from Malappuram and Kasargod flock to the duo for treatment,” he said.
“Locals here don’t know where they came from. They are called Thangal referring to the relatives of Prophet. But, we don’t have much assumption on their hereditary and tradition and no one knows when this kind of healing started here,” the journalist added.
Local people here abstain from protesting against the spiritual leaders as a number of them benefit due to the presence of these local preachers.
“The spiritual centres are bringing profits to the locality, especially to the restaurants and stationaries. Private buses and taxis are also reaping from the business here as they take people from Kozhikode to here and back to the city from here,” he said.
People are drawn towards the centres through the oral campaigns that claim healing and guarantee results.
Meanwhile, Sathar alleged that these preachers were guarded by the fringe groups here despite opposition from the Muslim organisations.
SKSSF had carried a statewide campaign in order to raise awareness against fake healers in the state.
Sathar suggests social auditing as an effective way to resist the fake preachers. “Certain limits are there while it comes to enforcing law and taking police action. The malpractice and exploitation could be prevented only through raising awareness,” he said.
However, in the wake of the incident Muslim organisations in Kerala have decided to strengthen measures to raise awareness against the exploitation.
“The mosques and scholars should wake up to the crisis and they have to discharge their duties by making the community aware of the issue,” Nizar said.
The arrested were produced before the Thamarassery judicial first class magistrate court in Kozhikode district and were remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
Through a Facebook post on Friday, Siddique apologised for his deed saying, “no father would ever want to harm to his child.” Saying he had been misguided, he apologised for ignoring the importance of breast milk for newborn, and said that they had already given water and honey to the child.