Thread by @mknid

Modern Malayalam movies wouldn't have been made without the suffering of coastal towns like #Beemapally in Trivandrum, which partly inspired #FahadFasil-Mahesh Narayanan's #Malik. It was also where modern Kerala had its worst bloodletting. It is quite a story.
Thread

Let's begin with Beema Beevi, believed to have magical powers to heal the sick& related to Prophet Mohammed's family. Her son Maheen Mohammed converted lower caste Hindus to Islam. A Hindu king killed him in a bloody battle. Unable to work through her sorrow, she died soon.
2/n

Her followers immortalized her by giving her name to the town and building Beemapally Dargah Shareef—an architectural marvel, an imp pilgrim center, and also a big tourist attraction in Trivandrum. The annual Uroos there is celebrated to commemorate her death anniversary.
3/n

Cal Beevi's curse if you want— as it went, the town she built fell into poverty and violence. Muslim-dominated Malabar improved its standing. But Muslims here, like other coastal folks, were going poorer and poorer every year. Poverty, illiteracy, crime, they endured much.
4/n

Imagine houses without even single-lane roads to reach, lined w/o streetlights. Insecure and poor and left to the mercy of the sea. If you somehow make progress, remember, you are one high tide away from it all crashing down, if the waves didn't miss you and your family.
5/n

Fisherfolks live in over 40 electoral pockets, more than half of what you need (71) to form a govt in Kerala. Yet, they haven't consolidated enough over political lines to take control of their destiny. This should tell you about the fractious politicians lording over them.
6/n

In the absence of the state apparatus, these coastal belts always relied heavily on two other power centers that resonate strongly— religion and crime. One is crucial for their spiritual liberation, the other for their economy. Both are identified by their virtue and power.
7/n

Muslim clerics rule everything in Beemapally, and Latin Catholic Church does the same in Cheriyathura, a stone's throw away. There were bonds and borders between the two groups. But the turn of the millennium saw economic& societal changes, and the emergence of a rogue state.
8/n

We are talking about the post-Babri, post-liberalization period. People who were continually surviving the worst ceased to be controlled by fear. The Gulf boom swayed over the Muslim population. Beemapally slowly became a huge black market for pirated goods.
9/n

At the start, it was the fragrance of the imported scent, so alive for people who are teased about smelling like fish. Then came household goodies and electronic gadgets, all either smuggled through the sea or the airport, evading customs/coast guard.
10/n

Trivandrum airport flourished much before the Kochi& Calicut ones. Finally, a lot of things came roaring, like a giant wave, including perhaps the most powerful among all, foreign cinema. From Jackie Chan to Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso), Beemapally had you covered.
11/n

These CDs&DVDs were a huge hit in Kerala, exploding a new visual culture. Mahesh must have been so blessed; he lived in nearby Kovalam.

Rmbr Tanzeen? The 17-yr old worked in 'CD World' in Beemapally, made news for his movie knowledge, and was jobbed at the film academy.
12/n

In 2004, Tsunami set the lives of many upside-down, except the rich. Some say the ways and morals of the new-wealthy Muslims were seen as inferior by Christians. Polarisation is chartless, and treacherous, as the sea. And the state absurdly pretended that nothing changed.
13/n

And in 2009, the place changed forever. Answer to what happened will depend on who you ask. A widely believed story goes that on 8 May, a Muslim shop owner punched Kombu Shibu, a rowdy from Cheriyathura, in the face bcoz he didn't want to give hafta. Shibu& pals retaliated.
14/n

At night, properties belonging to Beemapally Muslims were torched. An agitated crowd cooled off on an assurance by the police that Shibu will be arrested. Well, they didn't.

The Beemapally belt waited for a week until 16 May. And then they struck back.
15/n

A gang war broke out and both groups clashed on 16 May. CM VS Achuthanandan and HM Kodiyeri were in Delhi, with bigger worries: the counting of Lok Sabha election results was undergoing. In Trivandrum, the CPM was defeated badly by a then political upstart: Shashi Tharoor.
16/n

By night, things calmed down on the coast. But on 17 May, when a young boy was trying to get a ball on the beach in the middle of a cricket match, he ran into a battle. The police opened fire at the public, who according to the locals, were protesting peacefully.
17/n

Six people were killed on the spot. Four others died due to sustained bullet injuries. One died of a heart attack. Another died due to the blunt force injury on the head. All Muslims. Dozens of others live even today carrying fragmented bullet parts, fired by the police.
18/n

It was the most violent and deadly police firing in Kerala. Kodiyeri cut short the Politburo meeting in Delhi and flew back. They announced a judicial probe later, but its report wasn't made public. Asianet News leaked parts of it once& blamed the police. Cases went nowhere

19/n

Haven't watched #MalikOnPrime yet; dunno how much of this is covered in it. Fiction doesn't have to worry too much abt journalistic accuracy, anyway.

But, it's the wheel coming full circle— a movie based on the people who carried the cross to deliver us great movies!

20/n