Kozhikode: For musician Shaji Kallai, drums are his means to express his emotions and obtain the best possible mileage to his protests. He has been in the forefront of many a protest in the city in the last few years, the latest being in support of the disgruntled ‘Thiyya’ community of north Kerala over the government’s attempts to put them within the ‘Ezhava’ bracket.
Mr. Shaji’s performance here on Wednesday was in support of the Thiyya Samudaya Samiti and the Thiyya Mahya Sabha to draw attention to the issue which they dub as an attempt to steal the community off its identity.
Samiti State secretary P.V. Naveendran said various orders issued after the formation of the Kerala State had included ‘Thiyyas’ in north Kerala as a subcaste of the ‘Ezhava’ community in south Kerala, while the two are quite apart in their cultures and customs. In fact, this categorisation has deprived the Thiyyas of the reservations in job and educational platforms that the Supreme Court had accorded them earlier.
The Thiyyas worship Bhagavathi, Kirathan, Gulikan and Muthappan, and hold rituals like Thira, Theyyam and Vellattam. They want to be identified as a separate community and not as a subcaste of Ezhavas.
Through the protest on Wednesday, the community organisations demand the 22 per cent community reservation in Malabar Medical College run by the Anjaneya Trust. The government should withdraw the order that members of the Thiyya community should enter their caste as ‘Ezhava’ in application forms for college admissions, Mr. Naveendran said.
The community also protests against Wikipedia for referring to the community as ‘Ezhava’.
Samiti president Purushotham P., and treasurer A.P. Lalchand were present at the protest.
