Thiruvananthapuram: In a rare instance, a Malayali woman has become a Mayor in England. She is Pothencode native, Manju Shahul Hameed, who took the oath as Labour party’s Mayor of Croydon. She has been a councillor since 2006 and contested from the Broad Green ward in Croydon, which was hit by riots in 2011. She wrested the borough from the Conservatives after a period of eight years.
It was marriage to Rafi Shahul Hameed who works with the London Transport that took Manju to London in 1996. After graduating from Chempazhanthy S. N. College, she pursued masters in scientific and engineering software in Greenwich University in London. She was also active in student politics at the university. Manju’s father, M. Jalaludin, had retired as a CID official with the Special Branch, while her mother, Raihanath, is no more. Manju’s priority as Croydon Mayor is to bring the diverse communities there under one banner promoting their rich culture.
“Today’s function is known as the mayoral making and a detailed investiture ceremony is also on the anvil. My priority is to raise the profile of Croydon which has a huge population of Malayalis,” Manju told DC over phone from London. Another Malayali who reached the top echelons of Labour party is Omana Gangadharan, who was the civic ambassador in the Newham borough of London.
