Jamaat officials pave way for Karamana-Kaliyikkavila highway expansion
The mosque at Pappanamcode
Thiruvananthapuram: After years of negotiations, the district administration is finally demolishing the Sayyad Ahmad Shaan Dargah (Thykapally) at Pappanamcode that stood in the way of Karamana-Kaliyikkavila highway development.
Though Saturday was fixed to avoid someone obtaining a stay order from the court, the government has taken the shrine's administration into confidence.
The officials of Karamana Jamaat had earlier said that the tomb of the saint buried here will stay even if the masjid was demolished. However, they took a U-turn on Friday and said there would be no obstruction at all.
“We are not against any development and the tomb can also be shifted backward. The adjacent masjid can be razed now as alternate space for worship has already been given on the premises of nearby Kerala State Road Transport Corporation works depot. We have already made a temporary shed and started praying there,” said Karamana Maheen.
The 150-year-old dargah had been a bottleneck as it takes more than a lane of the newly widened four lane highway. A rightwing organisation had created furore here claiming that the shrine was standing in the way of development.
As per the order by district collector Biju Prabhakar, the masjid will be razed to the ground by the evening. The dargah houses the tomb of Sufi Saint Badusha Oliyullah of Saudi Arabia who breathed his last here.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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