Does Kallimundu break Kerala Assembly rules: Human Rights Commission

Thiruvananthapuram: Anyone wearing Kallimundu (white dhoti with checks) may not get entry into the Kerala Assembly gallery. That is the experience of Kondotty Kunjimoyin from Malappuram who,  along with a group of 38 men, came to  watch the Assembly proceedings on November 8. According to a complaint  that Kunjimoyin  submitted to the   Kerala State Human Rights Commission, the members of his group were  asked to keep all their belonging except currency notes in the counter that day.  Kunjumoyin, who was wearing a Kallimundu,  was not barred entry either at the gate or the entrance of the Assembly building.

However, the officer who was guarding the entrance of the gallery stopped him though all his friends were allowed to proceed to the gallery.  Commission member K. Mohankumar  has  sought a clarification from legislative secretary V.K. Babu Prakash  whether there was any dress code for visitors in  the Assembly gallery. He sent  a notice to  Mr  Babu Prakash  asking him to clarify whether wearing Kallimundu  in the  Assembly gallery was against its rules.

Kunjimoyin  said that it was the custom in Malabar to wear  white shirt and  Kallimundu during auspicious occasions. He wanted the commission  to intervene  to  amend  the Assembly rules if the law of the legislature was against wearing Kallimundu.   Such a law  is against the lifestyle of the people of some communities of Malabar, he said.  The case would come up at the commission sitting  in Malappuram on January 11.