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.