Monday, July 24, 2023

Oommen Chandy [1943-2023]

 

Former Chief Minister of Kerala, Mr. Oommen Chandy, passed away on Tuesday, 18 July 2023. He was 79, and was ailing for some time. Born on 31 October 1943, Mr. Chandy was the 10th chief minister of Kerala, serving from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2016. He served also as the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011.

 

He represented Puthuppally constituency as a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the State Assembly from 1970 until his death in 2023, making him the longest-serving MLA of any state legislature in India. He received an award for public service from the United Nations in 2013. He was a member of the Congress Working Committee, the apex decision-making body of the Indian National Congress, at the time of his death.


As a political leader of Kerala, he served the people with much humility and sincerity of purpose all through his days in government as well as outside of it; Mr. Chandy leaves behind a rich legacy of public service;  an outpouring of love and grateful remembrance by common people across the State when his body was taken on its final journey to the burial place is emblematic of the numerous lives he touched throughout his life as a people’s leader. 


We in the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam- Kerala remember with fondness Mr. Oommen Chandy’s respectful and warm interaction with our beloved Imam Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius, during the latter’s India visit in December 2018. 

During that historic visit of Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius to India, Hazrat Saheb (aba) visited Kerala to meet with his disciples and followers in the State. While leaving from the Noor’ul Islam Masjid- Mathra (south Kerala) to meet with his dicisples in the north of Kerala, on the train journey of Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba); Mr. Chandy and his then colleagues, including the late P.T.Thomas MLA, and Mr. A.P. Abdullah Kutty [currently, chairman of the national Hajj Committee of India] met with Hazrat Saheb (aba) and they discussed the need for inter-religious harmony, and amity among the people, and global peace. 


During that interaction, Mr. Chandy recognized the wisdom of the message of harmony and amity among the people, brought by this global messenger of peace- Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) to all people, including for those of us in India.


May his soul rest in peace.