AMN
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit India’s oldest mosque in Kerala. According to a report in Times of India Mr Modi will visit the centuries-old Cheraman Juma Masjid, when he visits Kerala in July or August.
The purpose of the visit will be to inaugurate the completion of the first phase of Muziris heritage project funded by Kerala tourism. “The prime minister agreed to visit Kerala to inaugurate the Muziris project. But the date has not been finalized,” tourism secretary G Kamala Vardhana Rao said.
The Cheraman Juma Masjid is said to have been built in 629 AD by Malik Bin Dinar, a contemporary of Cheraman Perumal, the ruler of Kodungalur and adjoining parts of Malabar, who subsequently converted to Islam.
Over centuries, the mosque developed a syncretic legacy, with many non-Muslims even holding the ‘vidyarambham’ ceremony to initiate children to the world of letters here by lighting a traditional lamp inside the masjid.
“If Modi visits the mosque, it will be a welcome move because the BJP’s usual propaganda has it that Muslims in India are the progeny of ‘invaders’,” said Dr Fasal Gafoor, president of Muslim Educational Society.