When the loudspeaker at Thattuparambu Juma Masjid in Paipra panchayat, near Muvattupuzha town, along the eastern suburbs of Ernakulam district announced the news of a death in the neighbourhood on June 13 midnight, it marked the beginning of a secular tradition breaking orthodox religious conventions.
The announcement of the death of 75-year-old Kuttappan, a Hindu, was the first such message to be relayed since the Jamaath committee decided to announce all deaths in its neighbourhood, irrespective of the religion of the deceased, through its public address system used otherwise for the muezzin’s call to prayer.
