Malappuram: Ever since Panakkad Hyder Ali heard the news of their death, all the way was to the hill. The flow, which reached many places uninterruptedly, continued till dawn. The body was brought to Malappuram town hall at 6.45 pm. By then, the city of Malappuram was busy. Police and volunteers worked hard to control the crowds who came to take a look at the beloved leader.
The pavilion in the town hall courtyard was swelled with traffic. Often out of control. The main gate collapsed. Every possible human system was in place, but it was not enough in the emotional atmosphere. The line of people waiting outside the town hall extended to East Kethala and Munduparambi to have a look at the front of the smoky attapu. Malappuram witnessed an overwhelming flood of people in the city at night.
Police barricaded all the roads leading to Manjeri Road, where the town hall stands, but the roaring crowd suffocated the city streets. There were many people on top of the buildings in the area until the body was taken away. Earlier it was decided to take him to Panakatte church from the town hall at 8.30 am on Monday and bury him at 9 am. However, due to the unusual crowd and the situation where the body might not be stored much, it was decided to take him to Pana forest in the middle of the night and bury him in the early morning.
At 12.10pm, as the ambulance pulled out of the courtyard of the town hall carrying the warm body of the beloved leader, all the streets were crowded and thousands were waiting. Sadiqali Shihab called out through a microphone that no one should come to Panakkad, but many of the fat people returned to Panakkad to meet their beloved leader. Many returned disappointed. Exhausted, they sat on the porch and buried each other. Police detained the passengers in Valiyangadi and Hajiyarpalli. The police closed all the roads to Panakkad but it did not stop the troops. Hundreds of people marched on Pana in the middle of the night.
When the body was brought to Panakkad for burial, a large crowd of people had flocked to see them for the last time. By the time we reached the nearest church from home for prayers and burial, the church grounds were crowded. The eyes of many were troubled. The suppressed sighs rose in the morning. The prayers at the church were led by his son Muinali and brother Sadiqali Thangal. Prayer mantras rose from the throats of thousands as their physical bodies, which were the comfort, shelter and gentle presence of thousands, descended into the darkness of the green mud-scented graves on the banks of the Kadalundipuzha at 2.20 am. The rivers and the stars in the sky witnessed it. It was getting dark and light at the Panakatte graveyard when those who followed their leader day and night parted ways.
