Kerala | When the purdah falls in between
CM Satheesan, alliance partner IUML on opposite sides of a debate that puts a question of Sharia centrestage in Kerala
HEAVY HANDED: AP Kanthapuram Aboobacker Musliyar and (right) Onam celebrations in Kerala, Aug. 20
ISSUE DATE: Sep 21, 2026 | UPDATED: Sep 14, 2026 16:46 IST
It went around as a heartwarming reel: the old idyll of Onam recast for our times. Throngs of youth, rapt in ecstatic dance, scarf-clad Muslim girls visibly in the mix, as chenda drums kept them moving as one. It was August 26, and flowers, feasts and festoons were all around—three occasions coincided on that date. It was Thiruvonam, the big festival day. Also, Eid ul-Milad. And V.D. Satheesan was completing 100 days as chief minister. It was as if the calendar had conspired to capture Kerala’s social-political rainbow on one day.