The last rites of Kanathila Jameela, the Koyilandy MLA who died on Saturday evening (November 29), will be performed at a mosque in Atholi in the district on Tuesday (December 2).
According to CPI(M) sources, the mortal remains are now kept at a private hospital in Kozhikode city where she was undergoing treatment. Family members are awaiting the return of her son, Ayree Kanathilo, who is in the United States. The body will be taken to the Kozhikode CPI(M) district committee office on Tuesday morning and later to the Koyilandy Town Hall and then to Thalakkulathur for people to pay their last respects. By evening, the body will be taken to her home in Thalakkulathur. The final rites will be performed at Atholi Kuniyilkkadavu Juma Masjid burial grounds, sources added.
The tributes are pouring in
Meanwhile, tributes have been pouring in for Ms Jameela from various walks of life. Residents of Thalakkulathur grama panchayat, where she served as president in 1995, remember how Ms. Jameela staged a sit-in at the water resources department office before Onam to get a drinking water connection for the tribal people’s settlement. From 2000 to 2005, she was the chairperson of the panchayat standing committee on social welfare. It was the time of decentralization of power and the People’s Plan campaign, when citizens first got the feeling that they could have a say in the development works in their locality. Through the ‘grama sabhas’ Ms. Jameela was able to establish regular and direct contact with the people and engage in their daily struggles. She then served as president of Chelannur block panchayat from 2005-10 and as president of Kozhikode district panchayat from 2010-15. Kidney patients and their family members are grateful to her for starting ‘Snehasparsham’ to provide financial support to them.
Although she was re-elected as the district panchayat president in 2020, Ms Jameela left her post after winning the Koyilandy parliamentary elections a year later. Her experience as an administrator in three-tier local bodies has helped Ms. Jameela to a great extent in her tenure as an MLA. Even though she had to be away from her constituency for medical treatment after she was diagnosed with cancer six months ago, Ms Jameela made it a point to interact with people regularly through the online mode.
Published – 30 Nov 2025 18:55 IST
