Keecheri is basicaly a place of people of lower strata. The term keecheri implies that it is a place of keezhalar that is it is a place of people economically and socially weak. It was so in olden days and it is so even today .There are many other places in Kannur district bearing the name Keecheri.. The place I am mentioning is the one in Pappinisseri Panchayat This is a place I am most attached with and associate with. . It is a small strip of land about five hundred square meter in area.This is an NH17 junction situated in Pappinisseri Panchayat. It shares it's boundary with Kalliasseri Panchayat The people who are the part of keecheri are the people dwelling in these two panchayats.
When we travel from Kannur towards Thaliparamba we reach keecheri after a distance of 12Km,passing Pappinisseri Panchayat stop and Velaapurm. .A junction under the cover of a big banyan tree welcomes us .This place is the center of keecheri . One branch road leads to Anchampeedika a historical place in Morazha village. The other one is the way to Pallot kaavu which is the historic monument of keecheri. A little bit towards north in NH is the place keecheri kunnu which leads us to Vateswaram temple,another important worship center attached to keecheri. The juma masjid very close to keecheri junction is also an important worship center.The Keecheri Puthiya bhagavathi kaavu and Chirakkutti puthiya kaavu are also important worship centers adjacent to keecheri...
Just like any other village in north malabar keecheri was also under British rule before independence but the feudal lords like Chirakkal raja, Karkkaattitam Nayanar ,Chanthroth Nambiars practically ruled this area in their own feudal style for a very long period .Majority of the people were back word class and scheduled class They were legally not slaves but practically slave like. Poverty was the land mark of the day .The law and order was controlled in terms with the will and pleasure of the feudal lords .The long historical night passed away and people began to awake to welcome a new sunrise in the early years of twentieth century.
The railway net work was extended up to mangalore by 1906. The British took interest to spread English education among natives for their own cause . But it cut the feudal roots and opened doors for modern thinking.The establishment of a spinning mill at Pappinisseri by Samuel Arown gave an opportunity to the poor peasants in and around keecheri for regular employment and income .A new class ,the real working class emerged in this area and became a mighty force .The great communist leader P.krishna pilla reached Kannur by 1930.He along with K.P.R .gopalan, Kanthalottu Kunhambu.and E.K.Nayanar organized a trade union in Arown company . The strike in 1940 and 1946 was under the leader ship of com : P.Krishna Pilla.The anti imperialist day observed by the left wing K.P.C.C. in 1940 sept 15 turned in to a violent clash . The meeting was scheduled at keecheri. The notorious police sub inspector Kuttikrishna Menon band the meeting at keecheri and lathi charged the gathering ..The angry crowed staged a protest march to continue the meeting at Anchampeedika ,a small town adjacent to keecheri in morazha village . The police again lathi charged the the people and tried to disrupt the meeting .There was a violent clash. Kuttikrishna Menon and a police constable was murdered.The Malabar special police was deployed in this area and they unleashed brutality for months together.K.P.R. gopalan was arrested and punished for death. The whole people of india awake and protested. Under pressure the punishment was reduced as life term imprisonment . All these are now part of freedom struggle .An area which was under caste influence became a prime centre of national movement and later became a strong communist belt ..Apart from political heritage the area had its own contribution in folk art like theyyam and poorakkali . Koroth Thondan panikkar,Appa panikkar , Koroth Kunhappa master and Kunjan Kunhi raman panikkar were prominent poorakkali ashaans of this area .Similarly Poovankulatthil Rama peruvannan, and Chirukanda peruvannan were prominent theyyam artists from this area. Morazha Raman peru malayan, kolatthuvayal Kannan panikkar and Morazha Balan panikkar were some other theyyam artists who performed theyyam around keecheri .The small tea shop at the prime center of keecheri owned by late Venkan Aboobakker is no more . It was the regular meeting place of Krishana pilla,K.P.R.and leaders like A.V. Kunhambu who regularly visited this area .Aboobakker was a strong communist who participated in the morazha struggle in 1940 and was imprisoned for more than one year .Religious harmony was the land mark of this area . Every thing coexist. But the working class culture dominate . It was so in earlier days and it will be so in future...
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