We still remember the day our beloved Eeza uncle left this world—23 years ago, on 17 January 1999. Though his health was declining over months in 1998, we never thought this to happen so suddenly. He had come to our Amala Apartments in Kottayam a few weeks before and spent those unforgettable moments with us all, particularly with Appu and Kunjunni.
Even as he was being taken to GG hospital that day, we were hoping, and praying that he ‘d come back in our midst.

But, sadly, that did not happen.

It took a long while to reconcile with this loss.

Admittedly, gentleness was one of the finest characteristics that Eeza uncle possessed. Most of us admire gentleness because it creates peace, calm, and consistency of character. It’s something we tend to respect in others, desire for ourselves, and wish for our kith and kin.

Indeed, gentleness pulsed deep within Eeza uncle. And it always brought cool breeze in our meetings, and for everyone to feel it.

Gentleness is surely at odds with quick-tempered, blame-invigorated, self-willed, jealous culture where we sometimes tend to take our frustrations out by ridiculing and slamming others, skirting responsibility, and fearing and fighting anyone or any way of life that we don’t understand or subscribe to.

Eeza uncle was an embodiment of this gentleness being whirled wherever and whenever he interacted with others.

More importantly, Eeza uncle never took refuge in any ideological or doctrinal camps where intellectual or political fortunes could be tempting. Yet, he was a passionate reader and writer within a liberal-progressive frame.

Mohammed Eeza (1929-1999) was a son of Vakkom Moulavi, a great social and religious reformer of Kerala. Being a perceptive writer and thinker, Eeza uncle upheld a progressive-liberal tradition, like his father. He intrepidly wrote against religious conservatism and orthodoxy while keeping hold of secular- pluralist social ethos.

Eeza uncle was only three when Vakkom Moulavi died and, therefore, he had to learn by himself the value and significance of the mission his father had undertaken which spanned over three decades.

After his early education, he went to Madras in pursuit of higher studies and it was there that he came into contact with modern trends in philosophy, politics and religion. He came back to his home village a different man.

By that time he had developed an interest in Marxism (without any pretensions of any doctrinnaire-theorist) and even worked with the Kerala Socialist Party [which subsequently became Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP)] for a while, like some of his brothers. Soon he found himself a captive in this field and decided to abstain from party politics. This helped him to return to his intellectual world where he took to writing, offering new insights into politics, literature, philosophy and religion.

Eeza uncle began his career as a teacher which he continued till retirement in the mid-1980s. In between, he went to UAE, for a few years, to work in a company. His return in the early 1980s was the beginning of his revival as a writer.

The earliest of Eeza uncle’s writings appeared in the 1950s in K. Balakrishnan’s Kaumudi. His writings also appeared in Mathrubhumi, Kala Kaumudi, Chitra Karthika, Kerala Kaumudi, Chintha and others.

Eeza uncle wrote a lengthy article on Albert Camus which exposed the intellectual dishonesty of the critics of Malayalam literature at that time who not only failed to understand Camus’ writings, but continued to cast aspersions on him.

Likewise, his intervention in the context of the Shah Banu controversy provided a sense of direction to the ongoing Sharia debate. He had warned that Muslim orthodoxy and fundamentalism would not only generate the potential for ruin and decay within, but bring in unforeseen consequences for the secular fabric of society. Eeza uncle’s forebodings came true when both Islamic and Hindu fundamentalists swelled their ranks, capitalising on each other’s unyielding conservatism.

This further forced him to take up an exhaustive study on religious fundamentalism which appeared in a series of articles in Chintha weekly, under the caption “Islamic Fundamentalism: Myth and Realty,” These articles reflected his depth of knowledge, religious acumen, world vision and social commitment. It is no exaggeration to say that there is hardly any work on the subject in Malayalam till date which reflected the insights and scholarship of Eeza uncle. I had an opportunity to read the draft many times before he sent it for publishing. I also accompanied him to the University of Calicut in the 1990s to meet Prof MN Karassery. He had read the entire text of the series of articles and suggested its publication as a book. Sadly, Eeza uncle could not realise this as he fell ill soon. However, Prof Karassery kept reminding me to do the publishing as early as possible. His effort will not go in vain as the entire text is being recovered and final corrections are done for publication. Vakkom Moulavi Memorial and Research Centre (VMMRC) at Vakkom will be a partner in the publication of the volume of Eeza uncle.

Eeza uncle was one of the founding architects of the Vakkom Moulavi Foundation which, since its inception in the early 1980s, has been a leading intellectual forum in the State’s capital. It was he who inspired me to work with the venture and we travelled a lot together, against all odds. Till he breathed his last on 17 January 1999, Eeza uncle was striving hard to reawaken the forgotten legacy of Vakkom Moulavi.

As a man of great integrity and exceptional qualities, Eeza uncle would also have been the happiest person seeing a memorial emerging in Vakkom with a mission he left behind two decades back.