kottayam l sunday l december 21, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city EDITION Slain Bangladesh youth leader laid to rest amid tight security The funeral of Bangladesh youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi (pic) was held in Dhaka on Saturday, drawing large crowds amid extra-tight security mohd Yunus, army chief attend funeral 24-hour ultimatum to govt to arrest killers Bangladesh’s interim government head Muhammad Yunus and army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman attended the funeral of the leader of the radical right-wing cultural group ‘Inqilab Mancha’. A candidate in the February 12 general elections, Hadi was shot in the head by masked gunmen on December 12 and died while being treated in Singapore | p9 ■ ■ Tens of thousands attended the funeral procession. Hadi was buried at Dhaka University’s central mosque. Later, Inqilab Mancha issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Yunus-led government to arrest his killers He was waging a campaign demanding Hasina’s return to Bangladesh to face death penalty after a special tribunal sentenced her to death 32-year-old Hadi was an outspoken critic of India CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Actor, screenwriter and filmmaker Sreenivasan, who chronicled Malayali psyche with wit & irreverence, no more Thank you for Everything THE LEGEND OF SREENI RAJ E S H A B RA H A M @ Kochi Sreenivasan enjoyed punctuating the tale with hearty amusement. Arriving in Thiruvananthapuram for what he believed was an acting assignment in a film by Priyadarshan, the twenty-something sought to know the nature of his role. The director’s reply was blunt... as it was life-altering: There is no script. If Sreenivasan wanted to act, he would have to script it. With nothing to do back home, he stayed on the set and began writing. “Both Priyadarshan and Sathyan Anthikad pushed me into the deep end of scriptwriting,” he later said at an awards function, “and I somehow stayed afloat without knowing how to swim.” That reluctant plunge produced one of Malayalam cinema’s most original voices. On Saturday, that voice fell silent. The veteran actor, screenwriter and filmmaker was 69. Ailing for long, Sreenivasan was being taken to Amrita Hospital for dialysis when his condition deteriorated. He was rushed to the Tripunithura Taluk Hospital, where he breathed his last. His funeral will be held at 10.30am on Sunday at his residence in Udayamperoor. Sreenivasan’s death draws the curtains on an era. Few artists chronicled the Malayali psyche with such wit, empathy and sting. Over nearly 48 years, he acted in more than 200 films and wrote screenplays that shaped the industry’s golden years. His humour was never decorative; it was dissecting. With an almost journalistic eye, he teased out the hypocrisies embedded in everyday life — political posturing, middle-class vanity and masculine insecurity — rendering them funny, painful and recognisably human. Born on April 6, 1956, in Pattiam near Thalassery in Kannur district, Sreenivasan grew up in a modest household — his father was a schoolteacher and mother a homemaker. After his schooling in Kuthuparamba and Kadirur, he studied economics at PRNSS College, Mattanur, before training formally at the Tamil Nadu Government MGR Film and Television Institute, Chennai. He made his acting debut in Manimuzhakkam (1976), directed by P A Backer, and his first lead appearance was in Sanghaga- In an illustrious career spanning nearly 48 years, Sreenivasan acted in more than 200 films, directed two movies and wrote screenplays that shaped the industry’s golden years A champion of social satire and political criticism and creator of unadulterated humour, he mirrored the Malayali community, with all its vulnerabilities, pettiness, honesty or the lack of it through his scripts. Awards and accolades Sreenivasan’s directorial venture ‘Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala’ (1998) won the National Film Award for ‘Best Film on Other Social Issues’ Illustration: Mandar Pardikar 1956 - 2025 nam (1979), also by Backer. But it was writing that unlocked Sreenivasan’s true range. His debut screenplay, Odaruthammava Aalariyam (1984), announced a new idiom — irreverent, observant and unafraid of puncturing social sanctimony . The mid-1980s to early 1990s marked his creative peak, when his writing, often in collaboration with Sathyan Anthikad, produced a string of enduring films including Gandhinagar 2nd Street, Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam, Varavelpu, Thalayanamanthram and the immortal Nadodikkattu. Blending humour with social insight, these films, most of which were anchored by Mohanlal, translated middle-class anxieties into movie lore — with Nadodikkattu and its sequels attaining cult status and embedding their characters and dialogues deep in Kerala’s public memory. No film captures Sreenivasan’s political bite better than P2, P4 Sandesam (1991). ● More on P5 Vadakkunokkiyantram (1989), which he scripted and directed, won him the Kerala state award for the best film He won the state award for best story for ‘Sandesam’ (1991), and best screenplay for ‘Mazhayethum Munpe’ (1995) Srini has left without bidding adieu. I don’t know how to describe our relationship in words. Our friendship was much beyond two colleagues in cinema. Mohanlal Sreenivasan broke several longstanding cinematic conventions and possessed the courage to articulate his ideas with wit and clarity, even when he knew they would invite sharp criticism. Pinarayi Vijayan, CM Actors Mammootty and Mohanlal pay their last respects to Sreenivasan during the public homage at the Town Hall in Kochi on Saturday | T P Sooraj Tributes pour in Kochi: Malayalam film industry came together on Saturday to pay rich tributes to Sreenivasan. Fans, artists and filmmakers gathered in their hundreds at the Town Hall in Kochi to pay their last respects to him. P2 EXPRESS READ Tribal head killed in tiger attack in Wayanad Political parties seek extension of SIR schedule ‘LDF’s bond with Muslims goes beyond poll results’ Kalpetta: The head of a tribal hamlet was killed in a tiger attack in Pulpally, Wayanad, on Saturday. Maran alias Kooman, 65 was attacked when he went to collect firewood along the banks of the Kannarampuzha river near the Kurichiyadu forest range, on Saturday morning. P5 T’Puram: Pointing out major ‘inaccuracies’ in the inclusion of voters in the ‘uncollectable forms’ category as part of the SIR of electoral rolls, majority of the parties in the state have demanded extension of the SIR enrolment time-frame at least till the end of December to rectify anomalies. P5 T’Puram: Amid criticism of the CPM’s significant losses in the local body polls in Malabar, particularly in Malappuram, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the LDF’s relationship with the Muslim community cannot not be judged solely on the basis of electoral outcomes. P5 Govt bulldozed MGNREGA: Sonia Gandhi P r eeth a N a i r @ New Delhi ACCUSING the Modi Government of bulldozing the MGNREGA, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday asserted that the party will fight against the “black law” that seeks to repeal the job scheme. Both Houses of Parliament passed the VB–G Ram G Bill on Thursday that seeks to replace the two-decades-old MGNREGA. The Opposition has urged the government to send the new bill to a standing committee saying that it’s a “conditional, centrally controlled scheme stacked against states and workers”. In a video message, Sonia Gandhi said the Centre has altered the structure of MGNREGA without any consultation, discussion or taking the Opposition into confidence, and even removed Mahatma Gandhi’s name, undermining the spirit and intent of the landmark legislation. “Twenty years ago, I fought to secure the right to employment for the poor. Today too, I am fully committed to this struggle,” she said. She alleged that decisions on who will get employment, where and how, will now be taken centrally from Delhi, ignoring ground realities and weakening the role of the gram panchayats. By weakening MGNREGA, the Modi government had attacked the interests of millions of farmers and labourers, she said. Sonia Gandhi vowed to fight against the ‘black law’ | PTI ‘Maha jungle raj’ in Bengal, says PM Modi People listening to Narendra Modi speaking virtually in Nadia district | PTI S U B H E N DU M AI T I & P r a s a nta M a z u m d a r @ Kolkata/ Guwahati Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, likening it to Bihar’s past lawlessness and calling it a “maha jungle raj”. Virtually addressing a gathering at Taherpur in Nadia district, one of the Matua-dominated belts in the state, over phone from the Kolkata airport as his helicopter could not land there due to dense fog, Modi hit out at the alleged corruption, nepotism and politics of appeasement by the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state. “Because of the state government’s cut-money and commission culture, people of Bengal are being deprived of development schemes worth thousands of crores,” he alleged. Positive development in the state can happen if the BJP gets to form a double-engine government. “Give us chance to do so,” he urged the gathering. Citing the recent elections in Bihar, he said the massive win of the BJP-led NDA in the state will open the road for victory of the BJP in Bengal in the coming assembly polls, adding, “Maha jungle raj will come to an end with formation of BJP government in the state.” Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the 66.7-km four-laning of the Barajaguli–Krishnanagar section of NH-34 in Nadia district and lay the foundation stone for a 17.6-km four-laning of the Barasat–Barajaguli section in North 24 Parganas. In Guwahati, Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress for speaking up in defence of the “infiltrators” (illegal migrants) by criticising the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of poll rolls. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the new terminal building of Lokpriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati, he said the government was working to stop infiltration and identify the infiltrators but the Congress and INDIA bloc openly adopt “anti-national agendas”. “The Supreme Court also spoke about removing the infiltrators but they (Opposition) are giving statements in defence of the infiltrators,” he alleged. “Such people will not protect Assamese interests. They will allow others to occupy your land and forests,” M o d i warned. Infiltrators are blessed by the TMC. The ruling party is opposing SIR to save the infiltrators. You (TMC) give go back slogans against the infiltrators not against me Narendra Modi Will serve Matuas, says PM “I assure every Matua and Namasudra family that we will always serve them. They are not here at the mercy of TMC,” Modi said. A section of the Matuas are upset as their names do not figure in West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls after SIR t20 World cup team new balance as gill dropped, kishan in f i r o z m i r z a / g o mesh s @ Chennai It was a story of two players. Ishan Kishan until Thursday was playing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy scoring runs for Jharkhand including a hundred in the final. Closer to the India team, Shubman Gill, who has had a forgettable T20I season, was the vice captain. Little did the two know that their fortunes would take different course on Saturday when the India team for the all-important T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka was announced. Kishan, who was out of favour for two years found his way back into the team. Of course, it was all because of his tremendous form in recent months. On the other hand, contrary to belief, newly-appointed captain of the Test and One-day teams, did not find a place in the 15 despite he being with the India set-up during the South Africa T20I series until Friday . If Kishan was a natural selection, there were murmurs about Gill’s exclusion. There were multiple indications that suggested Gill was not informed of the decision until Saturday. With pressure piling on Gill and captain Suryakumar Yadav for their lack of runs, team management seem to have decided to take the harsh decision for the World Cup. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that the call was taken to accommodate keeper-batter at the top-order. “At the end of the day, you are looking to see what are the best combinations or different options that you can get as a squad to give you the best chance of doing well in the World Cup. Whether it is decided today, yesterday, one week earlier, it doesn’t really matter. Hopefully, we get it right come the World Cup,” Agarkar said in Mumbai. For Kishan, even he could be back up for Sanju, call-up comes as a timely boost. After being dropped rather unceremoniously in late 2023 when he asked for a break due to mental fatigue, Kishan lost the central contract before going back to domestic cricket. He learnt to remain patient and calm. “Before every match in the SMAT, we used to have a video chat. It was more about mental things. Before the tournament started, I told him that this is his chance to impress the selectors. He not only did that but forced them to include him in the team,” Kishan’s coach Uttam Mazumdar said.  P11 He’s a terrific player. It’s just that the situation is such that we need a keeper to back up the order — Captain Suryakumar Yadav on Gill WITH THIS ISSUE Go Goa Gone PLUS 12 P AGES