World Malayalee Council - Let’s unite as one global community

WORLD Malayalee Council was formed on July 3, 1995 during the first World Malayalee Convention held in New Jersey, USA from Jul 1 to 3. I (Andrew Pappachen, Managing Editor, World Malayalee Voice) was one of the main organizers of the convention to help develop the WMC bylaws. 

Mr. T.N. Seshan, the then Chief Election Commissioner of India, was the chief guest. The first meeting unanimously proposed Mr. Sheshan to be the WMC Global Chairman and he gladly accepted it. 

Mr. Seshan conducted the election of all other officers. Mr. K.P.P. Nambiar was elected the Global President, Dr. Babu Paul Vice Chairman in absentia and Mrs. Lekha Sreenivasan Vice Chairwoman. I was elected Vice President, Administration. 

We the organizers could have easily become chairman, president, etc. but we did not become because we wanted all other prominent Malayalees to lead the WMC, the mission of it was to link Malayalees all over the world to be able to connect and communicate with each other so as to create a global Malayalee community to maintain the identity and uphold the traditions and culture for generations. 

We also created the bylaws with that vision. WMC has a global executive council that functions under the chairman with all the legislative power and a global cabinet that functions under the president with all the executive power. The gathering of the members is the general body which ratifies all the decisions.

For administrative purposes, the WMC is divided into 6 regional councils - America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India and the Far East. Every region has an executive council and a cabinet just like the global body. Under the regional council, the local bodies function, named provinces. The provincial council also has an executive council and a cabinet. 

The WMC membership originates from the provincial councils. A member has voting power in the provincial council regional council and global council. Province has representation in the regional executive council through its officers and the provincial president is in the Global Council. Similarly, regional officers are also in the Global Executive Council.

First 10 years, WMC bylaws call for no election to elect the officers but do it through consensus. Then the bylaws were amended to conduct elections through an election commission. The election rules are very tight and it requires previous qualifications in the body to be chairman, president and secretary. Since the election process started, divisions also started to emerge in the organization. 

WMC has become a prominent organization of global Malayalees and the leader of the organization gives the person prominence. The bylaws require the provinces, regions and global councils to conduct the biennial conference and elections. After a couple of biennial conventions, divisions became splits and several groups evolved. This is a major characteristic of Malayalee organizations and many Indian organizations split and form new groups.  

After a few years, WMC is now regrouped under strong leadership and they are conducting the 13th Global Conference in New Delhi from July 7-9. Some other groups still exist. The Delhi conference is a good opportunity for other smaller groups to consolidate and make WMC a strong global organization of Malayalees again. I urge this in good faith. It is going to be 28 years since WMC was formed. New generation leaders have to emerge and take of the organization with new ideas and vision.

The global Malayalee community has changed. Malayalees have now settled in many countries and their second, third and fourth generations are going to grow up as local citizens with a Malayalee heritage. Most of them have not seen India or Kerala. But they know about their Malayalee heritage. 

They must be reminded of this great tradition and made aware of their heritage. More local units or provinces shall be formed with these new-generation Malayalees as members. They must be made leaders in the provincial and regional councils. This should be the WMC vision after the 13th global conference in New Delhi.

I take this opportunity to request and urge the leaders of divided groups to join with the leaders who conduct the New Delhi conference from July 7 till 9 and unite for the benefit of the global Malayalee community.

Leadership in community organizations is given to serve the community not to dominate the organization. If you cannot continue as leaders, support the new leaders instead of trying to divide the organization. Let us use this opportunity to come together as one WMC and build the global Malayalee community to be able to network and communicate while maintaining the Malayalee identity wherever we live.

To build a global Malayalee community, we cannot have two different organizations, we can only unite and function under one leadership to reach our goal. Why do we need more than one organization, why can’t we work together for a common goal? 

In a democratic political system, we need more than one party and the majority party rules. In community work, we do not need more than one group unless different community groups have different areas to work. WMC has only one vision - that is to create a global Malayalee community.

Malayalees definitely can build that great global community. We are in almost all countries in the world. Also, we have huge communities in the USA, Canada, Ireland, the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand. Malayalees are also all over India. WMC represents all Malayalees, those in Kerala, India and abroad. In India and abroad, we have locally-born second, third, fourth and fifth-generation Malayalees. Nobody should be left out. We need to form local provinces of WMC everywhere in the world.

Once again I urge all WMC splinter groups to unite in New Delhi on July 7, 2023. Let us be united, let us be Malayalees who promote communal harmony and friendship. Let us be good citizens in whichever countries we live. Let us be good human beings. Let us uphold that great Malayalee culture of helping each other. 

How did Malayalees spread all over the world - through mutual help, helping families, helping friends and helping neighbours? Let us create that great global Malayalee community and maintain that connection for generations to come. You can email me at [email protected] or WhatsApp at USA 201-401-3955