Kerala - Emergence of Nationalism
The last decades of the 19th century saw the emergence of nationalism in India. The Indian National Congress was established in 1885 and it soon became the spearhead of the Indian Nationalist Movement. These developments did not go unnoticed in Kerala. A conference was held at Kozhikode in 1904 under the auspices of the Congress and in 1908, a district Congress committee was formed in Malabar. Khilafat Committees sprang up in large numbers and the fraternity between the Hindus and Muslims, through the work in Congress - Khilafat Committees, was a truly remarkable feature of the non-co-operation movement in Kerala, in its early stages. The speed with which the Khilafat agitation spread, especially in the Eranad and Valluvanad taluks, created alarm in official circles.
In Travancore, political agitation began with the Nairs who found their dominance on the decline and resented the monopolization of higher officers by the Tamil Brahmins inducted from outside. Their appetite for political participation was whetted with the formation of the Travancore Legislative Council in 1888 - the first ever legislative started in an Indian State.
A police party in search of Khilafat rebels entered the famous Mambaram mosque at Tirurangadi. They seized some records and arrested a few Khilafat volunteers. A rumour spread that the mosque was desecrated. Hundreds of rustic Moppilas converged on Tirurangadi and besieged the local police station. The police opened fire. The mob reacted in a mad fury. Violence spread and engulfed Eranad and Valluvanad taluks and neighbouring areas for over two months. Congress leaders tried in vain to check the violence. Towards the later stages of the rebellion, owing to unfounded rumour of Hindus having helped the police or sought police help, there were instances of atrocities perpetrated on Hindus.
In the wake of the Civil Disobedience Movement, a parallel movement for responsible Government had begun in Travancore and Kochi. In Travancore, the Nivartana (Abstention) movement began as a protest against the inadequacy of the constitutional reforms of 1932. The Ezhavas, the Christians and the Muslims apprehended that the new reforms, owing to the provisions for restricted franchise on the basis of possession of property and other qualifications, would secure for them far less number of seats in the enlarged legislature than the Nairs. They therefore demanded that the seats be apportioned on the basis of population strength. The Government, however, did not view their demands favourably.
The struggle for responsible Government had been launched in Travancore and Cochin by 1938-39. The struggle in Cochin was far less in intensity than that in Travancore because the rulers of Cochin adopted on the whole, a lenient policy of political concessions which averted violent clashes. In June 1938 a diarchal form of Government was established allowing popular ministers to control some departments. This did not work and the Cochin Praja Mandalam was founded in 1941 to spearhead the agitation for full responsibility in Government. The Travancore State Congress launched a campaign seeking dismissal of the Dewan, C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer, against whom they had levelled certain charges.
The State Congress and the Youth League were banned. The State Congress then organized a civil disobedience movement. The rising tempo of the movement forced the Government to withdraw the ban. The Dewan refused to open negotiation until the charges were withdrawn. The charges were finally withdrawn following Gandhiji's intervention. This created a split in the Congress. The members of the Youth League left the State Congress to form the Communist Party. The end of the Quit India Movement saw Malabar returning to elections and a constitutional Government. Administratively Malabar was a district of Madras Province at the time of independence. In Kochi diarchy was finally abolished and on the eve of independence the Dewanship ended. A popular ministry under Panampally Govinda Menon was sworn into power.
Travancore, however, was not destined to have a peaceful transition to freedom democracy. In October 1946, she had to face one of the most violent upheavals in her recent history - the Punnapra-Vayalar revolt. It developed as a reaction to the constitutional scheme proposed by the Dewan, C P Ramaswamy Iyer, early in January, 1946. The scheme provided for adult franchise, but retained the dewanship as an irremovable exertive. The State Congress rejected the scheme. The Communists decided to launch a violent struggle to bring an end to the oppressive rule of the Dewan. The coastal taluks of Alappuzha and Chertala were, in particular the strongholds of the Communist Party. By the middle of 1946, there were many camps of party workers at Punnapra in Alappuzha and at Vayalar in Chertala.
Volunteers from the working class were recruited and given training. This increased the tension in the area. The government deployed not only the police but the military also. This worsened the situation. The All Travancore Trade Union Congress called for a general strike on 20 October 1946. Martial law was clamped in the area and the Dewan himself assumed the functions of the commander-in-chief. The impassioned workers and volunteers preferred confrontation - stones, bamboo spikes, areca spears and swords confronting machine guns. What followed from 24 to 27 October, was a tale of heroism and tragedy.
The revolt was suppressed. But this did not bring the difficulties of the Dewan to an end. A political crisis was again precipitated when the British announced their decision to leave India. The Dewan announced that Travancore would remain an independent State on the lapse of British paramountcy. This unleashed a fierce controversy. The Dewan let loose the forces of repression. In the midst of repression and confusion, an unsuccessful attempt on his life was made. Better counsel prevailed and the Dewan made his exist from the State. With the advent of freedom, Travancore was part of the Indian Union and the first popular ministry under Pattom A.Thanu Pillai was installed.
The movement for a united (Aikya) Kerala gathered momentum with the attainment of independence. The first concrete step in this direction was taken on 1 July 1949. Following the national policy of integration, the State of Kochi and Travancore were merged into Travancore-Kochi State under a Rajpramukh. The next step came with the reorganization of States on a linguistic basis in the light of the report of the States Reorganization Commission. It was decided to add Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk of south Canara district to Travancore-Kochi and to separate the Tamil-speaking southern region of old Travancore from Travancore-Kochi for inclusion in Madras State. On 1 November 1956, the new State of Kerala was formally inaugurated. The land of Parasurama thus regained its identity with the unity of the land of Bharatha.
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