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Home My cartoons My paintings Water races Kuttanadu Kumarakom Devikulam Bekal Fort Kalamandalam Makaravilakku Kerala Politics Political History Guest book Contact us	POLITICAL UPHEAVALS IN MALABAR Genesis of the National Movement The Malabar District, being part of the erstwhile Madras Province, participated in full in the mainstream of Indian politics. The establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885 was an event which captured the imagination of the people of Malabar. The delegates from Malabar used to attend the early annual sessions of the congress, though there was no organized political activity as such in those days. Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair presided over the Amraoti session of the Congress in 1897. It may be noted that he was the only Keralite who adorned the Presidency in the long and checkered history of this organization. In 1903, a political conference presided over by the veteran congress leader C. Vijaya Raghava Achariar of Salem, was held at Calicut under the auspices of the Congress. However, not much was heard of the organization for some years thereafter. In 1908 a District Congress Committee was formed in Malabar, but it made its presence felt only during the period of the Great War (1914-1918). The All India Home Rule League founded by Dr. Annie Besant in 1916 had its branch in Malabar. Manjeri Rama Iyer, a leading figure of the Calicut Bar, was its President and K.P.Kesava Menon it's Secretary. The latter also functioned as the Secretary of the Malabar District Congress Committee. V.K. Krishna Menon was one of the active workers of both the congress and the Home Rule League in Tellicherry. The Home Rule League and the District Congress Committee worked in close co-operation with each other in organizing meetings and processions in the District. The tempo of political activity in Malabar reached a high crescendo during this period, thanks to the enthusiasm of the workers of these organisation. Manjeri Political Conference (1920) The fifth Malabar District Political Conference which took place at Manjeri (April 1920) under the Presidentship of Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, Editor of the Hindu, represents a watershed in the history of the political movement in Malabar. The Conference met in the background of the controversy raging in British India between the Moderates and Extremists in the Congress over the question of the acceptance of the Montage Chelmsford Reforms of 1919. The former held the view that the Reforms were progressive enough to be accepted and worked, while the latter regarded them as unsatisfactory and advocate their rejection. The Manjeri conference roused considerable interest in political circles and about 1,300 delegates from all parts of Malabar participated in it. Malabar Rebellion (1921) The period immediately following the Ottappalam Conference witnessed the outbreak of a conflagration of unprecedented dimensions, viz, the Malabar Rebellion, otherwise known as the Maupila Uprising (1921). The Khilaphat movement had made a deep impact on the Maupila community. The Ernad and Valluvanad Taluks were the strongholds of the Movement. Alarmed at the inroads it made in these areas, the Government brought the two Taluks under Section 144 and banned all meetings and demonstrations. At this juncture a serious outbreak took place at Pookottur in the Eranad Taluk. Three of the principal leaders of the rebellion were Valiakunnath Kunjahammed Haji, Seethi Koya Thangal of Kumaraputhoor and Ali Musaliar. Right - Left Polarization in the Congress The period following the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement was crucial one in the annals of the Congress organization in Malabar. The younger section of Congressmen strongly disapproved of the policy of the old guard and opted for militant leadership. The birth of the Congress Socialist Party in India provided an opportunity to these radical elements to assert themselves and precipitate a polarization between the Right and the Left wings in the Congress. Leaders like P. Krishna Pillai and E.M.S. Namboothiripad who believed in the Communist ideology led this new radical wing. They organized the Kerala unit of the Congress Socialist Party and functioned as a distinct group within the Kerala Provincial Congress. Many of those Congress workers who were active in the Civil Disobedience movement joined the Socialist Party. The Left wing dominated by the socialists led the agitations of workers and peasants who faced untold miseries in the wake of the world-wide economic depression of the early thirties. A chain of well-knit organizations of peasants, industrial workers, aided elementary school teachers and students came to be set up in Malabar under the Congress Socialist leadership. With the active help of these organizations, the leftists strengthened their mass base and increased their influence within the congress. An extremist group of Nationalist Muslims also emerged within the Congress at this time under the dynamic leadership of Muhammad Abdur Rahman. The leadership of the Congress organization itself eventually passed into the hands of the Congress Socialists and the Nationalist Muslims who made common cause against the Gandhian group known as the Right wing. At a meeting of the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee held at Shoranur in October 1934 a resolution was passed expressing lack of confidence in the efficacy of the Gandhian principles of truth and non-violence as weapons in the fight for Swaraj. The passing of the resolution marked the beginning of the open rupture between the Right and Left wings in the Congress. The latter emerged as the dominant group at the seventh Kerala Provincial Conference held at Calicut in May 1935 with S.A. Brelvi, the Editor of "The Bombay Chronicle", in the chair. The conference passed resolutions demanding the abolition of princely states, the formation of a United Kerala State as well as effective action to redress the grievances of the peasants and workers. Contrary to the practice followed so far, some of the resolutions were passed not unanimously but by the majority vote of the Leftist in the face of Rightist opposition. At the end of the Conferences an attempt was made to patch up the differences between the Rightists and the Leftists with S.A. Brelvi, Prakasam and Sambamoorthy playing the role of mediators. A compromise was eventually arrived at according to which both the groups were to have equal representation in the Working Committee of the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee. However, the General Secretary of the K.P.C.C. was to be non-Leftist with absolute control over the working of the entire organisation and the Leftists who were trade union workers were to act only in consultation with him. K. Kelappan, U. Gopala Menon, Kongattil Raman Menon, K. Madhavanar and P.K. Kunhisankara Menon signed the compromise document on behalf the Rightists and E.M.S. Namboothiripad, K.P. Gopalan and Manjunatha Rao on behalf of the Leftists. The compromise enabled the Rightists to get pivotal positions in the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee. Consequently, the rivalry between the two wings instead of showing signs of abating became only more acute day by day. Beginnings of the Communist Movement The formation of the Congress Ministry in Madras under C. Rajagoplachari was followed by developments which exposed the widening rift between the Right and Left wings in the Congress. The Leftists had stolen a march over the Rightists in organising the workers, peasants, students and teachers under their banner. When elections were held to the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee in January 1939, the Rightists suffered a severe setback. Muhammed Abdur Rahiman became the President of the K.P.C.C. and E.M.S. Namboothiripad its General Secretary. By the end of the same year a branch of the Indian Communist Party had been formally established in Malabar.

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POLITICAL UPHEAVALS IN MALABAR
Genesis of the National Movement
The Malabar District, being part of the erstwhile Madras Province, participated in full in the mainstream of Indian politics. The establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885 was an event which captured the imagination of the people of Malabar.
The delegates from Malabar used to attend the early annual sessions of the congress, though there was no organized political activity as such in those days. Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair presided over the Amraoti session of the Congress in 1897. It may be noted that he was the only Keralite who adorned the Presidency in the long and checkered history of this organization.
In 1903, a political conference presided over by the veteran congress leader C. Vijaya Raghava Achariar of Salem, was held at Calicut under the auspices of the Congress. However, not much was heard of the organization for some years thereafter. In 1908 a District Congress Committee was formed in Malabar, but it made its presence felt only during the period of the Great War (1914-1918). The All India Home Rule League founded by Dr. Annie Besant in 1916 had its branch in Malabar. Manjeri Rama Iyer, a leading figure of the Calicut Bar, was its President and K.P.Kesava Menon it's Secretary.
The latter also functioned as the Secretary of the Malabar District Congress Committee. V.K. Krishna Menon was one of the active workers of both the congress and the Home Rule League in Tellicherry. The Home Rule League and the District Congress Committee worked in close co-operation with each other in organizing meetings and processions in the District. The tempo of political activity in Malabar reached a high crescendo during this period, thanks to the enthusiasm of the workers of these organisation.
Manjeri Political Conference (1920)
The fifth Malabar District Political Conference which took place at Manjeri (April 1920) under the Presidentship of Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, Editor of the Hindu, represents a watershed in the history of the political movement in Malabar. The Conference met in the background of the controversy raging in British India between the Moderates and Extremists in the Congress over the question of the acceptance of the Montage Chelmsford Reforms of 1919.
The former held the view that the Reforms were progressive enough to be accepted and worked, while the latter regarded them as unsatisfactory and advocate their rejection. The Manjeri conference roused considerable interest in political circles and about 1,300 delegates from all parts of Malabar participated in it.
Malabar Rebellion (1921)
The period immediately following the Ottappalam Conference witnessed the outbreak of a conflagration of unprecedented dimensions, viz, the Malabar Rebellion, otherwise known as the Maupila Uprising (1921). The Khilaphat movement had made a deep impact on the Maupila community. The Ernad and Valluvanad Taluks were the strongholds of the Movement.
Alarmed at the inroads it made in these areas, the Government brought the two Taluks under Section 144 and banned all meetings and demonstrations. At this juncture a serious outbreak took place at Pookottur in the Eranad Taluk. Three of the principal leaders of the rebellion were Valiakunnath Kunjahammed Haji, Seethi Koya Thangal of Kumaraputhoor and Ali Musaliar.
Right - Left Polarization in the Congress
The period following the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement was crucial one in the annals of the Congress organization in Malabar. The younger section of Congressmen strongly disapproved of the policy of the old guard and opted for militant leadership.
The birth of the Congress Socialist Party in India provided an opportunity to these radical elements to assert themselves and precipitate a polarization between the Right and the Left wings in the Congress. Leaders like P. Krishna Pillai and E.M.S. Namboothiripad who believed in the Communist ideology led this new radical wing. They organized the Kerala unit of the Congress Socialist Party and functioned as a distinct group within the Kerala Provincial Congress.
Many of those Congress workers who were active in the Civil Disobedience movement joined the Socialist Party. The Left wing dominated by the socialists led the agitations of workers and peasants who faced untold miseries in the wake of the world-wide economic depression of the early thirties. A chain of well-knit organizations of peasants, industrial workers, aided elementary school teachers and students came to be set up in Malabar under the Congress Socialist leadership. With the active help of these organizations, the leftists strengthened their mass base and increased their influence within the congress.
An extremist group of Nationalist Muslims also emerged within the Congress at this time under the dynamic leadership of Muhammad Abdur Rahman. The leadership of the Congress organization itself eventually passed into the hands of the Congress Socialists and the Nationalist Muslims who made common cause against the Gandhian group known as the Right wing.
At a meeting of the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee held at Shoranur in October 1934 a resolution was passed expressing lack of confidence in the efficacy of the Gandhian principles of truth and non-violence as weapons in the fight for Swaraj. The passing of the resolution marked the beginning of the open rupture between the Right and Left wings in the Congress.
The latter emerged as the dominant group at the seventh Kerala Provincial Conference held at Calicut in May 1935 with S.A. Brelvi, the Editor of "The Bombay Chronicle", in the chair. The conference passed resolutions demanding the abolition of princely states, the formation of a United Kerala State as well as effective action to redress the grievances of the peasants and workers. Contrary to the practice followed so far, some of the resolutions were passed not unanimously but by the majority vote of the Leftist in the face of Rightist opposition.
At the end of the Conferences an attempt was made to patch up the differences between the Rightists and the Leftists with S.A. Brelvi, Prakasam and Sambamoorthy playing the role of mediators. A compromise was eventually arrived at according to which both the groups were to have equal representation in the Working Committee of the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee.
However, the General Secretary of the K.P.C.C. was to be non-Leftist with absolute control over the working of the entire organisation and the Leftists who were trade union workers were to act only in consultation with him. K. Kelappan, U. Gopala Menon, Kongattil Raman Menon, K. Madhavanar and P.K. Kunhisankara Menon signed the compromise document on behalf the Rightists and E.M.S. Namboothiripad, K.P. Gopalan and Manjunatha Rao on behalf of the Leftists. The compromise enabled the Rightists to get pivotal positions in the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee. Consequently, the rivalry between the two wings instead of showing signs of abating became only more acute day by day.
Beginnings of the Communist Movement
The formation of the Congress Ministry in Madras under C. Rajagoplachari was followed by developments which exposed the widening rift between the Right and Left wings in the Congress. The Leftists had stolen a march over the Rightists in organising the workers, peasants, students and teachers under their banner. When elections were held to the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee in January 1939, the Rightists suffered a severe setback. Muhammed Abdur Rahiman became the President of the K.P.C.C. and E.M.S. Namboothiripad its General Secretary. By the end of the same year a branch of the Indian Communist Party had been formally established in Malabar.