GS Paper 1
Topics Covered: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
Context:
Malabar Rebellion leaders Variamkunnath Kunhamed Haji, Ali Musaliar and 387 other ‘Moplah martyrs’ will be removed from the Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle as per the recommendations made by a three-member panel.
What’s the issue?
In the ‘Dictionary of Martyrs’, published by the Union Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Indian Council of Historical Research, Variankunnath Kunhamad Haji and Ali Musliyar, the chief architects of the Moplah Massacre, were deemed to be martyrs. The book was published in 2019.
- However, a report by the ICHR-constituted committee has sought the removal of names of 387 ‘Moplah rioters’ (Including leaders Ali Musliyar and Variamkunnath Ahmad Haji) from the list of martyrs.
Why?
- The report describes Haji as the “notorious Moplah Riot leader” and a “hardcore criminal,” who “killed innumerable innocent Hindu men, women, and children during the 1921 Moplah Riot, and deposited their bodies in a well, locally known as Thoovoor Kinar”.
- It also noted that almost all the Moplah outrages were communal. They were against Hindu society and done out of sheer intolerance. None of the slogans raised by the rioters were in favour of nationalism and anti-British.
- Also, many ‘Moplah martyrs’ facing trial died from disease or natural causes, and could not be treated as martyrs.
Thus, their names should be deleted.
Who was Haji?
- Born in the 1870s, he was a brave freedom fighter who stood up to the British in Kerala’s Malabar region in the early 20th century and even established a short-lived regime of his own.
- He used art as an instrument to rally the locals against the British.
- He promised support to the Indian National Congress and Khilafat movement against the atrocities of the British and the landlords.
- For nearly six months, Haji ran a parallel Khilafat regime headquartered in Nilambur, with even its own separate passport, currency and system of taxation.
How his rule came to an end?
The rule did not last long. In January 1922, under the guise of a treaty, the British betrayed Haji through his close friend Unyan Musaliyar, arresting him from his hideout and producing him before a British judge. He was sentenced to death along with his compatriots.
Insta Curious:
Do you know about Alluri Sitaramaraju, who led the Rampa Rebellion against the British in the Visakha Agency area during 1922-24? Reference:
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Who was Haji?
- What was the 1921 Malabar rebellion all about?
- Who led the revolt?
- How he established his own independent state and ruled it?
- What is Khilafat Movement?
- Outcomes of Khilafat movement.
- Relationship between non-cooperation movement and Khilafat movement.
Mains Link:
Who was Variyamkunnath Kunjahammed Haji? How he stood up to the British in Malabar region in 1921? Discuss why this rebellion has been controversial?
Sources: the Hindu.
