Da vinedethu kidannurallethe ,ni alle prajnathu vellakarkethre adhiyam poruthiyathe ninte samudhayam annenu ...Sayyipinu osana padi nadnavare njakallu nanyi ariyam ...Indian freedom struggle ethra Christianikal pankedthutund ?
Sayippinte kal nakki Sir CP ye pokki nadakunna RSSkaar
But the work of four great men turned aside the total breakdown of the Hindu society in Kerala. They were Chattmbi Swamikal, Sree Naryana Guru, Ayya Vaikuntaswamikal and Sir C.P. Rama Swami Ayyar. By in the middle of the twentieth century the baton of the Hindu moment ushered in by them were highjacked by the Communists
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The St.Thomas Christians formed an important social segment that often took lead or active part in social assertion movements and freedom struggle in Kerala. The leaders of this community played a vital role in the preparation of Malayalee Memorial of 1891
33. The St.Thomas Christian leaders like Nidhirikkal Mani Kathanar and Nidhirikkal Cyriac took lead role along with K.P.Padmanabha Menon and G.P.Pillai
34. Malayalee Memorial was a petition signed and submitted to the ruler of Travancore by the members of Nair, Christian and Ezhava communities against the over-preference being given to Tamil Brahmins in the appointment for Governmental jobs and the discrimination being meted out against the members of other communities. The Tamil Brahmins who formed less than 2% of the total population, occupied the principal jobs of Travancore since the northward expansion of Travancore in 1740s and 1750s. In 1891 the non-Malayali Brahmins held 1035 Governmental jobs in Travancore having the salary between Rs 10 and 50 and 101 jobs above Rs.50 . While the Christians of various denominations in Travancore, in spite of their demographic strength of having more than 20% of the population got only 95 jobs with the salary between Rs.10 and 50 and 21 jobs with salary above Rs.50
35. It was Nidhirikkal Manikathanar and Cyriac Nidhirikkal who mobilized the St. Thomas Christians with the demand for equal share in the governmental jobs, the struggles for realizing which are often equated to be the beginning phase of freedom struggle in Kerala. For the purpose of mobilizing support for these struggles, Nidhirikkal Manikathanar started two dailies Nazrani Deepika(1887) and Malayala Manorama (1888); however later Malayala Manorama passed into the control of a trust related to Kandathil family
36.
Meanwhile the St.Thomas Christians also joined the Muslims and Ezhavas for fighting for equal job opportunities and representation in democratic bodies. Following the establishment of large number of Christian schools in different parts of Travancore, the number of Christians having better education and knowing English language got increased. In 1911 among the Christians who formed 31.51% of total population of Travancore, about 10129 were literate with knowledge in English language
37. Meanwhile the Nayars who formed 17.13% of the population had only 5446 English literates. In 1921 the number of the English literates among the Christians rose to 24059, which further went up to 27196 in 1931. Meanwhile the number of English literates among the Nairs was only 24059 in 1921, which rose to 18606 in 1931. Even though the Christians were numerically large and educationally far advanced they got only 3537 Government jobs(17.36% of the total appointments) by 1932, while the Nairs had 10585 government jobs (51.94% of the total jobs). The Ezhavas who formed 17.13% of the population had only 3.86 % of the Government jobs(787), while the Muslims who formed 6.94% of population had only 2.14% of jobs(436)
38. This was the background against which the St. Thomas Christians started clamouring for equal civic rights and equal job opportunities, for which they also sought the help of the Ezhavas and the Muslims.
The leaders of the St.Thomas Christians, Ezhavas and Muslims formed a League in 1918 for Equal Civil Rights to struggle for opening up all branches of Government service to all castes and communities. As Land Revenue Department, that provided the maximum jobs in Travancore, had also the responsibility to look into the matters of Devaswam, only Hindus could get jobs in this department. Hence the St.Thomas Christian leaders demanded the separation of Devaswam from the Land Revenue Department, so that non-Hindus might get selected for jobs in revenue department, as well. The separation of Devaswam from Revenue finally took place in 1922, following which Christians, Muslims and untouchables started getting jobs in Revenue department. It was against this background that for the first time a Christian , that too a Catholic – Morris Watt by name- was appointed as the Dewan of Travancore(1925)
39.
It was during the period between 1920 and 1936 that the St.Thomas Christians began to enter on a large number into Kerala ‘s politic
s. One among them was Barrister George Joseph, who as the convenor of Anti-Untouchable Committee of Indian National Congress, initiated Vaikkom Satyagraha in 1924. Under his leadership the satyagrahis demanded that the temple of Vaikkom should be kept open for lower castes. However later he was compelled to keep a low profile in the movement because of the intervention from Gandhi, who told him that Christian participation in issues related temple entry might be misinterpreted40. The leadership of Vaikom Satyagraha taken away from Barrister George Joseph was later given to T.K.Madhavan and K.P.Kesava Menon, for which T.K. Ravindran later criticizes the attitude of Gandhiji
41. Despite this development, it must be specially noted that many Christians continued to participate in the Vaikom Satygraha along with Muslims.
42
It was principally through their participation in Abstention Movement often known as Nivarthana Prasthana that the St. Thomas Christians entered the domain of political leadership of Kerala. It was the feeling that the members of this community, who were intellectually enlightened through advanced education and economically empowered by way of their participation in the sectors of agriculture , plantation, banking and business were not given due representation in the Legislative Council of Travancore and due share of governmental jobs in Travancore that took them to active politics and freedom struggle. By 1935-6 there were about 514 graduate and post-graduate Catholic candidates in the St.Thomas Christian pockets of Changanacherry, Pala and Kanjirappally
43. The number of graduate and post-graduate Catholics in and around Ernakulam, Kothamangalam, Thodupuzha and Muvattupuzha was 249 for this period
44. The fact that these highly qualified Catholics did not get the jobs they deserved nor due representation in the democratic bodies of the state which they were eligible for made the St.Thomas Christians resort to the chain of strikes and to fight politically against the Travancorean state, which in fact formed the matrix of freedom struggle in Kerala .
The All Kerala Catholic Congress(AKCC), which had evolved by this time as the voice of the community , took up the leadership of this chain of struggles in the major settlements of the St.Thomas Christians. The roots of AKCC can be traced back to Nazrani Jathi Aikya Sangham which was started in 1866 at Mannanam; but later it began to operate using the platform of the print media Nazrani Deepika and around its readers
45. In 1905 Nidhirikkal Manikathanar founded Katholica Mahajanasabha out of Nazrani Jathi Aikya Sangham and gave shape to an organization out of which the present-day AKCC later got evolved. From 1907 onwards it came to be called Samooha Sammelanam and in 1918 it was renamed at Changanacherry as Keraliya Katholica Mahajanasabha
46. In the session held at Chertalai in 1930 its name was again changed into All Kerala Catholic Congress(AKCC). The AKCC, which mobilized people for the struggles against Travancore state during the time of Nivarthana Prasthana, served as a platform for many St.Thomas Christians to get into the Indian national movement. Since 1918 , when Equal Civil Rights movement was launched , both the Catholic and the Jacobite segments of the St.Thomas Christians used to make their political struggles and ventures jointly. The working committee president of Civil Rights League was John Chandy. Adv.E.J John came to the forefront of politics and freedom struggle of Travancore as a member of this political body
47.
One of the topmost leaders from the St.Thomas Catholic community mobilizing its members for the freedom movement of Travancore during this period was M.M. Varkey. From 1924 onwards the St.Thomas Christians , particularly the Catholic segments under the inspiration of M.M. Varkey visited frequently both the king Sree Moolam and later the regent Queen demanding that Catholics should get equal job opportunities as the Nairs were then having and that they should get due share of representation in the democratic bodies. The four page news bulletin by name Kerala Dasan was the main literary weapon that Varkey resorted to for reaching out to the larger Catholic population preparing them for the chain of political struggles against the Travancorean government. . In 1924 , when the first issue of Kerala Dasan was published there was no Catholic employee in any of the highest key governmental positions
48. With the increasing demand from the Kerala Dasan for governmental jobs for Catholics, the Travancorean government forbade the publication of this news-letter. However with the ban on Kerala Dasan , Varkey did not sit quite; in its stead he started two publications by name Dasan and Yuvabharati reiterating the same demands. He
exhorted the Catholics, Ezhavas and the Muslims to join hands together and to fight against the Brahminical and Nair domination in the governmental jobs of Travancore. The political and social leaders like T.K. Madhavan and N. Kumaran extended liberal support to the demands of Varkey. In 1926 Varkey was arrested and put behind the bars by the Travancorean government for having written and circulated the article titled “Live and let live”. Later Varkey wrote in his autobiography Ormakaliloode that it was the Nairs, who got upset on his arguments for equal governmental position for the Catholics, that maneuvered behind the curtains for his arrest and imprisonment
49.
The moment M.M. Varkey came to know of vacancies in the public service of Travancore, he demanded that the share of the Catholic community should be immediately given. During this period the pamphlet titled “ The Public Service of Travancore and the Catholic Claims” and authored by Varkey was distributed all over the kingdom and the Dewan Morris Watt was surprised to see the amount of discussion this pamphlet had then generated in Travancore. He says” wherever I go I see only the book ‘Catholic Claims” and whoever I meet they talk about the ‘Catholic Claims’. Who is the author of this ‘Catholic Claims?”
50 One of the major results emerging out of the chain of struggles initiated by Varkey and the like minded people was the appointment of a St.Thomas Christian (Catholic) – Barrister Joseph Thaliyath- as the Judge of Travancore High Court
51; thanks to these developments many other Catholics were also eventually absorbed into the governmental services of this kingdom.
It was in continuation of this chain of struggles, which ultimately merged into freedom struggle that one has to look into the Nivarthana Prasthana (Abstention Movement) started in 1932. ‘The Legislative Council’ that Travancore introduced in 1888 was the first democratic legislative institution in India set up with the backing of a law. Later in 1904 Sree Moolam Popular Assembly was also established . The events leading to the Nivarthana Prasthana commenced in 1931 , when the new ruler BalaramaVarma introduced new voting criteria for both the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly and Legislative Council, consequent to which the Christians and the Ezhavas did not get adequate share of representation in the Legislative Council
52. The Travancore State Catholic Congress submitted a memorial to the ruler of Travancore in 1932 requesting him to reserve seats to the Legislative Council on the basis of demographic strength
53.
Though the Christians formed 27% of the people who then paid an amount of more than Rs.100 as tax, they were given only 4 seats in the Legislative Council of 1931, while the Nairs were given 15 seats
54. The Christians, who had by this time amassed sizeable wealth and evolved as a significant middle class by way of their participation in agricultural activities, banking business, chitties and kuries, felt that it was a discrimination against them and denial of political and civil rights that they deserved. The Travancore Latin Christian Mahajana Sabha and the Travancore State Catholic Congress submitted separate “memorials” to the king to redress their grievances. They demanded apportion of seats in the legislature on the strength of population and adult franchise
55. All the Christians of Travancore joined hands together to give a shape to political scheme of actions under the banner of All Travancore Christian Political Conference and ensured the support of Ezhavas and Muslims for their chain of struggles initiated in 1932. E.J.John , who was the spokesperson of this association and N.V.Joseph who was the president of Travancore State Catholic Congress started arguing that denial of due political representation to the Christians in Legislative Council was done with a communal agenda
56.
On 17th December 1932, the representatives of Christian-Muslim and Ezhava community organizations under the leadership of A.J. John gave origin to All Travancore Joint Political Conference , which was the precursor of present-day Congress party of Kerala
57. The leaders of All Travancore Joint Political Conference decided to abstain from the elections and resort to non-co-operation till their grievances were redressed. This movement that started in 1932 and continued till 1936 is called Abstention Movement or Non-Co-operation movement and to indicate its distinction and difference from Gandhian non-Co-operation movement I.C.Chacko called it Nivarthana Prasthana. Abstention movement led by Christians was one of the most important political developments in Travancore that ultimately was made to become an integral part of freedom movement in Kerala
58.
In fact the major leaders of freedom struggle of Kerala like A.J.John, T.M. Varghese , M.M. Varkey , N.V.Joseph , A.C. Kuriakose , Ezhava leaders like C.Kesavan, P.K. Kunju evolved out of the long chain of struggles connected with Abstention Movement.
Finally in 1937 the movement found results: A Public service Commission was constituted to ensure fair representation for backward communities in the public service and 40% of the jobs in the intermediate divisions were reserved for backward communities. Moreover the number of seats in Legislative Council was increased on the basis of the demographic strength of the community
59. The second result was that the franchise was widened and communal representation was introduced in the legislature. In the first election held in 1937 after the Abstention Movement the Travancore Joint Political Congress headed by the Christians obtained the absolute majority and T.M.Varghese was elected as the Deputy President, the highest office of the legislative Assembly
60.
The relatively dominant Christian presence in the leadership of the evolving State Congress made
C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer, the Dewan of Travancore to accuse freedom struggle in Travancore as an effort of the communal party of Travancore Christians. His efforts to divide the people on communal grounds between the Christians and other communities intensified the heat of the last phase of freedom struggle in Travancore.
The Christian leaders of State Congress like Mrs. Annie Mascarene, Akkamma Cherian, Rosamma Cherian, A.J.John, R.V.Thomas, P.J.Sebastian E.John Philipose, Elenjickal Thariathu Kunjithommen, P.T.Chacko, Elizabeth Kuruvilla , K.J. Varkey, K.M.Chandy etc.,were arrested and their entire property was confiscated by C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer for the purpose of nipping the bud of expanding nationalist movement in the state. Parallel to the mobilization done by State Congress, mammoth gatherings were organized all over Travancore by All Kerala Catholic Congress to put pressure on the autocratic state and to facilitate the introduction of democratic processes in Travancore and in one of such meetings in the ground of St.Thomas Church of Pala, about 3 lakh people participated
61.
The foregoing discussion shows how the St.Thomas Christians, while defining their ecclesial character and ministries after the evolution as an independent Church under Pope, developed a set of activities and programmes that in turn helped to usher in various elements of modernity in Kerala. Though these Christians have got a historical past going back to the first century AD, their crystallization as an independent Church happened with the formation of different dioceses on the basis of ritual traditions to cater to their spiritual needs in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the consequent ecclesiastical formatting that happened in the twentieth century. The indigenous bishops heading these dioceses ably channelized the surplus getting accrued in the Christian agrarian villages to a variety of educational programmes and health-care projects, whose chief beneficiaries often were the peripheral and marginal segments of the society, besides the members of own community. The new Church leadership besides catering to the spiritual needs of the community took up educational activities and medical care endeavours as central mission of the Church and the schools, colleges , hospitals and dispensaries set up by the Church revolutionized the sectors of knowledge dissemination and health care in Kerala. The educational and medical advancements made through these institutions provided base for the famous Kerala model of development, which took new meanings and dimensions after independence. Meanwhile because of the long conflicts that this community had with the ecclesiastical institutions, devices and personalities thrust upon them from Europe, this community developed a very strong anti-European attitude and sentiment since 1520s, which in turn augmented the scale and intensity of national consciousness and pride among its members. These anti-European sentiments were intensely stimulated later and were eventually made to get merged into the mainstream National movements through their active participation in the social assertion movements and freedom struggle of Travancore. Any discourse on modernity in Kerala becomes unintelligible if the strand of educational, medical, economic and political activities of the St.Thomas Christians within the larger context is ignored and their role in the freedom struggle and the political making of Kerala is kept outside the range of study.
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Saint Thomas Christians in the Shaping of Modern Kerala | Nasranis
