Tirur Dinesh - Moplah Riots

MOPLAH RIOTS

Tirur Dinesh

Kuthiravattam, Kozhikode-16

Introduction by Sri. V.T. Induchudan tothe Malayalam edition

Khalifa simply means the representative of Allah on earth.

Holy Koran insists that Allah first created Adam and appointed him as the first Khalifa (Caliph). Later many people related to Muhammad Nabi were crowned as Khalifas. Khalifas were people who gave advices and instructions to Moslems all over the world. The Sultan of Muslim kingdom of Turkey was the last Khalifa. During the first world war of 1914 to 1918, the British joined sides and defeated Turkey and dethroned the Sultan. Then onwards the Islamic world ceased to have a Khalifa.

Khilafat was a movement initiated for protesting and fighting against England for overthrowing the Sultan of Turkey. The movement was formed in India also, under the leadership of Moulana Muhammad Ali and Muhammad Shoukat Ali. The Indian National Congress fighting the British under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi for freedom of the country supported the movement with a definite purpose. Thus it was in Malabar that the Congress first initiated Khilafat struggle in 1921. It is a truth that this was then against the British imperialism. But the supporters Khilafat fought not for the independence of the nation but for the Sultan of Turkey.

Immediately after the commencement of the struggle it underwent a drastic change in its nature. Those Mappilas ( Muslim s) who organized themselves under the banner of

Khilafat committee commenced attacking Hindus.There were many incidents of ransacking Hindu homes and raping Hindu women. Forcible conversion to Islam was also very rampant. Hindus were caught mercilessly and forced to undergo circumcision (Sunnath) and shaving of head. Since the Hindus were totally unorganized they ran away from their homes and villages. Many families escaped to the safety provided by kingdoms of Kochi and Travancore. They include a number of highly placed individuals. I am not quoting anything from history books. If you read the poem called Duravastha composed by the great poet Kumarasan who was a contemporary and who personally witnessed these sad incidents you will get a true picture of the Muslim revolt called Moplah rebellion. In the introduction to the poem, Kumarasan states like this:

Moplah rebellion which originated in the southern Malayalamdistrict, in 1097 Chingam, (Malayalam month of Aug-Sept) haswritten a blood stained chapter in the history of Kerala. Thattyphoon, which shook not only Kerala but the whole of India inone way or other due to the ferocious and satanic crueltiesinflicted (on a section of people) defeating all faculties ofcontemplation is now luckily almost extinct. It is true that theHindu society which has escaped and come out of the mouth ofthis rebellion, tasting the coarseness of its tongue and sharpnessof its canine teeth and jaws, and imbibed with poisonous fangs,are representatives of an ancient culture

The theme of the poem Duravastha is the story of a Nambudiri lady (Brahmin upper cast) who escaped the atrocities of the Muslim s and took refuge in the house of a

Pulaya (Low cast untouchable). Asan, the poet describes in great length about the assailants. He does not choose to

use sweet vocabulary of the so called secularists. Just see the following lines:

Is it that the evil Muslim s dare assault the weak and forlorn women belonging to the royal status?

Let those who saw remain silent, those who only heard, let them talk is an old Malayalam humorous saying. Many historians posing as intellectuals are doing exactly this. Their stand is that what was witnessed by Sri. Kumaranasan is not the truth and the Moplah rebellion was really a progressive revolution. Immediately after the Muslim s started onslaughts against Hindus, the Indian National Congress withdrew itself from the Khilafat movement and the Congress Working Committee passed a resolution condemning the atrocities. According to the statistics released by Aryasamaj, tens of thousands of Hindus have been forcibly converted to Islam during the time.

To contain the rebellion British government had to deploy its army. Immediately afterwards the insurgency ended.

Many raise a question as to whether the British police and army did not use more than necessary force to achieve this.

May be yes. But the Muslim insurgents had resorted to terribly cruel actions. The attempt of the Muslim organizations and individuals trying to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the insurgency, I have to point out, is pure deceit and lack of sincerity. Hundreds of such Moplah insurgents were deported to Andaman Islands during the period. Those guys cleared forest lands and started cultivation there. I recently met a