Context
The Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) has deferred its decision on a recommendation to remove the 1921 Malabar Rebellion martyrs, including Variamkunnaathu Kunhahamad Haji and Ali Musliyar, from the list of India’s freedom fighters.
About Malabar Rebellion
- Malabar rebellion is also known as the Moplah (Muslim) riots.
- It had been an uprising of Muslim tenants against British rulers and local Hindu landlords.
- The uprising, which began on August 20, 1921, went on for several months marked by many bouts of bloodstained events.
- Some historical accounts state the uprising led to the loss of around 10,000 lives, including 2,339 rebels.
- It began as a reaction against a heavy-handed crackdown on the Khilafat Movement.
Khilafat Movement (1919-1924)
- The Khilafat movement was an agitation by Indian Muslims allied with Indian nationalism in the years following World War I.
- Its purpose was to pressure the British government to preserve the authority of the Ottoman Sultan as Caliph of Islam following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the war.
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- The Mappilas attacked and took control of police stations, British government offices, courts and government treasuries.
- It has often been perceived as one of the first nationalist uprisings in southern India. It has even been described as a peasant revolt.
- In fact, in 1971, the then Kerala government had included the participants of the rebellion in the category of freedom fighters.
- The incidents of the uprising took place in regions which are currently under the Malappuram district in north Kerala.
About Variyankunna Kunjahammed Haji
- He was one of the leaders of the Malabar Rebellion of 1921.
- He raised 75000 natives, seized control of large territory from British rule and set up a parallel government.
- 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.
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