Finally, Congress honours forgotten Dalit icon Amachadi Thevan who mobilised Pulayas for Vaikom Satyagraha

Congress in Kerala uses the occasion of Vaikom Satyagraha centenary celebrations to convert Thevan's home into a memorial.

ByK A Shaji

Published May 29, 2023 | 9:30 AMUpdatedMay 29, 2023 | 9:30 AM

Vaikom satyagraha Amachadi Thevan

Part of a special series on the Vaikom Satyagraha. It was on 30 March, 1924, that an agitation began centered around the Shiva temple in the central Kerala town of Vaikom in the then princely state of Travancore. The temple not only did not allow the lower castes in, it also forbid them from using the roads around it. The largely non-violent agitation marked the beginning of temple entry movements across India.

For the new generation, Amachadi Thuruthu is just another eyot among several that dot the azure waters of Vembanad Lake. But for students of history, the thuruthu — or landmass — is of immense significance.

Far from the roving eyes of tourists, the thuruthu located between Poothotta in Ernakulam and Perumbalam in Alappuzha had been lying neglected, till the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee woke up to its significance.

On Monday, 29 May, Anandraj Ambedkar, grandson of BR Ambedkar will arrive at Amachadi Thuruthu to inaugurate the renovated memorial of Amachadi Thevan aka Kannan Thevan.

Thevan

Thevan, an available picture. (Supplied)

Social activist and politician Ambedkar’s arrival will also mark a course correction in contemporary Kerala history which tends to relegate Dalit leaders to the sidelines.

The memorial will be thrown open in the presence of top Congress leaders, including KPCC president K Sudhakaran and Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly, VD Satheesan.

Amachadi Thevan was one of the brave faces of the iconic Vaikom Temple Entry Satyagraha, which is now celebrating its centenary.

Also read: Vaikom Satyagraha: Periyar’s role, his many differences with Gandhi

A picture of neglect

Thevan’s tile-roofed house and his grave next to it had been in a shambles until recently. Local land sharks dumped loose soil in the property to usurp it and sell it after converting it into a piece of prime land.

Thevan

The inscription on renovated memorial for Thevan. (Supplied)

Of the one acre Thevan’s descendants had inherited, only 20 cents now remain with the family. Poverty had made them sell the remaining property.

Several attempts were made to take over the property until the KPCC intervened to renovate and preserve the house and the tombstone as memorials of the leader.

KPCC’s Political Affairs Committee member M Liju said the party renovated the memorial since the government made no effort to preserve it, though Thevan’s role in the Vaikom struggle has often been recalled.

Amachadi was a 56-acre barren eyot till Thevan reached there and cleared it for the landless farmhands, predominantly from the Pulaya community.

The Congress sub-committee in charge of the year-long celebration of the Vaikom Satyagraha felt it was the party’s duty to preserve Thevan’s memory for future generations.

Liju said there would be follow-up actions to propagate the ideals of Thevan in and out of Kerala as part of the fight for social justice and transformation.

Also read: All about a stir that fine-tuned the non-violence movement

Thevan’s role in Vaikom Satyagraha

According to chroniclers of the Vaikom Satyagraha, Thevan, with humble origins, played an active role in the movement, the foremost among struggles for equality and human dignity across Kerala.

Thevan

Thevan’s grave before renovation. (Supplied)

A Dalit with strong nationalist convictions, Thevan worked closely with satyagraha leaders such as TK Madhavan and KP Kesava Menon.

According to his biographer Manarcad Sasikumar, Thevan was among the Dalits who entered a temple in Poothotta, breaking caste barriers along with Madhavan. The incident that took place just before the launch of Vaikom Satyagraha evoked violent reactions from caste Hindus.

Historians view the Poothotta temple as a rehearsal for the larger agitation at Vaikom.

After getting released from jail for participating in the Poothotta agitation, Thevan went to Vaikom to lead the movement. During the peak of the satyagraha, Thevan was brutally assaulted by criminal elements hired by Indanthuruthil Namboothiri.

Also read: Gandhi and his ‘opinion poll’ over temple entry in Guruvayur

Namboothiri was a local feudal lord, an icon of caste Hindus who opposed the “untouchables” entering the historic temple.

The attackers rubbed Thevan’s eyes with slacked lime, leaving him almost blind. Fellow satyagrahi Palakuzha Raman Elayath, too, faced a similar attack.

After being arrested by the police of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore and lodged in the Kottayam jail, Thevan was subjected to third-degree punishment. He was released on bail only after the satyagraha had ended.

Also read: An ‘untouchable Brahmin’ and forgotten Vaikom Satyagraha hero

Medicine from Gandhiji

According to the writings of Sasikumar, Kesava Menon, who later became the founder-editor of the prominent Malayalam newspaper, Mathrubhumi, was fond of Thevan. Menon introduced him to Mahatma Gandhi when he visited Vaikom at the invitation of the state Congress.

The inscription on the memorial speaks of how Gandhiji sent medicines to Thevan. (Supplied)

The inscription on the memorial speaks of how Gandhiji sent medicines to Thevan. (Supplied)

Gandhiji failed in his mission of convincing Indanthuruthil Namboothiri to allow lower-caste communities into the temple. He stuck to his belief that sins committed in previous births made people reincarnate as members of lower castes.

Thevan’s grandson Velayudhan later confirmed that Gandhiji sent medicines from Mumbai, which helped him partially regain his eyesight. This fact was substantiated by Sasikumar and Dalit historian Orna Krishnankutty.

During his meeting with Theven, Gandhiji asked him to campaign against the use of alcohol among the lower-caste people. He continued the mission till his last breath. Gandhiji also directed him to encourage low-caste people to leave ornaments made of leaves and stones.

While meeting Thevan at Puthenkulam Temple near Udayamperoor soon after the satyagraha, Sree Narayana Guru told him that he must be renamed as Devan as his contributions were unmatchable. Thevan lived as a Congress man until he died in 1968.

Unlike many Dalits of that time, a young Thevan could access school education as a local revolutionary, Achukutty Amma, adopted him. However, he soon became a target of upper-caste people who ensured his expulsion from the foster house and the school register.

Subsequently, he worked in the nearby paddy fields like other Dalits, the Pulayas. But Thevan kept his reading habit alive and updated himself on the various social reform movements across the country.

He extensively read reformers, including Gandhi and Sree Narayana Guru.

Also read: The untold story of the ‘anti-Satyagraha’ movement at Vaikom

Thevan angers caste Hindus

Thevan’s participation in local-level protests angered caste Hindus. He was often implicated in false cases and on several occasions, the police subjected him to custodial torture. However, he became a votary of the Congress and strongly opposed untouchability.

Vaikom

The Vaikom Mahadeva Temple at the heart of the satyagraha. (KA Shaji/South First)

Liju recalled that wild undergrowth and slush made accessing Thevan’s house difficult when he visited it some time ago as part of the preparations for the centenary celebrations of the Vaikom Satyagraha.

He suggested renovating the memorial to the KPCC leadership. He also recalled local Congress workers resisted attempts by the land mafia to take over the property.

Liju said the history of Vaikom Satyagraha would be incomplete if the sufferings of Thevan did not get a prominent mention.

He also decried attempts made to keep the contributions of Pulaya community leaders like Thevan out of recorded history. By the time Thevan was released from jail in 1925, his dwelling on Amchadi Thuruthu was destroyed by caste Hindus.

His 12 children were struggling to survive. The intervention of Madhavan and the state Congress helped him regain nearly one acre on the thuruthu.

But even that land was subjected to fragmentation and encroachment after his death. Thevan’s family members had often approached the state government with the request to renovate and preserve the lone memorial of Thevan.

But nothing happened — until the Congress party finally stepped in.