K.K. Thanammal
Assistant Professor of History, S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil.
Kanyakumari is situated in the southernmost part of the Indian Sub Continent. The District was a part of the ancient Travancore- Cochin states especially the southern part of Trivandrum District. The Malayalam Literary works refer this area as Nanjil Nadu and Edanadu1. The contribution and the achievement of the freedom fighters of Kanyakumari District was a remarkable one. Kanyakumari District was under the rule of the erstwhile Travancore kings still 1956. After the State reorganization in 1956, Kanyakumari District was merged with Tamil Nadu with four taluks namely Agastheeswaram, Thovalai, Kalkulam and Vilavancode. Kanyakumari District has no independent history of its own. The possession of Kanyakumari District was changing from one dynasty to the other dynasty. It was under the control of Ays, Cholas, Pandyas, and later under the administration of Travancore princely state. Though Kanyakumari district was a part of Travancore princely state, the people in this area actively participated in the various movements. The freedom fighters of Kanyakumari District was took part in the Non co-operation movement, Civil Disobedience Movement, Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha, Individual Satyagraha, Quit India movement etc.
According to the principles of Gandhiji, the most important agitation connected with the Indian National Congress was the Quit India Movement. It was famous for its occurance in the major part of India including the princely states. In Travancore it was a widely participated struggle. The objectives of what was to be known as the “Quit India” movement, a term coined by an American journalist in place of Gandhi’s orderly British withdrawal’, were simple. The All India Congress Committee therefore repeats with all emphasis the demand for the withdrawal of the British power from India. The All India Congress Committee appeals to the people of India to face the dangers and hardships that will fall to their lot with courage and endurance and to hold together under the leadership of Gandhiji, and carry out his instructions as disciplined soldiers of Indian freedom. They must remember that non-violence is the basis of this movement2. Every Indian who desires freedom and strives for it must be his own guide urging his in along the hard road where there is no resting place and which leads ultimately to the independence and deliverance of India3. Lastly All India Congress Committee has stated its own view of the future government under free India. The A.I.C.C. wishes to make it quite clear to all concerned that by embarking on mass struggle it has no intention of gaining power for the congress. The power, when it comes will belong to the whole people of India4.
The failure of the Cripps Mission and the danger of conversion of the India upto a theatre of war by Britain and her allies, forced Gandhiji and other congress leaders to make an all out effort to get rid of the British rule. The congress working committee passed a resolution on 14th July 1942 at Wardha5. It demanded the British withdrawal from India immediately. This resolution was accepted by the All India Congress Committee on 8th August 1942, in Bombay. Accordingly, a nationwide mass movement was started under the leadership of Gandhiji6.
In August 1942 when the Indian National Congress started the ‘Quit India Movement, the important leaders of the congress were in jail. However, the All Travancore State Congress committee met at Trivandrum and passed a resolution declaring its determination to fight shoulder to shoulder with the Indian National Congress in the struggle for India’s freedom with effect from 26th August 1942. After the resolution was passed, Gandhiji and a large number of prominent congress leaders were arrested and imprisoned. All the congress activities throughout India were banned7. Following the arrest of Gandhi and other congress leaders on 9th August protest meetings were held in different parts of the state under the auspices of the Travancore state congress, students and the labourers. The repercussions were felt in and around Nagercoil area. The freedom fighters in Nanchilnad Taluk Congress Committee took active steps with the co-operation of S. Sivan Pillai, S. Muthukaruppa Pillai and Viceroy Subramaniam etc. On 11th August Viceroy Subramaniam was arrested in Nagercoil.
On 12th August, the state congress conducted a hartal in Nagercoil. Shops and theatres were closed. In the evening a student march was arranged by the local congress committee. The freedom fighters of the whole Kanyakumari District vigorously involved in this movement8. The meeting was held under the leadership of S.V. Muthukaruppa pillai in the Municipal maidan, Nagercoil. The other speakers were S. Sivan Pillai, T. M. Sundaram, S. Subramania Pillai, C. Perumal Pillai etc. After the meeting was over, a huge mass procession was conducted under the leadership of S. Sivan Pillai. The procession started from Municipal maidan, with the cry of protest and went through Olugenassery, the place where the Reserve Police were stationed. The mass attacked the police camp by throwing stones, and the procession was dispersed there.
During August 1942, N. Subramanian, a freedom fighter, was making arrangements, along with a few of his followers for a student’s strike, hartal and public meeting propably for a procession on 12-08-1942. He was also addressing public meetings in Nagercoil. He was arrested by the Travancore police and was detained. He fasted for 28 days in jails and was released on 19439.
On 25th August 1942, a jatha (Procession) was started from Nagercoil Municipal maidan after a meeting. The chief participants of the freedom fighters were T.M. Sundaram, C. Sankar, C. Perumal Pillai, M. Soma Sundaram, K. Swami Nadar, S. Sivan Pillai, N. Nalla perumal, S. Natarajan, S. Ramachandran etc. The jatha halted at Vellamadam at night in the house of K.M. Boothalingam pillai, Advocate. S. Sivan pillai was arrested there10.
The jatha continued during the subsequent days through the places like Thovalai, Aralvoimozhi, Marunkoor, Mylaudy, Osaravilai, Kottaram and it reached Kanyakumari. At Kanyakumari eight persons were arrested and taken into custody. They were T.M. Sundaram, Sankar, Nallaperumal, A. Perumal, Somasundaram, Nadesan, Ramanathan, Swami Nadar and N. Subramaniam11.
Student’s participation in full was a special character of these movements. On 12 August 1942, the students of the university college, Trivandrum, protested against the arrest of Indian National Congress leaders and boycotted the educational institutions. They organized meetings, processions, strikes, demonstrations and wore black badges. On 20-10-1942, the students of I.T.I. at Nagercoil, conducted a procession. On that day the students of Scott Christian College, S.L.B. School and Carmel School organized a large procession and condemned the arrest of the freedom fighters and the British imperialism12.
The Freedom fighters of Kanyakumari District participated in the Quit India Movement in Tamil Nadu areas also. S. Shanmugham of Aralvoilmozhy who was working as a staff clerk in the All India Spinners Association at Tiruppur resigned his job and participated in the Quit India Movement in Tirunelveli. He was arrested and sentenced to eight months at Alipuram Central Jail13.
The most important agitation connected with the Indian National Movement was the Quit India Movement. It was famous for its occurrence in the major part of India including the princely states. The Tamils of Kanyakumari District actively participated in this struggle and sentenced to prisons in different parts of the country. At last they achieved the goal of Indian Independence.
References
- Gopalakrishnan M., Kanyakumari District Gazetteer, Madras 1995, p.1.
- Muruga Thanuskodi, Kamaraj Oru Charitrams (Tamil), Madras, 1976, p.74.
- Indian Annual Register, Vol.II, p.18.
- Tara Chand, History of the Freedom Movement in India, Vol.1-4, Publications Division, 1965, p.72.
- India’s Struggle for Independence : Visuals and Documents, National Council of Educational Research and and Tranining, 1985.
- Census of India, 1961 and Sreedhara Menon, A., Travancore District Gazetteer, Trivandrum, 1962, p.5.
- Manmohan Kaur, Women in India’s Freedom Struggle, New Delhi, 1988, p.220.
- Ramaswamy A., Tamil Nattil Gandhi(Tamil), Madras, 1969, p.76.
- Daniel D., “Quit India Movement in Travancore in the Journal of Madurai Kamaraj University”, Vol.VII, No.1, 1979.
- Freedeom Fighters Association Office record, 1979, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District.
- Issac Jayadhas R., Kanyakumari District and Indian Independence Movement, MCL Roy Publications, 2011, p.41.
- Ibid., p.42.
- Rajayyan K., History of Tamil Nadu (1565-1967) P.334-338.
- Nagam Aiya, The Travancore State Manuel, Vol.II and III, Trivandrum, 1906, p.58.