The Khilafat movement and the lessons of History

The Malabar rebellion, as it is popularly known, was part and parcel of the Khilafat movement started by Gandhiji along with the Muslim league. The Khilafat movement, as its name clearly states, was aimed at restoring the Khilafa of Turkey to his throne. Thus the moment sought to tap into the pan Islamic identity of the Indian Muslim. 

The Khilafat moment led to the empowerment of the Muslim League, not as part of the nationalist political mosaic, but as a sectarian outfit. Ultimately this led to the the creation of Muslim enclaves within and without India.

In the Malabar region of Kerala, the movement morphed into a frightening form. From the womb of the Khilafat emerged a monster which murdered, burned and raped its way through wide swathes of this land. It left behind a dazed Hindu population, which never expected, much less deserved, the atrocities committed by its 'muslim brothers'. The holocaust left behind refugees, desecrated temples, homes looted and burned. And… women, women ravaged through unspeakable atrocities.

Many have tried to sweep the incidents of 1921under the carpet. Some have made a 'secular' statement out of it with politically correct movies and plays. Others have gone a step further and justified the atrocities as isolated incidents in course of a freedom struggle for which the Communist government had allotted pension ! Isolated incidents? Evidence points to the contrary. Overwhelming evidence.

Some may ask: why go into the past? Let bygones be bygones. And I ask: does the past go away? Are we free from history?

History is taught and studied with great care so that its lessons are not forgotten. We study it with the belief that its truth will set us free. We know that history has a funny habit of biting us in the behind if it is ignored. 

It cannot be said that the history of the events of 1921 has been ignored by the successive governments of state and nation. But it can be undoubtedly stated that the teaching of history has been selective. 

You have learned about the 'wagon tragedy' at school.

But what about the events of Tuvvur? Have you heard about the well at Tuvvur? 

Have you come across the events at Muthumana Illam in any textbook? Are these not tragedies in the same scale of the ‘wagon tragedy’? Is it that the innocents who perished inside the wells at Tuvvur and Muthumana were less innocent than the Mappila agitators who died inside the wagon? Were they less human?

This document is not a comprehensive compilation of the incidents of 1921-22. The happenings associated with the Mappila riot are too voluminous to be included in any single document. 

           Our effort here is to shed light on a few incidents and give a better understanding of the Holocaust in Malabar.