Accamma Cherian | |
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| Born | 14 February 1909 |
| Died | 5 May 1982 Trivandrum, Kerala, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Political party | Travancore State Congress |
| Spouse | V. V. Varkey |
| Parent(s) | Thomman Cherian and Annamma |
Akkamma Cherian was an Indian independence activist [1] [2] from Travancore (Kerala), India. She was popularly known as the Jhansi Rani of Travancore. [3]
She was born on 14 February 1909 in a Roman Catholic family (Karippaparambil) at Kanjirapally, Travancore, as the second daughter of Thomman Cherian and Annamma Karippaparambil. She was educated at Government Girls High School, Kanjirapally and St. Joseph's High School, Changanacherry. She earned a BA in history from St. Teresa's College, Ernakulam.[ citation needed ]
After completing her education in 1931, she worked as a teacher at St. Mary's English Medium School, edakkara), where she later became head mistress. She worked in this institution for about six years, and during this period she also did her L. T. degree from Tri Training College.[ citation needed ]
In February 1938, the Travancore State Congress was formed and Accamma gave up her teaching career to join the struggle for liberty. [4] [5]
Under the State Congress, the people of Travancore started an agitation for a responsible government. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, the Dewan of Travancore, decided to suppress the agitation. On 26 August 1938, he banned the State Congress which then organised a civil disobedience movement. Prominent State Congress leaders including its President Pattom A. Thanu Pillai were arrested and put behind bars. [6] The State Congress then decided to change its method of agitation. Its working committee was dissolved and the president was given dictatorial powers and the right to nominate his successor. Eleven 'dictators' (Presidents) of the State Congress were arrested one by one. Kuttanad Ramakrishna Pillai, the eleventh dictator, before his arrest nominated Accamma Cherian as the twelfth dictator.[ citation needed ]
Accamma Cherian led a mass rally from Thampanoor to the Kowdiar Palace of the Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma to revoke a ban on State Congress. [4] The agitating mob also demanded the dismissal of the Dewan, C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, against whom the State Congress leaders had levelled several charges. The British police chief ordered his men to fire on the rally of over 20,000 people . Accamma Cherian cried, "I am the leader; shoot me first before you kill others". Her courageous words forced the police authorities to withdraw their orders. On hearing the news M. K. Gandhi hailed her as 'The Jhansi Rani of Travancore'. She was arrested and convicted for violating prohibitory orders in 1939. [7]
In October 1938, the working committee of the State Congress directed Accamma Cherian to organise the Desasevika Sangh (Female Volunteer Group). She toured various centres and appealed to the women to join as members of the Desasevika Sangh.[ citation needed ]
Accamma had been imprisoned twice during her struggle for independence.[ citation needed ]
The first annual conference of the State Congress was held at Vattiyoorkavu on 22 and 23 December 1932 in spite of the ban orders. Almost all leaders of the State Congress were arrested and imprisoned. Accamma, along with her sister Rosamma Punnose (also a freedom fighter, M.L.A., and a CPI leader from 1948), was arrested and jailed on 24 December 1939. [8] They were sentenced to a year's imprisonment. They were insulted and threatened in the jail. Due to the instruction given by the jail authorities, some prisoners used abusing and vulgar words against them. This matter was brought to the notice of M.K. Gandhi by Pattom A. Thanu Pillai. [9] [10] C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, however, denied it. Accamma's brother, K. C. Varkey Karippaparambil also took part in freedom movement.[ citation needed ]
Accamma, after her release from jail, became a full-time worker of the State Congress. In 1942, she became its Acting President. In her presidential address, she welcomed the Quit India Resolution passed at the historic Bombay session of the Indian National Congress on 8 August 1942. She was arrested and awarded one year imprisonment. In 1946, she was arrested and imprisoned for six months for violating ban orders. In 1947, she was again arrested as she raised her voice against C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar's desire for an independent Travancore.[ citation needed ]
In 1947, after independence, Accamma was elected unopposed to the Travancore Legislative Assembly from Kanjirapally. In 1951, she married V.V. Varkey Mannamplackal, a freedom fighter and a member of Travancore Cochin Legislative Assembly. They had one son, George V. Varkey, an engineer.[ citation needed ] In the early 1950s, she resigned from the Congress Party after being denied a Lok Sabha ticket and in 1952, she unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary election from Muvattupuzha constituency as an independent.[ citation needed ] In the early 1950s, when the parties ideologies were changing, she quit politics. [4] Her husband V. V. Varkey Mannamplackal, Chirakkadavu. served as an MLA in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1952 to 1954. In 1967, she contested the Assembly election from Kanjirapally as a Congress candidate but was defeated by the Communist Party's candidate. Later, she served as a member of the Freedom Fighters' Pension Advisory Board.[ citation needed ]
Accamma Cherian died on 5 May 1982. A statue was erected in her memory in Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram. [11] A documentary film was made on her life by Sreebala K. Menon. [12] [13] [14]
Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, popularly known as Sree Chithira Thirunal, was the last ruling Maharaja of the Indian princely state of Travancore, in southern India until 1949 and later the Titular Maharajah of Travancore until 1991. His reign is known for several notable reforms that have indelible impact on the society and culture of Kerala.
Pillai or Pillay, meaning "Child of King"(Prince), is a surname found among the Tamil and Malayalam-speaking people of India and Sri Lanka. Traditionally used by various Vellalar subcastes, upper caste Nairs, and some Brahmins, often bestowed by ruling royal families of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is also used by many Tamil-speaking castes, including Rowther, Isai Vellalar, Karaiyar, Agamudayar, etc and less commonly found among Malayalam-speaking communities like Nazrani Mappila and Marars of travancore.
Mannathu Padmanabhan was an Indian social reformer and freedom fighter from the south-western state of Kerala. He is recognised as the founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS), which represents the Nair community that constitutes 15.5% of the population of the state. His birthday(January 2) is observed as Mannam Jayanti every year. Padmanabhan is considered as a visionary reformer who organised the Nair community under the NSS.
The Temple Entry Proclamation was issued by Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma on November 12, 1936. The Proclamation abolished the ban on the backward and marginalised communities, from entering Hindu temples in the Princely State of Travancore, now part of Kerala, India.
Dewan Bahadur Sachivottama SirChetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer, popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law member of the Executive council of the Governor of Madras from 1923 to 1928, Law member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India from 1931 to 1936 and the Diwan of Travancore from 1936 to 1947. Ramaswami Iyer was born in 1879 in Madras city and studied at Wesley College High School and Presidency College, Madras before qualifying as a lawyer from the Madras Law College. He practised as a lawyer in Madras and succeeded S. Srinivasa Iyengar as the Advocate-General of the Madras Presidency. He subsequently served as the Law member of the Governor of Madras and of the Viceroy of India before being appointed Diwan of Travancore in 1936.
Govindan Parameswaran Pillai, also known as Barrister G. P. Pillai, was a freedom fighter, social reformer, barrister, journalist, and publisher. He established the first English language newspaper in South India, The Madras Standard. He drafted the Malayali Memorial in 1891. Pillai is the only Malayali whom Mahatma Gandhi has mentioned in his autobiography. He regularly wrote columns in various newspapers. Pillai stood against autocratic governance in Travancore and promoted civil rights and equal opportunity among all classes.
C. Kesavan was a politician,freedom fighter,social reformer, statesman and the chief minister of Travancore-Cochin during 1950–1952. He led the Nivarthana agitation in Travancore to gain the democratic authority for the citizens to decide on the legislation and to attain opportunities regardless of caste or social and economical status.
Paravoor Thazhathuveettil Krishnan Kartha Narayana Pillai was an Indian freedom fighter during the British Raj in India and was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) which fought against the British rule in India. He was the last Prime Minister of Travancore and the first Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin at the time of its formation in 1949. He was commonly known as Parur TK.
G. Ramachandhran was a soldier for the Gandhian cause, social reformer and a teacher. With his wife, Dr. T. S. Soundram, daughter of T V Sundaram Iyengar, founder of TVS Group, he started the Gandhigram, Tamil Nadu in 1945. He authored several books. Viswabharati, Rabindranath Tagore's University, in Santhiniketan awarded him the higher title "Desikottama".
Thandaaneth Mathai Varghese (1886–1961) was an Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, statesman, former minister and politician from Kerala.
Elanthoor is a village in Pathanamthitta district of the Southern State of Kerala, India. Situated halfway between Kozhencherry and Pathnamthitta, the area was part of the Kingdom of Travancore presumably since 1820. This peaceful rural belt has a significant place in the history of the freedom movement of the country and has made notable contributions to the film industry. It has been argued that the expression "Ellangalude Oor" shortened by over has become "Elanthoor". "Ellangalude Oor" would mean "aggravation of settlements" or a region of concentration of houses.
Vaikom Satyagraha, was a nonviolent agitation for access to the prohibited public environs of the Vaikom Temple in the Kingdom of Travancore. Kingdom of Travancore was known for its rigid and oppressive caste system. The campaign, led by Congress leaders T. K. Madhavan, K. Kelappan K. P. Kesava Menon, George Joseph, E. V. Ramasamy "Periyar" and was noted for the active support and participation offered by different communities and a variety of activists.After the intervention of Mahatma Gandhi, a compromise was reached with Regent Sethu Lakshmi Bayi who released all those arrested and opened the north, south and west public roads leading to Vaikom Mahadeva Temple to all castes. Bayi refused to open the eastern road. The compromise was criticized by E. V. Ramasamy "Periyar" and some others. Only in 1936, after the Temple Entry Proclamation, was access to the eastern road and entry into the temple allowed to the backward castes.
Kizhakkayil Mathai Chandy was an Indian Freedom fighter, Indian National Congress leader, Member of the Travancore–Cochin Legislative Assembly who also served as the governor of the Indian states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. From 1948 to 1951, he served as a member of the Travancore State Legislature. From 1952 to 1954, he served as a M.L.A in the Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly. He was also the former president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and chairman of Rubber Board.
Annie Mascarene was an Indian independence activist, politician and lawyer from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala who served as a Member of the Parliament of India and was the first woman to do so.
The Kallara-Pangode Struggle is one of the 39 agitations declared by the Government of India as the movements that led to the country gaining independence from the British rule. It is listed alongside some of the most important movements of Indian independence such as Quit India Movement, Khilafat Movement, Malabar Rebellion, the Ghadar Party Movement and Hollwell Revolt Movement by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. It is ranked among the 39 most revered movements that were part of Indian Independence Movement and culminated in the British rule ending over Indian territories in 1947.
The Kadakal Rebellion of 1938 or Kadakkal Revolt was a civil disobedience movement that happened against unfair toll collection in Kadakkal of Kollam district in the course of India's struggle. It is a unique event in the history of the princely state of Travancore. The event which started as a mass movement against excess tax or toll collection by authorities eventually culminated in the formation of a parallel administration named Kummil Pakuthi, perhaps the smallest in the world lasting for a short span of eight days. The event is also known as Kadakkal Riot Case and is recognized as an Indian independence movement by Ministry of Home Affairs (India).
K. Kumar (1894–1973) was an Indian orator, reformer and writer of the Indian pre-independence era. He was one of the earliest socio-political leaders to have brought Gandhi's message and the spirit of the national movement to the erstwhile Travancore State. A gifted translator, he traveled with Gandhi during his Kerala tours, interpreting his English speeches in Malayalam. He was also an Advisor to the Nehru government. Kumarji was the President of the Travancore Congress Committee and was also in charge of Gandhiji's Travancore tour more than once. He served on the AICC and on the working committee of the AICC, TC-PCC/ KPCC heading its Constructive Work Committee during crucial years of the freedom movement. He also functioned as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of Travancore
Rosamma Punnoose was an Indian independence activist, politician and lawyer. She was the first person to be sworn in as a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. She was also the first MLA in India to lose her seat following a court order, and the first person to be elected in the first-ever by-election to the assembly in 1958. Punnoose was also the first pro tem Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
Travancore State Congress also known as the State Congress is a political party which was formed in 1938 to demand responsible governance in the princely state of Travancore.
Cherian J. Kappan was a Freedom fighter, Indian National Congress leader, Member of the Travancore–Cochin Legislative Assembly and Member of Parliament from Kerala, India. He was a member of Travancore State Legislature from 1948 to 1951 and M.L.A. in Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly from 1952 to 1954. Cherian represented Ramapuram constituency as a Congress Parliamentary Party candidate in Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly. He represented Muvattupuzha constituency in third Lok Sabha (1962–67). He was the first chairman of the Pala Municipality.
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