With the centenary of the historic second Malabar District Conference round the corner, historians of Calicut University have unearthed important documents removing the obscurities over the conference held in Kozhikode in 1917.
There has been vagueness about the district conference held on April 23 and 24, 1917, in Kozhikode over which C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer had presided. P. Sivadasan, head of the department of history, Calicut University, who led a research team, said the identified documents included original invites, letters and membership forms of delegates at the conference.
“They are first-hand records to validate many points and to expel doubts about many others,” said Dr. Sivadasan.
Originally planned at Mananchira grounds, the conference had assumed nation-wide significance as it was shifted to the tennis court of K.P. Raman Menon after the British Collector denied permission for it.
Taking inspiration from the historic Tennis Court Oath of the French Revolution, many youngsters joined the historic conference held at the tennis court. The Tennis Court Conference of Indian history had witnessed the beginning of a political renaissance in Kerala, apart from several events such as inter-caste mass dining. It also saw the political debut of freedom fighters such as Moyyarath Sankaran, M.P. Narayana Menon, K. Madhavan Nair, and K.P. Kesava Menon.
Several leaders such as Annie Besant and Manjeri Rama Iyer had attended the conference.
Although the centenary of the conference is hardly two months away, no plans have so far been mooted for it. “We don’t have to blame anyone. It’s largely forgotten. Lack of solid historical evidence often makes historians forget such events,” said a Kozhikode-based young historian.
Dr. Sivadasan said historians would take initiative to celebrate the centenary of the event. The documents were unearthed from Vellakkat Mana at Wandoor during a search conducted as part of a history learning workshop that began at KMM AUP School, Cherukode, on Friday.
Calicut University Vice Chancellor K. Mohammed Basheer inaugurated the workshop. Porur panchayat president N.S. Archana inaugurated a history exhibition.
The three-day history camp will provide an opportunity for the local people to examine rural archives. “It’s a wonderful experiment. We have been finding great results from it,” said Dr. Sivadasan.
