Granite plaquettes featuring the names of Variamkunnathu Kunjahamad Haji, Ali Musliyar, and other martyrs of the 1921 Malabar Rebellion will be put up at the precincts of a few mosques in Ernakulam even as the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) is set to consider a proposal to delete these names from the Dictionary of Martyrs: India’s Freedom Struggle.
The plaque with the names of all the 387 martyrs engraved on it will be installed at 16 mosques affiliated to the Vypeen zonal committee of the Ernakulam District Muslim Jamaat Council.
The installation is part of a protest against what is described as a distortion of history and the deletion of these names from the list of martyrs of the freedom struggle.
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The first plaque was unveiled at Edavanakkad Juma Masjid the other day. Similar ones will be installed at Badariya Juma Masjid, Edavanakkad, Mahal Juma Masjid, Nayarambalam, and Sanketham Ajeed Juma Masjid, Malippuram, in the coming weeks, says T.A. Ahamad Kabeer, president of the district council.
“No one can obfuscate the history of the freedom struggle and delete the 1921 Rebellion and its leaders from the annals of history. The Malabar Rebellion was part of the freedom movement and all the 387 were killed by the British,” says Mr. Kabeer.
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“Seven mosques in the region will have the plaques installed in the first phase, followed by others. Enquiries are pouring in from different parts of the State about the initiative,” says E.K. Ashraf, general secretary of the council.
However, a member on the ICHR subcommittee, says compartmentalising the martyrs on religious basis and displaying their names at places of worship is inappropriate. There cannot be Hindu, Sikh or Muslim martyrs. Places of worship shall not be misused for such purposes.
The subcommittee member, who preferred not to be named, says the move is an attempt to convert a historical issue into a religious one.