Vaikom Satyagraha inspired Dalit awakening, says Anandraj Ambedkar

Memorial to Amachadi Thevan, an unsung hero of the Satyagraha, unveiled on the Amachadi island

A memorial to Amachadi Thevan, an unsung hero of Vaikom Satyagraha, being unveiled by B.R. Ambedkar’s grandson Anandraj Ambedkar on the Amachadi island off Kochi on Monday.  | Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin

The Vaikom Satyagraha had inspired the socio-political awakening of Dalits that triggered a great start to the social reform movement and boosted similar movements across the country, Anandraj Ambedkar, grandson of B.R. Ambedkar, has said.

He was talking after unveiling a memorial to Amachadi Thevan, an unsung hero of the Vaikom Satyagraha, on the small picturesque Amachadi island, near here. The District Congress Committee (DCC) and the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) jointly installed the memorial as part of the Congress’s ongoing Vaikom Satyagraha centenary celebrations.

“The Vaikom Satyagraha, which started as a small regional protest against untouchability, turned into a watershed movement in Kerala history,” Mr. Ambedkar said. He hailed the role of Amachadi Thevan in the movement who was blinded by upper caste goons for taking part in the fight against untouchability and casteism.

Later, inaugurating the meeting, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said that the memorial was borne out of the determination of the KPCC to ensure that the history of Amachadi Thevan should not go unsung. He remembered how Amachadi Thevan was thrown behind the bars for entering the Poothotta temple defying untouchability.

KPCC president K. Sudhakaran said that the unveiling of the Amachadi Thevan memorial amounted to the rightful restoration of the memories of a forgotten revolutionary. He said that the party’s year-long programmes to mark the centenary of the Vaikom Satyagraha would witness the revelation of many such historical truths, which would serve as a reminder to the new generation of the State’s casteist past.

Amachadi Thevan had worked closely with Vaikom Satyagraha leaders such as T.K. Madhavan and K.P. Kesava Menon. Thevan, who supported the Congress, was attacked by goons hired by Indanthuruthil Namboothiri, the leader of the upper caste Hindus. He was later arrested and tortured.

According to historians, his dwelling on the island was destroyed by upper caste members after he returned from jail in 1925. The dwelling, which was in a dilapidated State, has been restored by the DCC.

Hibi Eden, MP; Uma Thomas and K. Babu, MLAs; Muhammed Shiyas, DCC president; and V.P Sajeendran, KPCC vice president and chairman of the Vaikom Satyagraha Centenary Celebration Committee; were among those who attended the event.