RSS body wants Moplah rebellion termed a genocide

It announces a series of events to raise support

Crushed: Moplah prisoners go on trial in Calicut, September 1925

Prajna Pravah, an organisation associated with the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) has demanded that the Moplah Rebellion of 1921 be termed a genocide and that a genocide memorial be set up in memory of those who lost their lives in that set of events. It announced a series of events to raise support for the move.

Speaking to The Hindu , J Nandakumar, all India convenor of Prajna Pravah, said the body was going to organise events on September 25 and 26 in Delhi and at block levels in Kerala to press their demands. “September 25, 1921, was when one of the most gruesome episodes of this movement took place, at Thuvvur, and that’s why the date was chosen. In Delhi at Palika Park, we are organising a programme, exhibition and a memorial for the victims and on the 26th, a public programme at Constitution Club, where historian C I Isaac will speak on the issue. Memorial events for those who died will be held in every block in Kerala as well,” he stated.

According to Mr. Nandakumar, there were “plenty of contemporaneous accounts, including Annie Besant and B.R. Ambedkar” of the Moplah rebellion, which revealed “its true nature” and not part of the Independence movement.

Death of nearly 10,000 people

The Moplah rebellion, considered an agrarian revolt by Muslim peasants against largely Hindu zamindars lasted for many months and reportedly resulted in the death of nearly 10,000 people. The rebellion became controversial recently when the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education, formed a three-member committee to review the names who could be considered as Freedom fighters and martyrs of the Freedom movement, and reportedly recommended that the names of 387 people associated with the

Moplah rebellion be removed from the “Dictionary of Martyrs: India’s Freedom Struggle from 1857-1947 ”.

While the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala has opposed this move, former BJP general secretary Ram Madhav has slammed the Moplah rebellion as being the “first manifestation of Talibani mindset” in India. He has also attacked the move of Kerala’s Left Front government to mark the centenary year of the Moplah rebellion.

Mr. Nandakumar said the Moplah rebellion was a contentious part of India’s history and that “there exists a trans-generational trauma with regard to this, and the Kerala government is aiming to rub salt into those wounds” by its plans to mark the centenary of the event.