January 6, 1947. The Indian freedom movement was at its peak. A huge crowd had gathered at Suchindram in Kanniyakumari district on the occasion of the Thanumalayaswami Temple car festival, unaware of what was in store for them. The temple has one of the biggest cars in Tamil Nadu, adorned with minute and beautiful wood carvings. Anyone who has witnessed the festival could visualise the day. There would be innumerable vendors, selling sugar cane, pomelos that would arrive in plenty as the season coincides with the festival, sweets, and dolls for children. Suddenly, the situation turned tense as a huge police force, armed with ‘lathis’ and guns, entered the car streets. They faced a stiff resistance from freedom fighters who had hoisted the Congress flag atop the main car of the temple and insisted that it be kept there till the festival was over. Stones were thrown.
Running helter-skelter
The police started caning the protesters. The crowd ran in all directions. As the baton charge failed to douse the spirit of the protesters, the police opened fire, which resulted in the death of four persons. The decorated cars stood on the deserted streets and a pall of gloom descended on the temple town. The car was brought back to the stand after the flag was lowered by the police.
According to a report from The Hindu archives, the chief priest of the temple objected to the hoisting of the flag on the ground that it was against mamool (normal practice), but the crowd insisted on it. “The situation became tense and a special contingent of Reserve Police arrived on the scene. There was throwing of stones and brickbats and the police resorted to lathi charge and later opened fire to disperse the crowd. It is stated that in all, 15 rounds were fired by the police,” reported The Hindu.
The Associated Press had reported that “Military aid had been called in as a precautionary measure, but as the situation became normal before their arrival, they had since been withdrawn.”
A.K. Perumal, folklorist and author of Thenkumariyin Kathai, said the Suchindram festival protest was the result of the anger against Simpson, an Anglo-Indian estate owner, and C.P. Ramaswami Iyer, Diwan of Travancore State.
“Simpson used to roam around on an open jeep with a bunch of goondas and break the Congress flag posts in Kanniyakumari district. People believed he had the blessings of Ramaswami Iyer,” said Perumal, recalling the incidents, as narrated by freedom fighters Sivan Pillai and Nagalingam, who ran a library in the name of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and P.S. Mani.
Two Congress parties
There were two Congress parties active in Kanniyakumari, then a part of Travancore. The Travancore Samasthana Congress was fighting against the rule of the kings and Ramaswami Iyer. The Travancore Tamils Congress was fighting for the rights of the Tamils and both the organisations worked closely with the Indian National Congress.
Sivan Pillai, in his autobiography Puyalile Oru Payanam (A Journey in a Storm), explains that the flag was hoisted to express people’s opposition to Ramaswami Iyer, demand separation of South Travancore from United Kerala and annexing Travancore with the Indian Union.
Plea from police officer
Mr. Perumal, who wrote a detailed article, CP. Ramaswami Iyarum Simpson Jeepum, has recalled what was narrated by Sivan Pillai, who had gone there with his children, nephews, and nieces, when police inspector Abdul Kadar requested him to dissuade the Congress workers from hoisting the flag.
“I went near the car. The Congress workers raised slogans against C.P. Ramaswami Iyer and Simpson. They were firm on hoisting the flag. I spoke to the youth. But one of them snatched the flag from me and ran towards the car. He climbed the car and hoisted the flag. It created an impression that I was behind the incident,” writes Sivan Pillai, who also advised against linking politics with temple festivals.
A request in vain
It was almost 4 p.m. when he asked members of the Gandhi Youth Association to remove the flag from the car. He told them that it was everyone’s responsibility to pull the car and bring it back to the stand. “But when I went to pull the car, slogans were raised against me. I spoke to DSP Sivasankar Pillai. He said the police were going to open fire to disperse the crowd and it happened,” writes Sivan Pillai.
A police officer, who later wrote about the incident in Malayalam, recalled how an 80-year-old woman effortlessly scaled over a compound wall to escape the riotous scene.
A total of four persons were killed in the police firing. The police report identified them as Arunachalam, Pachaya Nadar, Umaithanu Pillai, and Thiraviam Pillai. A case was filed against 61 people, including Sivan Pillai and C.P. Elango, a well-known freedom fighter of Kanniyakumari district. P.S. Mani, C.P. Elango and Umaithanu Pillai of Usaravilai crossed the Travancore border and went into Tamil Nadu. Sivan Pillai, Sankara Pillai, and a few others were arrested.
