Remembering Vaikom satyagraha, a 100 years later

Remembering Vaikom satyagraha, a 100 years later

Subject: History

Section: Modern India

Context:

• Vaikom satyagraha, the epic movement, enters its 100th year.

Early 20th century Travancore:

• The princely state of Travancore had a feudal, militaristic, and ruthless system of custom-ridden government.
• The idea of caste pollution worked not only on the basis of touch but also sight.
• The second half of the 19th century saw several social and political developments ushering in unprecedented social change.
• Christian missionaries converted large sections of lower castes seeking to escape the clutches of caste oppression.
• The reign of Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal Rama Varma (1860-80) saw many progressive reforms, such as universal free primary education — including for the lower castes.
• By the dawn of the 20th century, there had begun to emerge among caste Hindus, Christians and even avarna Hindus, especially Ezhavas, a significant educated elite.

About Vaikom Satyagraha:

• Vaikom is a temple town in the princely state of Travancore, saw the start of a non-violent agitation on March 30, 1924- the first among temple entry movements that would soon sweep across the country.
• Early morning on March 30, 1924, a Nair, an Ezhava and a Pulayu, dressed in Khaddar uniforms and garlanded, and followed by a crowd of thousands, attempted to use the roads.
• Leaders such as Periyar, who was arrested multiple times, and C Rajagopalachari came to Vaikom to offer support and lead the protesters.
• The campaign, led by Congress leaders T. K. Madhavan, K. Kelappan K. P. Kesava Menon, George Joseph, E. V. Ramasamy “Periyar”.
• In August, 1924, the Maharaja of Travancore died, following which, the young Maharani Regent, Queen Sethulakshmi Bai, released all prisoners.
• In March 1925, Gandhi was finally able to iron out a compromise: three out of the four roads surrounding the temples were opened up for everyone, but the fourth (eastern) road was kept reserved for brahmins.
• In November 1925, the government completed diversionary roads that could be used by the low castes “without polluting the temple”.
• The last satyagrahi was recalled from Vaikom on November 23, 1925.
• The Vaikom satyagraha was a remarkable movement, which sustained itself for over 600 days, amidst hostile social forces, police crackdowns, and one of the worst floods in the town’s history in 1924.
• In November 1936, the Maharaja of Travancore signed the historic Temple Entry Proclamation which removed the age-old ban on the entry of marginalized castes into the temples of the state. 
• This, along with the demonstration of Gandhian methods of civil disobedience as effective tools of protest, was the great success of the Vaikom satyagraha.

How did agitation started?

• The issue of temple entry was first raised by Ezhava leader T K Madhavan in a 1917 editorial in his paper Deshabhimani. 
• Inspired by the success of Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement, by 1920, he began to advocate for more direct methods.
• Entry of the Indian National Congress into the picture that changed the dynamics.
• Madhavan met Gandhi in 1921, and secured the Mahatma’s support for a mass agitation to enter temples.
• In the 1923 session of the INC in Kakinada, a resolution was passed by the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee to take up anti-untouchability as a key issue.
• This was followed by a massive public messaging campaign and a movement to open Hindu temples and all public roads to avarnas.
• Vaikom, with its revered Shiva temple, was chosen as the location for the very first satyagraha.

About Ezhavas:

• The Ezhavas are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as Kerala, where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the population and were reported to be the largest Hindu community.
• The Malabar Ezhava group have claimed a higher ranking in the Hindu caste system than do the others.