KOZHIKODE: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has condemned the decision of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) to accept the recommendation that the names of martyrs in the Malabar Rebellion be removed from the list of freedom fighters.
In a statement issued on Monday, Kodiyeri said the names of the martyrs will disappear from the dictionary of freedom fighters once the Union ministry of cultural affairs agrees to the decision. The ICHR appointed a three-member committee when some persons argued that the names of the martyrs should not be allowed to remain in the list of freedom fighters.
The ICHR that met the other day decided to accept the recommendation of the committee, Kodiyeri said. The CPM leader said the Malabar Rebellion has a special place in the freedom struggle of the country. “The Malabar agrarian uprising was a valiant struggle against feudalism and the imperialist forces that supported it,” he said.
The leaders of the struggle themselves had made it clear that it was a fight against imperialism and tenancy laws existed at that time.
“The British had tried to isolate the struggle by branding it as Mappila mutiny. The Sangh Parivar agenda, which follows the British line, to give a communal brand to the rebels has become evident through the ICHR move,” Kodiyeri said. He called upon the secular forces to resist the Sangh Parivar attempt to communalise the country’s history.