What if we told you that Chennai’s oldest educational institutions witnessed political meetings? That some campuses saw students withdrawing from courses they were enrolled in for a political cause? And that many institutions volunteered to accomodat students who were being targeted by the law-makers of the land?
Such is the history of old Madras. From 1920s, students of several colleges in the city contributed actively to the freedom struggle and joined the campaign against British rule by organising boycotts, processions, meetings and picketing, and facing police action.
The student mobilisation gained momentum after Mahatma Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920. On November 24, 1920, students met at Soundarya Mahal and the meeting was chaired by C Rajagopalachari. Students of Madras Christian College (MCC) and Pachaiyappa’s College participated in significant numbers and resolved to support the boycott of British educational institutions and promote nationalist education. The movement soon spread across the Madras Presidency. According to the Ministry of Culture’s archival account, around 2,500 students had left educational institutions by the end of March 1921. The figure was recorded against a student population of 1,69,200 at the beginning of the movement.
At Presidency College, political debate became one of the ways in which students engaged with the national movement. A student gathering of around 500 students in the 1920s debated a resolution on Non-Cooperation. A large majority supported the motion that the movement was both ethically justified and politically effective. The debate reportedly took place despite a reminder from the Vice-Chancellor about students’ duty to obey their parents. The episode reflected the growing willingness of students in one of the city’s prominent government colleges to openly debate the legitimacy of British rule.
Students of Pachaiyappa’s College were, however, the forerunners in Swadeshi, boycott, and prohibition campaigns during the Non-Cooperation period. Their participation became more confrontational during the Quit India Movement in 1942. Following the arrest of national leaders in August that year, Madras witnessed strikes, hartals, and student demonstrations. On August 11, 1942, Pachaiyappa’s students took out a procession in support of the Quit India call. Police intervened and five students were injured. The agitation continued the next day, when Pachaiyappa’s students, with support from their peers from Loyola College, were involved in stone-pelting and picketing of public property. Students subsequently participated in activities aimed at disrupting communications and railway operations and damaging government records, according to the Ministry of Culture’s archival account. The authorities responded with disciplinary action.
At Presidency College, meanwhile, students were warned that continuation of their strike could result in their names being struck off the college rolls. But the students continued their protest.
At Madras Christian College (MCC), Gandhi’s visit in August 1920 had a strong impact on students. A contemporary student, K P S Menon, later recalled that the college quadrangle was packed when Gandhi addressed students, with students filling doorways and windows, and even climbing trees to hear him. The response soon moved beyond listening to Gandhi. On December 18, 1920, MCC students organised a procession through the main streets of Madras. They raised nationalist slogans including ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Gandhi Ki Jai’.
They were again active during the Quit India Movement in 1942. According to an account by Joshua Kalapati, who has authored a book on MCC history and legacy, the then principal Alexander Boyd refused to allow police to enter the campus to arrest students involved in the movement. The college also provided shelter and admission to those who had been expelled from other institutions for political activities, even when they did not have Transfer Certificates (TCs). Several MCC students were jailed for more than six months during the movement too.
Women students were not far behind and also became part of the political awakening in Madras. Queen Mary’s College, established in 1914 as Madras College for Women, had begun with 33 students. Its official history records the contribution of its alumnae to the Quit India Movement and identifies Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, who later served in the Indian National Army, was among its prominent former students. It also records the participation of several lesser-known women freedom fighters associated with the institution.
The student movement in Madras therefore, cut across institutions and, increasingly, gender. And as for the colonial government that had invested in modern education, the political awakening of its own students was an uncomfortable consequence.