MALAPPURAM: An interview of Ali Musliyar, a prominent leader of the 1921 Malabar rebellion, has surfaced, giving insight into his days in jail after being sentenced to death by a British court.
The interview that he gave to an English newspaper from the Coimbatore jail was among the several important documents related to the rebellion collected by P Sivadasan, a professor of the history department at Calicut University, recently. Journalist, C K Mohammed Yacoob Sahib, interviewed Musliyar on December 7, 1921, with the permission of the junior officers of the jail, while the senior authorities were unaware of it.
The newspaper published the interview on December 10, 1921. Ali Musliyar, along with Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji, had led several fights against the British forces during the Malabar rebellion. Following a tip-off, the British forces surrounded a mosque in Tirurangadi on August 20, 1921, to nab Musliyar. He went underground.
The forces seized several articles. Later, he surrendered to save the people from harassment by the police. “I had kept within the box currency notes of various denominations, silver, and copper coins of the aggregate value of Rs 350. The police who entered the mosque made a thorough search of all things and including my box and walked out with all things.
At the trial, a small bundle tied up in cloth was produced and it was represented that it belonged to me and it contained cash merely of the value of Rs 17. What became of the balance I am not in a position to say and I don’t want to say. If any chance of your being able to secure that amount or anything higher from the authorities, you may utilize that amount for distribution among the poor,” Ali Musliyar said in the interview (as published in the newspaper).
“The documents help us chronicle the heroic life of Ali Musliyar. They give an insight into the final days and death of Ali Musliyar,” said Sivadasan. Another news report published on February 19, 1922 -- revealed the burial place of Musliyar. It says: “Ali Musaliar, Hussain Kutti and Ahmed, whose death sentences were confirmed by the Government, were executed yesterday morning. Their corpses were, at the request of the local Muhammadans, handed over to them.”