THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday criticised the alleged move by the Centre to erase the names of people, who participated in the Malabar Rebellion, from a book on martyrs of the freedom struggle by saying those without any idea about the anti-British movement are making such a move.
The Chief Minister said Variyamkunnath Kunjahamed Haji, the leader of the rebellion, was executed by British and others who were part of the movement were recognised as freedom fighters.
"It cannot be denied that the 1921 revolt was against the British. Later, the revolt against the landlords, who used to help the Britishers, developed. It's true that some had tried to take advantage of the situation," the Chief Minister told reporters.
Regarding the allegations by the BJP and the RSS that the rebellion, also known as the Moplah (Muslim) riots of 1921, was one of the first manifestations of the Taliban mindset in India, he said Haji and others were recognised as freedom fighters.
Now, the controversy is over the Centre trying to remove their names from the list of martyrs, he said.
Noting that there were many forms of the freedom struggle such as satyagraha, non-cooperation movement, farmers movement and armed protests, he said all had one aim, that is, to oust the British.
"Just because they had various opinions on the system of rule after the ousting of the Britishers, that does not mean that they were not part of the freedom struggle," Vijayan said.
The CPI(M) and the Congress in Kerala had criticised the Centre following some media reports that a three-member panel of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) sought removal of 387 martyrs, including Haji and Ali Musliar, from the book.
While a section in Kerala hail Haji as a leader who died fighting against British colonialism, Hindu right wing groups claim he was a leader of fanatics who targeted Hindus in Eranadu and Valluvanadu taluks in south Malabar in 1921.
Addressing a function in Kozhikode on August 19, RSS leader Ram Madhav claimed that the Malabar Rebellion was one of the first manifestations of the Taliban mindset in India and the Left government in Kerala was celebrating it as a revolution by the Communists.