KASARAGOD: Freedom fighter and poet T Subrahmanian Thirumump, one of the earliest communist leaders, is a traitor whose betrayal contributed to the Union government declaring the Communist Party of India as "unlawful" in Malabar province, said left-leaning historian Ajayakumar Kodoth in his new book.
"Yet, the CPM is celebrating him and the LDF government is building a Rs 51-crore cultural centre in the memory of Thirumump," said Kodoth, son of the late 'Gandhian Communist' and freedom fighter K Madhavan. "The irony is that the memorial is coming up at Madikai, where people were brutalised the most by the police raiding hideouts and secret shelters after Thirumump's surrender," he said.
Kodoth, who taught history at Nehru Arts and Science College in Kanhangad, made these revelations in his book 'Half a Century with a Gandhian Communist'. Back in 1948, his father and freedom fighter K Madhavan was the secretary of the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) in Kasaragod taluk.
Thirumump --- a Sanskrit scholar and fiery orator described by E M S Namboodiripad as a 'Singing Sword' --- was the Kasaragod taluk president of the party. Madhavan, Thirumump, and P Ambu Nair, another prominent leader, were delegated to go to Calcutta to attend the second party congress held from February 28 to March 6, 1948. "But when their train reached Kozhikode, my father got a secret letter from P Krishna Pillai asking him to get off the train and go underground," Kodoth said. Krishna Pillai had received information that the party, under the next general secretary B T Ranadive, would be passing a resolution against Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. "So, Pillai wanted to protect important leaders from the consequent police crackdown. Expectedly, the party under Ranadive passed the resolution, known as the Calcutta Thesis, calling for armed revolution to overthrow the government of Nehru, 'an agent of British imperialism'. The Calcutta Thesis was endorsed by Thirumump and P Ambu Nair at the party congress", the historian recounted.
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In Madhavan's autobiography 'On the Banks of the Thejaswini', he wrote: "The two leaders (Thirumump and Ambu Nair) returned from Calcutta as more sectarian." "In a meeting of the CPI's Kasaragod taluk committee, Kandalottu Kunhambu -- who went on to become the minister of Forest in 1977 --- said they should attack Kanhangad police station and loot the weapons. But when Madhavan opposed, Thirumump said they should at least attack the outpost at Adhur where there are just two policemen because it was the decision of the Malabar committee. For three months, Thirumump went around calling for an armed revolution to topple the government in party meetings. But by May, he realised the police were closing in on him and called for a rendezvous with Madhavan at a hideout at Erikulam in Madikai. Thirumump appeared upset and wanted to escape to Bangalore with my father," the historian said.
But Madhavan refused to flee saying he never endorsed the Calcutta resolution. Soon after that meeting, Thirumump surrendered before Cheruvathur police on May 21, 1948, the historian said. "It was a big victory for the police and the government. They got an orator such as Thirumump on their side. He started speaking at events organised by the police where he called communists anti-nationals. His surrender was followed by police raids at communist hideouts in Kasaragod taluk. But leaders such as K P R Gopalan suspected Thirumump might snitch on them and changed the hideouts of all the leaders. So, no leader was arrested during the raids but the owners of the secret shelters and their families were brutalised by the police," stated Kodoth.
The historian said he got hold of the hard evidence of Thirumump's betrayal in 2006 when he visited the Tamil Nadu Archives in Egmore. "I stumbled on Thirumump's file that included his surrender statements given to the Cheruvathur police and the Special Branch. Thirumump's statement read: "The resolution drafted by Ranadive was passed unanimously... but I had my own doubts and suspicions about the wisdom of the party policy"."
Kodoth said the resolution was opposed by several leaders, including C Achutha Menon and K V Surendranath. Thirumump also sought pardon from the collector of South Canara district "for all what I may have done while in the Communist Party".
In his statement given to police on June 14, 1948, Thirumump said Communist leaders of Malabar C H Kanaran and K A Keraleeyan had prepared a "violent programme" on the lines of Telangana-model to form a 'Communist Cell Rule', and that the programme card was with K Madhavan. "It was not just a surrender statement. It was a lie, a betrayal of his comrades and the party," said Kodoth.
The police of Madras Province reported the statements to the Union government's Ministry of States (Home) on July 6, 1948. The recommendation of the police had said: "The government of Madras considers that the material furnished by T S Thirumump is sufficient to declare the party (CPI) unlawful in Madras Province, if not throughout India". Soon after that, the party was banned in Madras province, said Kodoth.
Ajayakumar Kodoth said he apprised chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan of all these facts in a petition in 2018 when the work on the cultural centre at Madikai had begun. "Yet, the government is going ahead and building a memorial for the betrayer," Kodoth said.