KASARAGOD: In the summer of 1932, Kadakam -- a sparsely populated village on the fringes of a thin forest in Kasaragod -- burst into revolt against the British. The people steered by Congress hit the streets to reclaim the forest from the imperial government.
The protest was an extension of the civil disobedience movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi, said historian C Balan. In 1865, the British government introduced the Indian Forest Act to take control of the forests. The Act was amended in 1878 and 1927.
The 1927 amendment affected the lives of the tribes and natives dependent on forests. “The amended Act imposed penalties on those taking firewood and fodder from forests. The Congress repeatedly passed resolutions against the Act calling for its withdrawal,” said Balan, who taught history at Nehru Arts and Science College in Padannakkad.
But in 1930, Gandhiji was imprisoned for eight months in Yervada prison for breaking the salt law. He came out on January 26, 1930. In a year, the British government arrested him again in Bombay on January 4, 1932, and sent him to the same prison. He would remain in prison for another eight months.
During this time Congress leaders opened new fronts of protests to maintain the momentum of the Freedom Movement, he said. “Kadakam Forest Satyagraha was one of the fronts.” People started flocking to the village in Muliyar panchayat bordering Karnataka from faraway places such as Kannur and Payyannur in April 1932. Freedom fighters P Krishna Pillai and K A Keraleeyan walked to Kadakam to fire up the protesters.
The Royal Navy was the backbone of the colonial British and the navy needed warships and the warships needed hardwood, he said. The British had plundered the Irish oak. Later, forest fires destroyed the rest, forcing the British government to consider teak and rosewood as alternatives to oak. The Nilambur teak plantation was one such project of the British to secure the need for hardwood, Balan said.
The sleepy village of Kadadam was awakened to the British plans by the fiery speeches of Krishna Pillai. After a month, the colonial government sent in the police to quell the protest. The police unleashed brute force on the protesters. C Krishnan Nair and K V Kannan were sentenced to four months of rigorous imprisonment. K N Kunhikannan Nair was detained till the end of the day’s court proceedings, said Balan.
“Years ago, during my research on Kadakam Forest Satyagraha, I met an old man in Kadakam. In 1932, he was only 12 years old. His eyes lit up when he recalled the protest,” said Balan. The boy’s village was milling with protesters and police. “I also wanted to do something. So I pulled out several saplings by the roadside,” the aged man told Balan.