KOZHIKODE: Dr Abbas Panakkal, the researcher who questioned the validity of the widely-circulated photograph of Variamkunnath Kunhamed Haji, one of the leaders of the Malabar Rebellion in 1921, has come up with more documentary evidence to substantiate his argument.
Author O Rameez Muhammad had claimed that the cover photo of his book ‘Sultan Variamkunnan’ was a rare picture of Haji. The claim kicked off discussions a few years ago. Rameez had sourced the photo from a French magazine ‘Science et Voyages’ published in August 1922. It carried the photo of Ali Musaliar, the leader of the rebellion, with the images of two unidentified persons on either side. The caption read: “a portrait of Mohammed Ali, who was one of the main architects of the revolt…..On each side, two Moplahs who gave the signal for the uprising by murdering English settlers.”
Rameez’s argument was that one of the unidentified persons was Haji. However, after perusing the British documents Dr Abbas Panakkal, advisor, Religious Life and Beliefs Centre, University of Surrey, UK, concluded that the person in the photo was not Haji, but Kunhi Khadir, another rebel leader. Dr Panakkal’s book ‘Musaliar King’ devotes an entire section to explain how he debunked Rameez’s claim.
“The caption says the photos are those who started the war with the incidents at Tirurangadi on August 20, 1921. There is no doubt the person in the centre is Ali Musaliyar, but the figure on his left cannot be Haji as claimed by Rameez. Haji did not appear anywhere in the British police’s list of those to be arrested on August 20 or those who were arrested on August 30,” Dr Panakkal said.
“British archival sources unequivocally ascribe the entirety of responsibility for ‘initiating hostilities’ to Kunhi Kadir,” said Dr Panakkal. Khadir was the secretary of the Tanur Khilafat committee at that time, he said, adding that the wording in the caption that the persons in the photo are those who gave ‘signal for the uprising’ is apt in the case of Khadir.
The British records accuse that Khadir and another rebel leader Lava Kutty were responsible for the murder of two British soldiers Johnstone and Rowley. This matches with the description in the caption ‘murdering the English settlers’, Dr Panakkal said.
The British had made a propaganda film on the rebellion to justify their cruelties. The same figures in the photos had appeared in the advertisement for the film too and wording of the ad is almost like that of the caption. The ad of the film was published on January 5, 1922 and the film might have been made much earlier. Haji was arrested on January, 5, 1922, brutally tortured on January 6 and ultimately shot dead on January 20.
“The claim was that Haji’s photo was taken while in police custody but actually he was arrested much later, after the photos were published,” he said.
Dr Panakkal said sentimentalism overshadowed dispassionate scrutiny that led to wrongly identifying the photo. “I became the target of social media attacks for bringing out the truth. Haji was undoubtedly the leader of the rebellion and a true secularist. Wrong identification of the photo is an insult to him,” he said.