The proposal to remove the names of Malabar Rebellion leaders Variamkunnath Kunhamed Haji, Ali Musaliar, and other Mopla martyrs from the Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle has evoked sharp response from various quarters. Historian M.G.S. Narayanan felt that the changed political circumstances in the country might have influenced the decision, which he said was “not right and not good.” However, he felt that Kunhamed Haji could not be considered as a freedom fighter. “He was interested in freedom. But there is no need to place him in a position of stature,” he said.
The Hindu had reported that a subcommittee appointed by the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) had recommended the deletion of names.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) said that martyrs of freedom struggle would live in the hearts of the people, and not in records. “Even if you rewrite or erase the records, nothing can be erased from people’s hearts,” said IUML national general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty, MLA.
“Nobody had doubts about those annals of history for years after India attained Independence. The BJP and the Centre now have doubts about many things. They are blinded by communal agenda. The world will not agree with them, let alone India,” he said.
IUML district president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal said that one should not be thankless to those who fought for the land. “You do not have to be thankful. But you should not be so ungrateful. By trying to deal with history dishonestly, you are doing a great injustice to the next generation,” he said, referring to the Sangh Parivar.
Kerala Muslim Jamat State general secretary Sayed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari too condemned the move. “The removal of the names of those who fought the British would be the biggest shame for independent India. It is a cruelty to history and patriots will never accept it,” he said.
‘Anti-national’
K.M. Jafar, a member of the Chakkiparambu family of Kunhamed Haji, said the names were included on the list after a lot of research. Several Hindu leaders had joined hands with Kunhamed Haji in the fight against the British, which disproved the arguments that the rebellion was anti-Hindu, he said. Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) State general secretary P. Abdul Hameed termed the move anti-national.
BJP’s voice
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice president A.P. Abdullakutty described Kunhamed Haji as Kerala’s first Taliban leader. Setting up a memorial and glorying him as a freedom fighter amounted to distortion of history. Malabar Rebellion was neither a peasant revolt nor a freedom struggle, but an act of Hindu genocide, he said.
