Chronicling Kerala's politics of protest
Nov 19, 2006 - 2:07:59 PM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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Kerala so far was just a remittance economy but now there is a tourism economy too and that should be able to sustain the state for a while. But for the future knowledge sector has to be consolidated.
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By S. Chakravarty,
[RxPG] Book: Songs of Freedom: Kerala's Many Mutinies; Author: K.C. John; Publisher: Frog Books, Mumbai; Price: Rs 250; Amazon.com: $15
It is quite easy to associate Kerala with mutinies, struggles and strikes of assorted complexities. Songs of Freedom - a racy romp through the politics of protest in the state starting from the early decades of the 20th century - puts all these modern struggles in perspective.
Written by the accomplished journalist, the late K.C. John, the book is a dramatic bedside compendium to the politics of the state, the complexities of which have been missed out in the larger narration by nationalist historians. The book plugs a big gap in our understanding of the history of that small state.
The narrative is wound round the theme of people's struggle for freedom. So the Dewan Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer is the looming villain of the of the book and the royal family of Travancore too gets short shrift.
The politics of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar in the early part of the last century gets detailed treatment. Somehow it feels good to read a book full of machinations of Dewans and Maharajas. When did we last read about them?
For instance, there was this rivalry of R.K. Shanmukham Chetty, Dewan of Kochi state and Sir C.P., Dewan in the neighbouring Travancore. Chetty was more liberal that Sir CP who tried everything possible to suppress popular movement for responsible government.
But Sir CP won national praise and acclaim by issuing the temple entry proclamation opening the doors of Hindu temples to low-caste Hindus. 'Shanmukhan Chetty was left sulking in Kochi,' John writes. In the book, however, Sir CP is the villain.
Chapters ranging from the birth of the Praja Mandalam, to the Moplah mutiny, to the communist struggles, John takes us back to the forgotten mutinies of the state. Mahatma Gandhi gets a negative vote, for his role in disrupting two popular uprisings in the state.
John brings alive various aspects of the state's history with the ringside perspective he gives to every event. It is without doubt a gripping read.
The last few decades have seen the economic strangulation of Kerala after militant labour drove out industry and the killed agriculture in the state. The huge stride the state made in the social sector was thus neutralised by the economic decline.
The non-existence of an industrial sector is in direct contract to the rapid rise of the manufacturing sector in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Although Kerala is known everywhere for being a literate state, the state of higher education there is in a shambles and visionless governments have helplessly watched and thus abetted the decline.
Kerala so far was just a remittance economy but now there is a tourism economy too and that should be able to sustain the state for a while. But for the future knowledge sector has to be consolidated.
Looking at this one gets the feeling that all those mutinies for people power went waste. No one benefited. Everyone lost.
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