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Vaikom Satyagraha

The Vaikom Satyagraha was a movement in the 1920s led by T.K. Madhavan to allow avarnas (lower castes) access to public roads surrounding the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple in Travancore, India. The movement involved peaceful protests and civil disobedience against the caste restriction on roads. T.K. Madhavan gained the support of Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. The satyagrahis, including volunteers from different castes, marched to the prohibited area and courted arrest to protest the restriction. Though they faced arrests and imprisonment, the satyagraha continued for over two months and eventually succeeded in removing the

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826 views9 pages

Vaikom Satyagraha

The Vaikom Satyagraha was a movement in the 1920s led by T.K. Madhavan to allow avarnas (lower castes) access to public roads surrounding the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple in Travancore, India. The movement involved peaceful protests and civil disobedience against the caste restriction on roads. T.K. Madhavan gained the support of Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. The satyagrahis, including volunteers from different castes, marched to the prohibited area and courted arrest to protest the restriction. Though they faced arrests and imprisonment, the satyagraha continued for over two months and eventually succeeded in removing the

Uploaded by

Sukanya V. Mohan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Vaikom Satyagraha

Submitted by
Sukanya V Mohan
18UENG6109
Background
 Ages of suppressed anger began to burst out into open
rebellion in the conductive climate of renaissance
 Joy of worshipping was denied to avarnas
 ‘unapproachability’ - distance pollution – denied access
to roads around the temple - ‘Untouchability’
 Vaikom Mahadeva temple – thekkan kashi - Centre of
orthodoxy
 Avarnas considred lesser than even animals on the
scale of respect
 Goverment of Travancore had made the public roads
accessible to all irrespective of caste – promulgated in
1865
 Arrogant orthodox hindus decided not to succumb to the
law – approached high court – HC interpreted in a way
that both high caste and the law itself can be satisfied
 It interpreted public roads as Rajaveedhis and not
gramaveedhis – roads around the vaikom temple were
gramaveedhis
The beginnings
 Legislative solution was forwarded by the
representatives of the ezhava community in the
travancore legislature – Kochu Kunjan Channar and
Asan - 1905
 T.K. Madhavan – radicalist – fair mind to express his
disappointment in the form of some concrete action
 SNDP yogam had a unanymous affirmative on protest –
general feeling was that the support of Gandhiji and
congress would help
Congress involvement
 T. K. Madhavan met Mahatma Gandhi at Tirunelveli on 23
September 1921 and apprised him of the conditions of the
Ezhavas
 Madhavan attended the Kakinada AICC meet – 1923
– with Sardar Panikkar and K. P. Kesava Menon - a
pamphlet printed: A request to the Indian National Congress on behalf of the
untouchables of India was submitted

 the KPCC met at Ernakulam on 24 January 1924 -


formed an Untouchability Abolition Committee (UAC)
- consisting K. Kelappan (convener), T. K. Madhavan,
Kurur Nilakantan Namboothiri, T.R. Krishna Swami
Iyer, K. Velayudha Menon
 March 30 - volunteers - Kunjappy (Pulayan), Bahuleyan (Ezhava), Venniyil
Govinda Panicker (Nair)
 The Satyagrahis, wearing khadi and Gandhi caps and garlands, marched
forward with the Congress flag fluttering before them - shouting "Satyagraha
ki jai, Mahatma Gandhi ki jai."
 All of them stopped at a distance of fifty feet from the notice board, and only
the selected three walked to the point where the prohibition board hung.
 The police stopped them - asked their caste - pronounced that the low-caste
men would not be allowed to pass; only the Savarnas could - upper-caste
men insisted that their companions should go with them - police prevented
them.
 arrested just before noon - produced before the court, convicted, sentenced
to jail, fined - refused to pay the fine, courted extra imprisonment.
 In the evening there was a procession and public meeting - protesting
against the arrest – two days of strike and then a two-day brake
 7th day – Kesava Menon and T. K. took the lead – got arrested - but the
satyagrahan never weakened
T. K. Madhavan
 Born on September 2, 1885 at Karthikapally

 Son of Kesava Channar of Alummootil


family of thiruvithamkoor and Ummini amma
of Komalezhuthu family

 His first struggle was for equality of all to be


permitted for government jobs. It was a
successful struggle.

 In 15th April 1915, he started ‘Deshabhimani’


daily newspaper. At that time, the
newspaper was a major ‘sword’ to fight for
the ‘avarnas’.

 Died on 27th April 1930 at his residence.

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