The centenary year of the Vaikom temple street entry movement

(MainsGS1:Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.)

Context:

• As the year 2024 marks the centenary of the Vaikom Satyagraha, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin jointly inaugurated the centenary celebrations.

Social movement:

• Kerala’s Vaikom town which was then in the princely state of Travancore became the epicentre of a historic non-violent movement against untouchability and caste discrimination. 
• Vaikom Satyagraha that lasted for 604 days (20 months) from March 30, 1924 to November 23, 1925 marked the dawn of temple entry movements across India.
• Back then, the people of the oppressed classes, especially the Ezhavas, were prohibited from walking on the four roads surrounding the Vaikom Mahadeva temple.

Leaders involved:

• Launched by leaders in Kerala such as T.K. Madhavan, K.P. Kesava Menon and George Joseph, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi, the movement was sustained and successfully conducted by Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, then president of the Tamil Nadu Congress, and others between 1924 and 1925.
• Spearheaded by Congress leader T.K. Madhavan, who himself was an Ezhava, an agitation was launched against this social injustice.
• In 1923, Madhavan presented the issue as a resolution at the Kakinada meet of the All India Congress Committee. 
• Subsequently ,it was taken up by the Congress Untouchability Committee formed by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee in January 1924.
• Madhavan, K.P. Kesava Menon who was the then secretary of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and Congress leader and educationist K. Kelappan (also known as Kerala Gandhi) are considered the pioneers of the Vaikom Satyagraha movement.

Role of ‘Periyar’ E.V. Ramasamy:

• George Joseph, a Congressman hailing from Kerala and an advocate who was then practicing in Madurai, briefly led the agitation when the pioneers were behind bars. He wrote to ‘Periyar’ E.V. Ramasamy who was then the Tamil Nadu Pradesh Congress Committee president, requested him to be at the helm of the campaign. 
• From the day of his arrival, Periyar was at the forefront of the struggle till its conclusion. 
• Mobilising volunteers and garnering public support, he visited villages in and around Vaikom, Tiruvanthapuram and Nagercoil and delivered witty yet fiery speeches.
• He was eventually arrested in May 1924 and served one month of simple imprisonment. 
• When Periyar returned to Vaikom after release, he was arrested again in July 1924 and was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for four months.
•  He was the only Satyagrahi to be sentenced to rigorous imprisonment and while fellow Satyagrahis were treated as political prisoners, Periyar was denied that status.

Role of women:

• The participation of women, especially those from the families of Satyagrahi leaders including Periyar’s wife Nagammai and sister Kannammal, empowered womenfolk to play an unprecedented role in the fight. 
• The Congressmen at Vaikom reached out to their brethren in Madras Presidency, who contributed money and men.
• The non-violent movement gained widespread attention, with the Akalis (Sikhs) from Punjab extending support by opening a community kitchen (langar) for the volunteers. 
• However, it was soon closed down following a directive from Mahatma Gandhi who wanted the agitation to be a “Hindu affair”.

Arrival of Gandhi

• Gandhi, who arrived at Vaikom in March 1925, held a series of discussions with leaders of various caste groups and met Maharani Regent at her Varkala camp. 
• Although the Queen expressed her willingness to open all the roads, but, as the head of State, she said she had to heed to public opinion.
• On November 23, 1925, three roads (leading to the Western, Southern and Northern entrances) excluding the one leading to the Eastern entrance of Vaikom temple were thrown open to all castes, after the prohibitionary orders were withdrawn. 
• The fourth road reserved only for Brahmins remained out of bounds for Muslims and Christians too.
• A week later, the Vaikom Satyagraha was officially withdrawn on November 30, 1925 after consultations between Gandhi and W.H. Pitt, the then police commissioner of Travancore. 
• A compromise was reached following the release of all prisoners and grant of access to three of the four roads.

Temple Entry Proclamation

• In November 1936, almost a decade after the conclusion of the Satyagraha, the historic Temple Entry Proclamation was signed by the Maharaja of Travancore which removed the age-old ban on the entry of marginalised castes into the temples of Travancore.
• The Vaikom Satyagraha brought open the rift between Gandhi and Periyar as while Gandhi saw it as Hindu reformist movement, Periyar called it a fight against caste-based atrocities. 
• Periyar was not happy with the partial success attained, and he eventually quit Congress months later and George Joseph too quit Congress owing to disagreement with Gandhi.

Conclusion:

• Vaikom is more than just a name of a town as it is a symbol of social justice and symbolizes the eradication of caste barriers.