Malabar rebellion

About Malabar rebellion:

• The Malabar rebellion  was an revolt in 1921 that started as resistance against the British colonial rule by the peasants in Malabar region in present day Kerala .
• It saw people in southern Malabar, predominantly Muslims, wage an armed struggle against the British for nearly six months beginning August 1921.
• Three different political movements merged to trigger the rebellion —
  • The tenancy movement, rooted in local agrarian grievances
  • The other two were the Khilafat (Caliphate) movement
  • The Non-Cooperation movement

How it began:

• Malabar had witnessed over three dozen Muslim peasant revolts against the British and landlords in the 19th century.
• There were deep rooted agrarian issues that affected the peasants, many of them Muslims, causing unease among the landlords, most of them upper caste Hindus, and the colonial administration.
• However, the turning point was the visit of Maulana Shaukat Ali and Mahatma Gandhi to Malabar in August 1920, which attracted Muslims in large numbers to join the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movements.
• By February 1921, the British authorities started to ban Khilafat meetings and even arrested senior Congress-Khilafat leaders.
• The crackdown transformed the character of the movement and influenced local leaders and cadres and they began to resist the British forces with arms.
• The rebellion started on August 20 when the army and police raided the Tirurangadi mosque, an important religious centre headed by Ali Musaliyar, who soon emerged as a leader of the rebels.

The rebellion and its consequences:

• Following the Tirurangadi incident, Khilafat workers mobilised across the region and targeted public officials and buildings, and those who collaborated with the administration.
• The rebels initially forced the British administration to flee from the region, but army and police returned with reinforcements to put down the rebels.
• The anarchy that followed was was exploited by rabid and criminal elements among the rebels to further sectarian and communal agendas, including destruction of property, killings and forced conversions of Hindus.
• Top rebel leaders including Ali Musaliyar and Variyankunnathu Kunjahammed Haji discouraged and opposed forcible conversions and looting and destruction of property belonging to non-Muslims.
• The British authorities put down the rebellion in the most brutal manner — official estimate is 2,337 rebels killed, 1,652 wounded and no less than 45,000 taken as prisoners.
• The infamous event during the rebellion was Wagon Tragedy incident (November 1921), in which 67 prisoners died of suffocation after they were forced to travel in a closed railway carriage.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding Malabar rebellion:
1.“Wagon Tragedy” incident is associated with the rebellion.
2.It primarily affected southern portions of Malabar region in Kerala.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2 
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question