Merger of Kanyakumari with Madras State

The present-day Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu state in India was originally a part of the Travancore-Cochin state. Between 1945 and 1956, especially after the Government of India announced plans to reorganize states along linguistic lines, the people of Tamil-majority Kanyakumari campaigned for its inclusion in the Madras State (later Tamil Nadu) instead of the Malayalam-majority Kerala state. In Tamil, the campaign is also known as Therkku Ellai Porattam ("South Frontier Struggle").

The campaign was successful: Agastheeswaram, Kalkulam, Thovalai, Vilavancode and Shenkottai taluks were merged with Madras as per the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.^[1] The first four were combined to form the present-day Kanyakumari district, while Shenkottai was merged with the Tirunelveli district.

Background

Tamils lived in large numbers in the Thovalai, Agastheeswaram, Kalkulam, Vilavancode, Neyyatinkarai, sengottai, Devikulam and Peermedu taluks of erstwhile Tranvancore State. In the Tamil regions, Malayalam was the official language and there were only a few Tamil-medium schools. So the Tamils met many hardships. Travancore State Government continued rejecting the genuine requests of Tamils.^[2]

During that period 'Travancore State Congress' favoured the idea of uniting all the Malayalam speaking regions and the formation of an 'Unified Kerala'. In protest against this idea, many Tamil leaders vacated the party. They gathered together at Nagercoil on 16 December 1945 under the leadership of Sam Nathaniel and formed the new political party 'All Travancore Tamilian Congress'. That party was continuously compelling for the merger of Tamil regions in Travancore with Tamil Nadu.^[3]

Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress (T.T.N.C)

In the working committee meeting of Tamilian congress at Eraviputhur on 30 June 1946, the name of the political party was changed to 'Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress' (T.T.N.C). T.T.N.C was popular among the Tamils living in Thovalai and Agateeswaram Taluks. Mr. Ma. Po. Sivagnanam (Ma.Po.Si) was the only leader from Tamil Nadu who functioned in favour of T.T.N.C.^[4]

After the independence of India, State Assembly Elections were announced in Travancore. As a consequence, T.T.N.C improved its popularity among Tamils. A popular and leading advocate from Vilavancode Mr. A. Nesamony organised a meeting of his supporters at Allan Memorial Hall, Nagercoil on 8 September 1947. In that meeting it was declared that they must achieve their objective through their political organisation, the T.T.N.C. And T.T.N.C started gaining strength and momentum in Kalkulam - Vilavancode Taluks.^[5]

1948 police firing

During the election propaganda compaign, clashes occurred between the majority Nadar community and the dominant Malayali Nair community at various places in Kalkulam - Vilavancode Taluks. Malayali police force suppressed the agitating Tamilians. On February 1948 police opened fire and two Tamilians were killed.^[4]

T.T.N.C won in 14 constituencies in the election to the State Legislative Assembly. Mr. A. Nesamony was elected as the legislative leader of the party. Then under his leadership, the awakened Tamil population was prepared to undergo any sacrifice to achieve their goal.^[6]

1952 general elections

In 1950, a meeting was held at Palayamkottai to make compromises between state congress and T.T.N.C. The meeting met with failure and Mr. Sam Nathaniel resigned from the post of president of T.T.N.C Mr. P. Ramasamy Pillai, a strong follower of Mr. A. Nesamony was elected as the New President.^[5]

The first general election of Independent India was held on 1952. T.T.N.C won 8 legislative assembly seats. Mr. A. Chidambaranathan became the minister on behalf of T.T.N.C in the coalition state government formed by the Congress. In the parliamentary Constituency Mr. A. Nesamony was elected as M.P. and in the Rajyasabha seat. Mr. A. Abdul Razak was elected as M.P. on behalf of T.T.N.C.^[5]

In due course, accusing the Congress government for not showing enough care the struggle of the Tamils, T.T.N.C had broken away from the coalition and the Congress government lost the majority. So fresh elections were announced. In 1954 elections, T.T.N.C gained victory in 12 constituencies.^[5]

1954 police firing

Pattom Thanu Pillai was the chief minister for Thiru - Kochi legislative assembly. He engaged hard measures against the agitations of Tamils. Especially the Tamils at Devikulam - Peermedu regions went through the atrocities of Malayali Police force. Condemning the attitude of the police, T.T.N.C leaders from Nagercoil went to Munnar and participated in agitations against the prohibitive orders. The leaders were arrested. So an uncalm atmosphere prevailed in South Travancore.^[7]

On August 11, 'Liberation Day' celebrations were held at many places in South Travancore. Public meetings and processions were organised . Communists also colloborated with the agitation programmes. Police opened fire at the processions in Thoduvetty (Martandam) and Puthukadai. Nine humble Tamil volunteers were killed, Against natural justice, thousands of T.T.N.C and communist wakes and sympothisers were arrested and humuliated in various parts of Tamil main land. At the end, Pattom Thanu Pillai's ministry was toppled and normalcy returned to the Tamil regions.^[6]

States Reorganization Commission

The central government had appointed Fazal Ali Commission for the states reorganisation based on language. It submitted its report on August 10, 1955. Based on this report, Devikulam - Peermedu and Neyyattinkara Taluks were merged with Kerala state.^[8]

On 1956, Nov 1 - four Taluks Thovalai, Agastheeswaram, Kalkulam, Vilavancode were recognised to form the New Kanyakumari District and merged with Tamil Nadu State. Sengottai Taluk was merged with Tirunelveli District. The main demand of T.T.N.C was to merger the Tamil regions with Tamil Nadu and major part of its demand was realised. So T.T.N.C was dissolved thereafter.^[6]

References