A book depicting the cruelty during the 1921 Mappila Rebellion released in Chennai

A book titled “Nootraandu Kaanum Maapla Kalavaram ( 100th year of Mapla rebellion) written by former Kendra Pracharak and currently the Akil Bharathyia joint secretary of VHP G Sthanumalayan, published by Vijayabharatham Prasuram, was released on 13th July in Chennai.

Former Special Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Higher Education Dept, Dr. I .V Manivannan Secretary of Meenakshi Sundararajan Engg. College Dr. KS Babai and KEH Group MD Vasanthkumar received the first copy of the book at a function held on 13th in Chennai.

Dr Manivannan said as a student of history in his IAS examinations knew the facts well. Muslims, historians and others distorted the facts to suit their needs, ideologies and whims and fancies. It is not a prelude to freedom fight movement. It was to restore the caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate, who was considered the leader of Muslims, as an effective political authority.

The Khilafat or Caliphate movement was a protest against the sanctions placed on the caliph and the Ottoman after the First World War The Muslims in Kerala who were in majority in Malapuram district, launched the protest in India. Communists said it was a peasant movement against bhoomidhars. Actually, the Tippu sultan and his father Hyder Ali forcibly grabbed the land from the Hindus who refused to convert to Islam and distributed it among Muslims. The British rulers undid the harm done to the Hindus by giving them back their lands and properties. Irked by the action of British rulers and take revenge on the Hindus they were waiting for the right time. The Khilafat came handy for them. Their target was Hindus only and not the Britishers. But it was not given due place in History books which only talked about Jallianwala Bagh massacre and other lesser incidents”.

They unleashed violence against Hindus, women were raped in front of their husbands and brothers. . “If you have read Indian historians in any detail, you would have realized that they make it a point to emphasize that Mahatma Gandhi was a shrewd statesman … shrewd enough to capitalize on Muslims’ resentment towards the British in the aftermath of the Treaty of Sevres, and club the Khilafat and the non-cooperation movements”. In this book, the author tries give the facts truly without any bias. Page after page, the readers will get a feel of witnessing the events as a bystander or belong to same bygone era. From first page to last page it was packed with irrefutable facts and information. The author had witnessed the scene of rebellion several times and talked to the people there, referred so many books to bring out a elucidating Mapla riots in a book form.

The author deserved to be appreciated for bringing out such wonderful books to tell what had happened without any bias. The author while concluding the book says “ if the Bharathyas should not understand the gruesome macbre acts of Mapla rebellion, the history is ready to restage yet another lesson to us. Learning new lessons should not be our history is the motive behind the book. We should tell the people of align religion that they are also part of the bharat and Hindus earlier. This should be made in deepest level. We should also strengthen our Hindu religion. We should not allow Maapla riots such incidents in our country. All riots should end with that. No new riots should bear in our minds. History tells us that in all riots the hapless and physically weaker ones were victims”.

Sthanmalayan in his address briefed the need for the book. He said “I travelled extensively all the places for more than 30 times to under the things in right perspective. I consulted a lot of books before writing for the book. It is my first book. This the first book on the subject detailing the riots”.

In back wrapper, the author quoted Dr Ambedkar’s words ( Pakistan or The Partition of India) “ No words to describe the blood clotting violence unleashed against Hindus in Malabar region in Kerala by Maapla Muslims. It sent shivers among Hindus in the southern part of India. Can we forgot the 1921 Hindu massacre?

The book in Tamil is worth reading for all who want to know the facts of one of the most macabre massacres of Hindus, ripping open of pregnant women, raping of teenaged girls and women in front of their husbands, parents and brothers.