Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Mann Ki Baat address on April 14, spoke of a brave patriot who fought a legal battle against the British Empire after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. The reference was unmistakably to Chettur Sankaran Nair, a freedom fighter and the All India President of the Indian National Congress. Modi reiterated this at a public event in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana, saying, “We must learn about the contributions of Sankaran Nair from Kerala. Every child in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal should know about him.” Following this, the film Kesari, starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role and based on the life of Sankaran Nair and the legal battle following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, was released on April 18 and became a major success. Chettur Sankaran Nair was one of the great leaders who, like Patel and Rao, gradually faded from mainstream narratives following the Nehru family’s dominance within the Congress.
Who was Sankaran Nair, the impossible and an uncompromising person
The book, ‘The Case That Shook the Empire’ provides a reference that Edwin Montague, the then Secretary of State for India, described Nair as an “impossible person” who “shouts at the top of his voice and refuses to listen to anything when one argues, and is absolutely uncompromising.”
Chettur Sankaran Nair, born in Kerala’s Palakkad district in 1857, was a distinguished lawyer, judge, and statesman who played a pivotal role in Bharat’s struggle for independence. He studied law at Madras Law College and embarked on a legal career that saw him rise to some of the highest judicial and political positions available to Indians under British rule. In 1897, he became the youngest president of the Indian National Congress. By 1908, he had been appointed a permanent judge of the Madras High Court. As the sole Indian member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, Nair resigned in 1919 in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, a defining moment in India’s freedom struggle. In 1922, he published Gandhi and Anarchy, a book in which he openly criticised Gandhi’s methods of non-violence, civil disobedience, and non-cooperation.
The great nationalist who opened the Eyes of the Indians
Following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Nair directly accused Michael O’Dwyer, then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, of enacting policies that led to the massacre. O’Dwyer sued Nair for defamation in England, confident that the court would rule in his favour. The trial, held before the King’s Bench in London, lasted five and a half weeks, making it the longest-running civil case of its time. The 12-member all-English jury was presided over by Justice Henry McCardie, who made no secret of his bias in favour of O’Dwyer. The jury ruled 11 to 1 in favour of O’Dwyer. Nair was ordered to pay £500 in damages and the costs of the trial. However, O’Dwyer offered to waive the penalty if Nair issued an apology, but Nair refused. Though Nair lost the case, the trial had a powerful impact in India. At a time when the nationalist movement was gaining strength, Indians saw the judgment as proof of British prejudice and an attempt to protect their own from accountability.
Aftermath of Modi’s Reference
Following the Prime Minister’s remarks, Sankaran Nair’s great-grandson publicly welcomed the gesture, calling it “the Prime Minister’s Vishu festival gift” . As expected, the Congress leadership reacted sharply and criticised Modi and the BJP. In response, several BJP leaders, including Union Minister Shri. Suresh Gopi, Shri. Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the Kerala BJP President, visited Nair’s family. The Kerala BJP unit also commemorated his 91st death anniversary. Most recently, on May 3, the Governor of Kerala, Shri Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, visited Nair’s ancestral home. “Chettur Sankaran Nair is a great personality the country has seen, and the work he did for the country is still very relevant today,” the Governor said. “No one would have had the courage to come out and express his differences in the Viceroy’s Council during the British era,” he added.
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