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Context

• The Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) has deferred its decision on a recommendation to remove the 1921 Malabar Rebellion martyrs, including Variamkunnaathu Kunhahamad Haji and Ali Musliyar, from the list of India’s freedom fighters. ICHR had stated that the rebellion was an attack against Hindu people and not the British.

Moplah Rebellion

• The Malabar rebellion, Moplah massacre or Mappila riots occured between August 1921 and 1922 in souther part of Malabar district of the Madras Presidency (now part of the Indian state of Kerala).
• Mappilas had been among the victims of oppressive agrarian relations protected by the British.
• The uprising was against the prevailing feudal system in the region controlled by upper-caste Hindus, whom the British had also appointed in positions of authority for their support.
• It largely took the shape of guerrilla-type attacks on jenmis (feudal landlords, who were mostly upper caste Hindus) and the police and troops.
• During the uprising, the rebels also attacked various institutions of the colonial state, such as telegraph lines, train stations, courts and post offices.
• The main leaders of the rebellion were Ali Musliyar, Variankunnath Kunjahammad Haji, Sithi Koya Thangal, M. P. Narayana Menon, Chembrasery Thangal, K. Moideenkutti Haji, Kappad Krishnan Nair, Konnara Thangal, Pandiyatt Narayanan Nambeesan, and Mozhikunnath Brahmadathan Nambudiripad.

Wagon Tragedy

• The colonial government took a heavy-handed approach towards the rebellion. Colonial troops were sent to the area and martial law imposed.
• One of the most noteworthy events during the rebellion later came to be known as the "Wagon Tragedy", in which 67 out of a total of 90 Mappila prisoners destined for the Central Prison in Podanur suffocated in a closed railway goods wagon.

Immediate Trigger

• The Non-Cooperation Movement along with the Khilafat agitation launched in 1920 provided a fresh stimulus to the grievances of Mappilas.
• Mahatma Gandhi and Maulana Saukat Ali jointly toured Kerala and propagated for Swaraj and Khilafat. Khilafat committees were formed almost everywhere.
• The sense of local injustice was linked with the pan-Islamic sentiments created in the aftermath of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire that rendered the Ottoman caliphate irrelevant.
• Haji was among those in the Malabar region inspired by the zeal of the agitation.

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