Kerala: Demand for probe into the mysterious death of Kumaranaasan

Thiruvananthapuram, 25 October (H.S): Ninety-seven years after he died in a boat capsize, Kerala is agog with demands for a comprehensive probe into the death of Kumaranaasan, the great poet and father figure of the Malayalam renaissance movement.

It was on January 16, 1924, Kumaranaasan, one of the triumvirates of modern Malayalam poetry and a philosopher par excellence died in a boat mishap in the 25-meter-wide stretch of Pallana River. The poet and 34 others perished in the river while all employees and commuters on the deck swam to safety.

Kumaranaasan was travelling in a suite befitting his stature. His dead body was retrieved on the third day but curiously, the suite in which he was travelling was found to be locked from outside. ?The poet would not have drowned or sunk along with the boat because he was a good swimmer. He grew up along the backwaters and he was known as an ace swimmer,? says P Sujathan, veteran journalist who has undertaken a lot of research and studies on the life and times of the late poet.

What has shocked thousands of fans of the late poet is the mysterious disappearance of the report by the P Cherian Commission of Enquiry, which had been appointed by the then Travancore State Government to probe the sinking of the boat ?Redeemer?.

?No FIR on the mishap or death of 35 persons including the poet was registered by the then Travancore State Police. Cherian, a judge who headed the enquiry commission had found that there were many factors that indicated that the accident was sabotage. The locking of the suite from outside is a big mystery. The commission had asked for a detailed probe into the causes of the accident as well as the reasons for locking the poet?s cabin from outside which led to his death,? Sujathan told Hindustan Samachar.

Kumaranaasan was an eyesore for some of the leaders of a community for authoring Duravastha (The Tragic Plight) focussing on the Mappila Rebellion of 1921. He had toured the entire region at the instance of Sree Narayana Guru, the great social reformer, as a fact-finding member to take stock of the biggest ever communal pogrom. The poem Duravastha was the outcome of his first-hand experience from villages in Eranadu and Valluvanadu where he had interacted with hundreds of victims.

?Duravastha was published in 1922 and the poet was under pressure to remove certain references from the poem. He refused to succumb and was under death threat issued by the community leaders. The Travancore Government had provided him round-the-clock security for the next two years and this was withdrawn at the instance of the poet himself,? said Sujathan,

He said the disappearance of the Cherian Commission report itself remains a mystery. ?But enquiry commission reports prior to and after this 1924 mishap is available in the archives. Moreover, the Redeemer was a comparatively new mechanised boat and the chances of it sinking never existed,? said Sujathan.

Poems authored by Kumaranaasan, a favourite with radicals, has suddenly disappeared from mainstream narratives. The couplet from Duravastha ?Maattuvin Chattangale Swayam..? (Malayalam for ?Get rid of the outdated laws lest it will destroy you..?) which used to adore the podiums of Left meetings till a few years ago too have disappeared.

Kroora Mohammadar Chinthunna.. Chorayaal Chonnezhum Eranattil ( Malayalam for ?In Eranadu, the land which has been reddened by the blood of Hindus who were slaughtered by the cruel Muslims?..) is the opening line of Duravastha.

The Malabar Massacre in which thousands of Hindus were butchered and forcibly converted to Islam was part of the deep-rooted conspiracy of the Islamic world to set up a Caliphate in Northern Kerala. The Communist parties in the State forced the then Indira Gandhi Government to get the Muslim Riots of 1921 as part of the freedom struggle. Those who were part of the annihilation of Hindus were given monthly pensions meant for freedom fighters.

Even as the Muslims in the region oppose the installation of the Statue of Thunchatha Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, the father of the Malayalam language, the Islamic terrorists and extremists have succeeded in naming the Tirur Town Hall as Varikunnan Kunjahammed Haji who led the pogrom of Hindus.

Sujathan is of the view that though it may not be possible to catch hold of the persons responsible for the sinking of Redeemer, a probe may lead us to the people behind the disappearance of the Cherian Commission Report.