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States Reorganization Commission

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
The present-day [[Kanyakumari district]] and parts of tenkasi 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 [[States Reorganisation Commission|reorganize states]] along linguistic lines, the people of [[Tamil language|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 taluk|Agastheeswaram]], [[Kallkkulam taluk|Kalkulam]], [[Thovalai taluk|Thovalai]], [[Vilavancode taluk|Vilavancode]] and half part of [[Shenkottai taluk|Shenkottai]] [[taluk]]s were merged with Madras as per the [[States Reorganisation Act, 1956]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Jebagnanam Cyril Kanmony |title=Human rights violation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NE5UKHOFVGYC&pg=PA41 |year=2010 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-8324-347-6 |page=41 }}</ref> The first four were combined to form the present-day Kanyakumari district, while Shenkottai was merged with the [[Tirunelveli district]] present day tenkasi district

== Background ==

[[Tamils]] lived in large numbers in the [[Thovalai]], [[Agastheeswaram]], [[Sengottai]], [[Eraniel]], [[Vilavancode]], [[Kalkulam]], [[Devikulam]], [[Neyyattinkara]], [[Thiruvananthapuram]] South and [[Thiruvananthapuram]] North [[taluk]]s of erstwhile Travancore State.<ref name="r1881">{{Cite book|title=Report on the Census of Travancore (1881)|publisher=Government of India|year=1884|location=Thiruvananthapuram|pages=135, 258|url=http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/5570/1/41740.pdf}}</ref> 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 requests of Tamils.<ref>V. S. Sathianesan - Tamil Separatism in Travancore</ref>

During that period the Travancore State Congress favoured the idea of uniting all the Malayalam speaking regions and the formation of a "Unified Kerala". In protest against this idea, many Tamil leaders vacated the party. Tamils 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]].<ref>R. Isaac Jeyadhas - Kanyakumari District and Indian Independence Struggle (Tamil)</ref>

== 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.|Ma.Po.Si]]) was the only leader from Tamil Nadu who functioned in favour of T.T.N.C.<ref name="DDaniel">D. Daniel - Travancore Tamils: Struggle for Identity.</ref>

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.<ref name="BYogeeswaran">B. Yogeeswaran - History of Travancore Tamil Struggle (Tamil)</ref>

== 1948 police firing ==
During the election propaganda campaign, clashes occurred between the Tamil Nadar community and the Malayali Nair community at various places in Kalkulam - Vilavancode Taluks. police force suppressed the agitating Nadars. On February 1948 police opened fire and two Tamil speaking Nadars were killed.<ref name="DDaniel"/>

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.<ref name="DPeter">D. Peter - Malayali Dominance and Tamil Liberation (Tamil)</ref>

== 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.<ref name="BYogeeswaran"/>

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.<ref name="BYogeeswaran"/>

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.<ref name="BYogeeswaran"/>

== 1954 police firing ==

[[Pattom A. Thanu Pillai|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 Travancore 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 and an uncalm atmosphere prevailed in South Travancore.<ref>R. Kuppusamy - Historical foot prints of a True War (Tamil)</ref>

On 11 August, Liberation Day celebrations were held at many places in South Travancore. Public meetings and processions were organised . Communists also collaborated with the agitation programmes. Police opened fire at the processions in Thoduvetty (Martandam) and Puthukadai. Nine Tamil volunteers were killed and thousands of T.T.N.C and communist sympathizers were arrested in various parts of Tamil main land. At the end, Pattom Thanu Pillai's ministry was toppled and normalcy returned to the Tamil regions.<ref name="DPeter"/>

== States Reorganization Commission ==

The central government had appointed [[Fazal Ali Commission]](1953 dec) for the states reorganisation based on language. It submitted its report on 10 August 1955. Based on this report, Devikulam - Peermedu and [[Neyyattinkara]] Taluks were merged with [[Kerala state]].<ref>B. Mariya John - Linguistic Reorganisation of Madras Presidenty</ref>

On 1 November 1956 - four Taluks Thovalai, Agastheeswaram, Kalkulam, Vilavancode were recognised to form the New Kanyakumari District and merged with Tamil Nadu State. Half of [[Sengottai]] Taluk was merged with [[Tirunelveli district|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.<ref name="DPeter"/>

==Retainment of Devikulam and Peerumedu Taluks in Kerala==
{{See also|Idukki district}}
Apart from [[Kanyakumari district]], the Taluks of [[Devikulam]] and [[Peermade]] in present-day [[Idukki district]] also had a [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-majority until late 1940's.<ref name="idukki">{{Cite news|title=Why did Kerala surrender Kanyakumari without a fight?|url=https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2020/10/31/why-did-kerala-surrender-kanyakumari-to-tamil-nadu.html|last=Ayyappan|first=R|date=31 October 2020|access-date=16 June 2021|work=Onmanorama}}</ref> The T.T.N.C had also requested to merge these Taluks with [[Madras State]].<ref name="idukki"/> However it was due to some decisions of [[Pattom Thanu Pillai]], who was the first prime minister of Travancore, that they retained in the modern-state of [[Kerala]].<ref name="idukki"/> Pattom came up with a colonisation project to re-engineer the demography of [[Cardamom Hills]].<ref name="idukki"/> His colonisation project was to relocate 8,000 [[Malayalam]]-speaking families into the Taluks of [[Devikulam]] and [[Peermade]].<ref name="idukki"/> About 50,000 acres in these Taluks, which were Tamil-majority area, were chosen for the colonisation project.<ref name="idukki"/> As a victory of the Colonisation project done by post-independence [[Travancore]], these two Taluks and a larger portion of [[Cardamom Hills]] retained in the state of [[Kerala]], after [[States Reorganisation Act, 1956]].<ref name="idukki"/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Kanyakumari district]]
[[Category:History of Tamil Nadu (1947–present)]]
[[Category:History of Kerala (1947–present)]]
[[Category:1950s in Madras State]]
[[Category:1950s in Kerala]]

Merger of Kanyakumari with Madras State - Revision history

MichaleYarbrough: cleanup

imported>Kambliyil: /* States Reorganization Commission */