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| {{short description|Anticommunist backlash against E.M.S Ministry}}
| | #REDIRECT [[Liberation Struggle (Kerala)]] |
| {{more citations needed|date=October 2013}}
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| {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
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| [[File:E. M. S. Namboodiripad.jpg|thumb|E. M. S. Namboodiripad]] | |
| The '''''Vimochana Samaram''''' (1958–59) ([[English language|English]]: "Liberation Struggle") was an [[anticommunist]] backlash against the [[First E. M. S. Namboodiripad ministry|first elected state government]] in [[Kerala]], [[India]], which was led by [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]] of the [[Communist Party of India]]. Organised opposition to the state government was spearheaded by the [[Catholic Church in Kerala]], the [[Nair Service Society]] and Indian National Congress.The funding of the movement mostly came from outside of India , mobilised by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Moynihan|first1=Daniel Patrick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ON2TPWZkiCIC&q=Kerala|title=A Dangerous Place|last2=Weaver|first2=Suzanne|date=1980|publisher=Berkley Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-425-04459-9|language=en}}</ref> and International Catholic organisations {{Citation needed|reason=vague language, political claim|date=March 2021}}. Although termed a "liberation struggle", the campaign was largely peaceful by taking the form of statewide meetings and public demonstrations. {{Citation needed|reason=vague language, political claim|date=March 2021}}
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| In June 1959, Kerala was rocked by mass protests calling for the resignation of the communist ministry. The Indian government finally bowed to pressure and dismissed Namboodiripad on 31 July 1959.
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| ==Background==
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| On 1 November 1956, the state of Kerala was formed by the [[States Reorganisation Act]] merging the Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin and the taluk of [[Kasaragod Town|Kasargod]], [[South Kanara]].<ref name="Plunkett">{{harvnb|Plunkett|Cannon|Harding|2001|p=24}}</ref> In 1957, elections for the new Kerala Legislative Assembly were held, and a [[Communist]]-led government came to power, under [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]].<ref name="Plunkett"/> It initiated some [[land reforms | Land reform in Kerala]]<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8546952.stm Conundrum of Kerala's struggling economy by Soutik Biswas ''BBC News, Kerala'']</ref> and educational reforms by introducing new bills in the state assembly. However, some clauses in the new bills became controversial as those clauses offended several influential interest groups, such as the [[Catholic Church]] of Kerala, [[Indian Union Muslim League|Muslim League]] and [[Nair Service Society|NSS]].
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| A revolt against the Communist government's educational policies took shape. In 1957, a communist government was elected in Kerala for the first time under the leadership of Shri. [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]]. Subsequently, a revolt propagated against the government. At Angamaly, the prime centre of [[Christians]],{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}, the intensity of fury was broke into open violence. The Communist Party government's claim was that the police were forced to open fire on what they claim was a violent mob, who allegedly attempted to attack a police station. The police firing and killing of 7 people is said to have instigated a mass movement against the EMS Government.
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| ===The controversial legislation===
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| ====Education bill====
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| The immediate cause of the outbreak of the Liberation Struggle was the introduction of the [[Kerala Education Bill, 1957|Education Bill]] by the minister of education [[Joseph Mundassery]]. The bill had revolutionary content that could have affected the administration of educational institutions, which were financially aided by the state government. Many of these institutions, at that time, were under the control of various Christian congregations and a few under the [[Nair Service Society]] (NSS). The [[Kerala Education Bill, 1957|Education Bill]] sought to regulate appointments and working conditions of the teachers in the government-aided schools. The remuneration of the teachers were to be paid directly from the government treasury. The appointments in aided institutions would be made by the management from the list of candidates which were prepared by the Public Service Commission, so as to eradicate corruption. It also mandated to take over any government-aided educational institution, if they fail to meet the conditions set by the newly promulgated bill.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.firstministry.kerala.gov.in/kerala_educationbill/The_main_objectives_of_bill.htm | title=Education bill |publisher=Kerala government | access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref>
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| ====Agrarian relations bill====
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| With the introduction of agrarian relations bill, the government sought to confer ownership rights on tenant cultivators, to grant permanent ownership of land for the agricultural labourers who reside in the premises of fields at the mercy of landlords, and to attempt redistribution of land by putting a ceiling on individual land holdings followed by distributing the surplus land among the landless.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.firstministry.kerala.gov.in/agrarianrelation.htm | title=Land reforms | publisher=Government of kerala | access-date=16 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstministry.kerala.gov.in/pdf/bills/agrn_rln.pdf | title=Agrarian relations bill, 1957 | publisher=Government of kerala |access-date=16 August 2012}}</ref> With the introduction of the bill, government tried to address the socio-economic inequality that prevailed in the state. In those days, the agricultural labourers, called as ''kudikidappukar'', were considered as slaves. Though they were allowed to stay in a piece of land allotted by the landlord, they were denied any payments for their labour and permanent rights in the land.<ref>{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Tharamangalam|title=Agrarian Class Conflict: The Political Mobilization of Agricultural Labourers in Kuttanad, South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=538cKfVv8ygC&pg=PA127|year=1981|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-0126-3|page=56}}</ref> However, the radical nature of the proposals of this bill raised panic among the landowning communities of Kerala, especially [[Nair]]s and [[Saint Thomas Christians|Syrian Christians]].<ref name="Tharamangalam1981">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Tharamangalam|title=Agrarian Class Conflict: The Political Mobilization of Agricultural Labourers in Kuttanad, South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=538cKfVv8ygC&pg=PA127|year=1981|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-0126-3|pages=45–50}}</ref>
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| ==Interest groups==
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| #Political parties: Besides the socio-religious organizations, all the major opposition parties including [[Indian National Congress]], [[Praja Socialist Party]] (PSP), [[Indian Union Muslim League|Muslim League]], [[Revolutionary Socialist Party (India)|Revolutionary Socialist Party]], and [[Kerala Socialist Party]] rallied together demanding the dismissal of the EMS ministry. They formed a joint steering committee with [[R. Sankar]] as the president and [[P. T. Chacko, Pullolil]], Kumbalathu Sanku Pillai, [[Mathai Manjooran]], [[Fr. Joseph Vadakkan]], [[B. Wellington]], [[N. Sreekantan Nair]], [[C. H. Muhammed Koya]], and [[Sayyid Abdur Rahman Bafaqi Thangal|Bafaqi Thangal]] among its members.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}}
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| #[[Saint Thomas Christians|Syrian Christians]]: A significant proportion of the schools in Kerala were owned by Syrian Christian churches. They found many reformist policies of government as infringements over their rights and so used newspapers and other publications, such as ''[[Deepika (newspaper)|Deepika]]'' and ''[[Malayala Manorama]]'', to propagate panicking messages against the controversial policies.<ref name="Ramachand">{{cite book|author1=K. Ramachandran Nair|author2=Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment|title=The history of trade union movement in Kerala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jkHtAAAAMAAJ|access-date=18 August 2012|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment in association with Manak Publications|isbn=978-81-7827-138-5|page=128}}</ref> Christians used their political influence in the central government to derail the educational reforms. The Education Bill was referred to the Supreme court by the President of India and on 17 May 1958 the Supreme Court reported that some clauses of the bill infringed the constitutional rights of minorities. However, the government got presidential assent on 19 February 1959 after it had revised the bill. The disagreement widened, and the Church representatives sought the help of the NSS to fight the government.<ref>{{cite book|author=Thomas Johnson Nossiter|title=Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CSQUxVjjWQC&pg=PA153|year=1982|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04667-2|page=155}}</ref> Following the [[Angamaly police firing]] (13 June 1959) in which seven of its members were killed, the Catholic Church and other Syrian Christian Churches actively participated in the struggle and mobilised massive support.
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| #Nair Service Society: NSS, a community welfare organization of [[Nairs]], was a major opponent of land reform policies of the government, which they considered as radical and ill-disposed towards the Nair community of Kerala.<ref name="Tharamangalam1981"/> In December 1958, NSS joined up with the [[Catholic Church]] to form an anticommunist front.<ref name="Ramachand"/> The government retracted partially on sensing the trouble that could be created by the alliance of NSS and the Syrian Christians, and it indicated its readiness to make concessions.<ref>{{cite book|author=Thomas Johnson Nossiter|title=Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CSQUxVjjWQC&pg=PA153|year=1982|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04667-2|page=156}}</ref> However, the founder and leader of the NSS, Mannathu Padmanabhan, declared that "the aim is not limited to the redressal of specific issues but extended to the removal of the Communist Party".{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} He called on all the field units of the NSS to organise the people and on the educational institutions to close them.<ref>{{cite book|first=P|last=Radhakrishnan|title=Peasant Struggles, Land Reforms and Social Change: Malabar 1836-1982|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PAxzWmBN-HkC&pg=PA78|access-date=18 August 2012|publisher=Radhakrishnan|isbn=978-1-906083-16-8|pages=78–79|year=1989}}</ref>
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| #[[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA): Communists allege that the CIA was behind the liberation struggle. The role of the CIA in the struggle is depicted in the work of [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]], the American ambassador to India (1973–75) in his 1978 book: "A Dangerous Place". His statements are corroborated by Howard Schaffer, the biographer of [[Ellsworth Bunker]], the American ambassador to India (1956–61), who is quoted confirming American and his involvement in funding the agitation against EMS's communist government to prevent "additional Keralas".<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pDlh-RIqrfoC |title = Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation|isbn = 9780905838403|last1 = Nossiter|first1 = Thomas Johnson|year = 1982}}</ref>
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| ==Agitations and reprisals==
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| Rallies and demonstrations against the government took place throughout the state. The protests were spearheaded by the [[Indian National Congress]], the then ruling party of Government of India (Union Government) and were later supported by various religious and communal groups. The communists strongly believed that the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] discreetly supported these protests, financially and otherwise.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/12/stories/2008021254000400.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302170836/http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/12/stories/2008021254000400.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=2 March 2008 | newspaper=[[The Hindu]] | title=Fresh light on 'Liberation Struggle'| date=12 February 2008}}</ref> The death of a pregnant fisher woman, named Flory, a Christian woman in the police firing aggravated the situation.
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| One notable feature of the movement was the participation of school and college students supporting the movement; the [[Kerala Students Union]], the student wing of the Indian National Congress also played a role.
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| ==Result==
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| The immediate effect of the ''Vimochana Samaram'' was the dismissal of the Kerala State government under EMS on 31 July 1959 and imposition of [[president's rule]] in the state, under [[Article 356]] of the [[constitution of India]], from 31 July 1959 to 22 February 1960.
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| In the 1960s, elections to the Kerala State Legislative assembly, the United Front, led by the [[Indian National Congress]], won with a majority. A ministry under [[Pattom A. Thanu Pillai]], of the [[Praja Socialist Party]], took office.
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| ==Legacy==
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| The Communist Party of India projects the Liberation Struggle as a conspiracy. Some of the key points of criticism were that it was an anti-democratic, [[CIA]] funded, communal movement aimed to shatter one of the first democratically elected communist ministry. It has further accused the Indian National Congress of publicly joining hands with anti-democratic splinters and communal forces to promote the downfall of a democratically elected government.
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| == External links ==
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| * [http://www.indiatogether.org/2007/apr/gov-kerala50.htm A red dawn that set too soon]
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| == References ==
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| {{reflist}}
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| [[Category:Political history of Kerala]]
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| [[Category:History of Kerala (1947–present)]]
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| [[Category:Anti-communism in India]]
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| [[Category:Social history of Kerala]]
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