Latest news with #Chettur
The Hindu
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Governor visits Chettur's native house
Governor Rajendra Arlekar visited the native home of Chettur Sankaran Nair, the only Malayali to become the national president of the Indian National Congress, at Mankara near here on Saturday. He visited the house where Chettur was born in 1857 and where he grew up until he was five years old. The ancestral house was lying closed, but was cleaned up and opened in view of the Governor's visit. Talking to Chettur's relatives, the Governor stressed the importance of ensuring that Chettur's contributions are recognised and remembered by future generations.
The Hindu
24-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
A forgotten hero re-emerges as Congress, BJP lay claim to his legacy
A pioneering Indian patriot who charted his own course, despite fierce differences with Mahatma Gandhi, is remembered on his 91st death anniversary for courageously taking on the British in the London court over the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Chettur Sanakaran Nair, a trailblazing figure who made history as the sole Malayali to hold the office of the Indian National Congress president in 1897, has faded from memory largely due to the party's own oversight and flawed narrative. Chettur's long-abandoned tomb on the banks of the Bharathapuzha at Mankara in Palakkad district became a hub of activity on Thursday when the BJP unexpectedly laid claim to his legacy, rivalling the Congress' traditional association with him. Chettur, the visionary who contributed immensely to India's development while being a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council, has few memorials in his land. A couple of trusteeship bodies in his name based at Ottappalam may be an exception. But the hard path to his tomb, winding through paddy fields at Mankara, appears to mirror the Congress' neglect of his legacy. Until 2020, none bothered to remember him even on his death anniversary. Even his family members did not care. 'If Chettur's family members had been actively involved in politics, his legacy would likely have been celebrated within the Congress, much like K. Karunakaran and Oommen Chandy,' said Boban Mattumantha, Palakkad district chairman of the Congress's cultural wing Samskara Sahiti. None of his family members were in active politics. Many of his descendants held diplomatic and juridical positions. K.P.S. Menon was his son-in-law. Former High Court judge Chettur Sankaran Nair, 92, a descendant, could not respond as he was relaxing at home. Sivadas Chettur, another descendant who is a practising chartered accountant, attributed his great-granduncle's fading legacy to the fact that Chettur's political career predated Mahatma Gandhi's involvement in the Indian national movement. But Mr. Sivadas differed with the Congress leaders like K. Muraleedharan in that it was Chettur's differences with Mahatma Gandhi that made the Congress turn its face away from him. 'Even when maintaining fierce differences with Gandhi, they held good personal relations,' he said. On Thursday, the 91st death anniversary of Chettur, leaders of the Congress and the BJP paid floral tributes at his tomb at Mankara. If the Congress had started paying tributes in 2020, the BJP did it in 2025, recognising the freedom fighter who was known for his unflinching stand against the British. 'India's freedom struggle saw two kinds of heroes: those who apologised to the British and those who stood firm. Chettur exemplifies the latter, unwavering in his defiance. This stark contrast poses a challenge for the BJP, associated with Veer Savarkar's legacy of apology, to reconcile with Chettur's uncompromising spirit that embodied progressive ideals,' said Mr. Mattumantha.
The Hindu
24-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
N.S. Madhavan criticises K. Muraleedharan's comments on Chettur
Writer N.S. Madhavan criticised former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Muraleedharan's comments on jurist and former Indian National Congress president Chettur Sankaran Nair at a commemorative event on Thursday. In a post on his profile on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote that it was sad that such a statement came from a Congress leader. 'Following Jallianwala Bagh, Chettur resigned from his high position as member, Viceroy's Council. After his resignation, he publicly criticised the British government. His stance brought international attention to the massacre. Chettur's book, Gandhi and Anarchy, criticised both British policy and some of Gandhi's methods. Remember, Tagore was also critical of Gandhi's tactics. The book clearly condemned the British. Don't forget highest Indian official's resignation energised our freedom struggle,' wrote Mr. Madhavan.
The Hindu
24-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Congress observes Chettur's death anniversary, accuses BJP of appropriating its leaders
With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making a major push towards celebrating jurist and former Indian National Congress president Chettur Sankaran Nair, the Congress on Thursday observed his death anniversary with events held across the State. While the Congress accused the BJP and the Sangh Parivar of appropriating yesteryear Congress leaders and freedom fighters because none of the Sangh leaders had participated in the freedom struggle, the BJP accused the Congress of sidelining leaders who are not part of the Nehru family. This was the first time that the Congress organised a commemorative event for Chettur at the national or State level, although the Palakkad district committee has annually observed his death anniversary. Former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Muraleedharan, who inaugurated the event at the KPCC headquarters in the capital, was forthright in laying out the reasons for the same. Reasons cited 'The Congress cannot agree with some of Chettur's opinions. Though he was the first Malayali to become the Congress president, he became a part of the Viceroy's council after that. Someone who is neck-deep in the freedom struggle will not reach such a position. We do not know whether he had compromised with the British after he left the Congress president's post. Research needs to be done on this. He also had strong differences with Mahatma Gandhi, especially on the non-cooperation movement. Chettur insisted that we must pay taxes to the British. In his 1922 book also he criticised Gandhi. The party did not celebrate Chettur not because he wasn't a part of the Nehru family, but due to his serious differences with Gandhi. But we are not ready to cede him to the BJP, because he was a secular man,' said Mr. Muraleedharan. He accused the BJP of following a system of 'adopting' Congress freedom fighters, beginning with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who had banned the RSS. KPCC working president T.N. Prathapan said the Sangh Parivar was appropriating Congress leaders due to its guilt of not taking part in the freedom struggle. Its few leaders who had participated in the movement wrote apology letters and later colluded with the British, he said. A constitutionalist Former bureaucrat T.K.A. Nair, who heads the Chettur Sankaran Nair Foundation, said that Chettur was an intellectual giant who reached the highest levels in the British government that an Indian could aspire for those days. Laying out the possible reasons for Chettur collaborating with the British, Mr. Nair said that Chettur was not an agitationist or a revolutionary, but a constitutionalist who believed that he would be able to change the rulers' mind through constitutional means. Rajasekharan Nair, retired professor of history and editor of a book of essays on Chettur's life, also spoke. Post-massacre stance Speakers remembered his brave stand of resigning from the Viceroy's executive council in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. In his book Gandhi and Anarchy (1922), he criticised Michael O' Dwyer, the lieutenant governor of Punjab during the massacre, leading to a libel suit. He refused to apologise for his words and chose to pay the penalty. At Chettur's Smrithi Mandapam at Mankara in Palakkad, both the Congress and the BJP offered floral tributes on Thursday at separate functions. The BJP leaders in the State have been speaking highly of Chettur's contributions ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reference to him during a public address at Yamunanagar, Haryana recently. Kesari Chapter 2, a film starring Akshay Kumar, based on Chettur's life is also currently running in the theatres.
