Vaikom, a satyagraha, and the fight for social justice

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Last Updated01/04/2023

The Kerala government in 2023 decided to commemorate the Vaikom satyagraha/ movement by organising various cultural events.
Tamil Nadu CM also recently declared intentions of a year-long celebration.

Vaikom Satyagraha was a nonviolent protest that took place from 1924 to 1925 in the Kingdom of Travancore (part of modern day Kerala).
The protest was against the rigid and oppressive caste system prevalent in the region, which forbade lower castes, or untouchables, from entering not just the Vaikom Temple but also from walking on the surrounding roads.
leaders: T. K. Madhavan, K. Kelappan, George Joseph and K. P. Kesava Menon.
The protest was notable for the active support and participation offered by different communities and a variety of activists.
The movement, started on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi, was successfully conducted by Periyar (E.V. Ramasamy Naicker), the then president of Tamil Nadu Congress.

There is more to it in terms of a social movement of consequence.
It also marks the commencement of the centenary year of the Vaikom temple street entry movement that was launched in 1924, and a milestone in temple entry movements in India.
This non-violent movement was to end the prohibition imposed on backward communities in using the roads around the Vaikom Mahadeva temple.
It was the prelude to the temple entry proclamation of Kerala in 1936.

Supported by the Kerala Congress, the committee against untouchability launched the protest.
The protest sustained itself for more than one and a half years, leading to many arrests of satyagrahis.
The government then targeted the leaders of the protest. Their arrests created a vacuum as there was no leader left immediately.
This led to leaders such as Neelakandan Nampoothiri and George Joseph to request Periyar to lead the protest. He got the title Vaikom Veerar (Hero of Vaikom) after this movement.
The Vaikom movement was of many hues — as day-to-day protests, arrests, of inquiries, jail terms and and agitations and attacks by orthodox Hindu traditionalists Even the Akalis from Punjab travelled to Vaikom to supply food to the protesters.

There was also the support of the higher castes for a 13-day march to the capital, a resolution in the Assembly in support of the sanchara (free entry to the streets around the temple), its defeat, and also the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi to negotiate between the government, protesters and orthodox Hindus.
Since Mahatma Gandhi insisted that it should be a local protest, requests to make it a pan-India movement failed. Backed by the government and the administration, the traditionalists caused many troubles for the satyagrahis, which included counter rallies marked by violence.
The resolution for the right to sanchara was defeated in the Assembly by the open support of the traditionalists and the indirect pressure of the government. But the satyagrahis overcame the hurdles.
The sanchara resolution that was taken up for voting in the Assembly in 1925, was defeated by a single vote. Mahatma Gandhi talked with the Queen of Travancore, social reformer Sri Narayana Guru, traditionalists and police.
Finally in November, the government of the Travancore princely state declared that people could enter three of the four streets around Vaikom temple, thus bringing the protest to an end.

Vaikom is more than just a name of a town. It is a symbol of social justice and symbolises the eradication of caste barriers.
It is one that still burns bright in history and the social justice movement.