Akkamma Cherian
Encyclopedia
Accamma Cherian was an India
n freedom fighter from the erstwhile Travancore
(Kerala
), India
. She was popularly known as the Jhansi Rani
of Travancore
.
She was born on 14 February 1909 at Kanjirapally
, Kingdom of Travancore, as the second daughter of Thomman Cherian and Annamma. She was educated at Government Girls High School, Kanjirapally and St. Joseph High School, Changanacherry. She earned a B.A.
in History
from St. Teresa's College
, Ernakulam
.
After her formal education in 1931, she worked as a teacher at St. Mary's English Medium School, Kanjirapally (founded in 1930), where she later became Head mistress of the school. She worked in this institution for about six years, and during this period she also did her L. T. degree from Trivandrum
Training College.
In February 1938, the Travancore State Congress was formed. She gave up her teaching career in order to join the struggle for liberty. Under the State Congress, the people of Travancore started an agitation for a responsible government. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, the Dewan of Travancore and an enemy of liberal and democratic movements, decided to suppress the agitation. On 26 August 1938, he banned the State Congress which then organized a civil disobedience movement. Prominent State Congress leaders including its President Pattom A. Thanu Pillai
were arrested and put behind bars. Now, the State Congress decided to change its method of agitation. Its working committee was dissolved and the President was given dictatorial powers and the right to nominate his successor. Eleven ‘dictators’ (Presidents) of the State Congress were arrested one by one. Kuttanad Ramakrishna Pillai, the eleventh dictator, before his arrest nominated Accamma Cherian as the twelfth dictator.
Accamma Cherian lead a mass rally from Thampanoor
to the Kowdiar Palace
of the Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma
to revoke a ban on State Congress. The agitating mob also demanded the dismissal of the Dewan, C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, against whom the State Congress leaders had leveled several charges. The British
police chief ordered his men to fire on the rally of over 20,000 people . Accamma Cherian cried, `I am the leader; shoot me first before you kill others.' Her courageous words forced the police authorities to withdraw their orders. On hearing the news M. K. Gandhi hailed her as ‘The Jhansi Rani of Travancore’. She was arrested and convicted for violating prohibitory orders in 1939.
In October 1938, the working committee of the State Congress directed Accamma Cherian to organize the Desasevika Sangh (Female Volunteer Crops). She, therefore, toured various centers and appealed to the women to join as members of the Desasevika Sangh.
The first annual conference of the State Congress was held at Vattiyoorkavu
on 22 and 23 December 1938 in spite of the ban orders. Almost all leaders of the State Congress were arrested and imprisoned. Accamma, along with her sister Rosamma Punnose (also a freedom fighter, M. L. A., and a C. P. I.
leader from 1948), was arrested and jailed on 24 December 1939. They were awarded one year imprisonment. They were insulted and threatened in the jail. Due to the instruction given by the jail authorities, some prisoners used abusing and vulgar words against them. This matter was brought to the notice of M. K. Gandhi by Pattom A. Thanu Pillai. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, however, denied it. Accamma’s brother, K. P. Varkey, also took part in freedom movement.
Accamma, after her release from jail, became a full-time worker of the State Congress. In 1942, she became its Acting President. In her presidential address, she welcomed the Quit India Resolution passed by the historic Bombay session of the Indian National Congress on 8 August 1942. She was arrested and awarded one year imprisonment. In 1946, she was arrested and imprisoned for six months for violating ban orders. In 1947, she was again arrested as she raised her voice against C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar’s desire for independent Travancore.
In 1947, after independence, Accamma was elected to the Travancore Legislative Assembly from Kanjirapally unanimously. In 1951, she married V. V. Varkey, a freedom fighter and a member of Travancore Cochin
Legislative Assembly. They had one son, George V. Varkey, an engineer. In the early 1950s, she resigned from the Congress Party after being denied a Lok sabha ticket and in 1952, she unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary election from Cochin-Meenachil
as an independent. In the early 1950s, when the parties ideologies were changing, she quit politics. With her husband V. V. Varkey, also in politics and an MLA (1952–54) to Kerala Legislative Assembly she left it in near-poverty. In 1967, she contested the Assembly election from Kanjirapally as a Congress candidate and was defeated by the Communists. Later, she served as a member of the Freedom Fighters’ Pension Advisory Board.
A statue was erected on her memory in Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram
.
A documentary film was made on her life by Sreebala K. Menon.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n freedom fighter from the erstwhile Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
(Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
), India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. She was popularly known as the Jhansi Rani
Rani Lakshmibai
Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi was the queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, situated in the northern part of India...
of Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
.
She was born on 14 February 1909 at Kanjirapally
Kanjirappally
Kanjirappally is a taluk and a town in Kottayam district, in the state of Kerala, India. Rubber plantations are a major source of income for the local population. The place has a large population of Syrian Catholic Christians....
, Kingdom of Travancore, as the second daughter of Thomman Cherian and Annamma. She was educated at Government Girls High School, Kanjirapally and St. Joseph High School, Changanacherry. She earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
from St. Teresa's College
St. Teresa's College
St.Teresa's College is an arts and science college located at Kochi, India.St.Teresa's College is situated in the heart of the city of Cochin. This Kalakshetra has a proud history of 80 years to look back upon. Since its establishment in 1925, the College has progressed by leaps and bound...
, Ernakulam
Ernakulam
Ernakulam refers to the downtown area or the western part of the mainland of Kochi city in Kerala, India. The city is the most urban part of Kochi and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Ernakulam is called the commercial capital of the state of Kerala and is a main nerve of business in...
.
After her formal education in 1931, she worked as a teacher at St. Mary's English Medium School, Kanjirapally (founded in 1930), where she later became Head mistress of the school. She worked in this institution for about six years, and during this period she also did her L. T. degree from Trivandrum
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
Training College.
In February 1938, the Travancore State Congress was formed. She gave up her teaching career in order to join the struggle for liberty. Under the State Congress, the people of Travancore started an agitation for a responsible government. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, the Dewan of Travancore and an enemy of liberal and democratic movements, decided to suppress the agitation. On 26 August 1938, he banned the State Congress which then organized a civil disobedience movement. Prominent State Congress leaders including its President Pattom A. Thanu Pillai
Pattom A. Thanu Pillai
Pattom A. Thanu Pillai was a participant in the Indian independence movement who later served as the Chief Minister of Kerala from 22 February 1960 to 25 September 1962....
were arrested and put behind bars. Now, the State Congress decided to change its method of agitation. Its working committee was dissolved and the President was given dictatorial powers and the right to nominate his successor. Eleven ‘dictators’ (Presidents) of the State Congress were arrested one by one. Kuttanad Ramakrishna Pillai, the eleventh dictator, before his arrest nominated Accamma Cherian as the twelfth dictator.
Accamma Cherian lead a mass rally from Thampanoor
Thampanoor
Thampanoor is a major commercial area of the Thiruvananthapuram city in Kerala state, South India. The major railway station of the state, Trivandrum Central, Railway Mail Service , Central Bus Station, the head office of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and many movie theatres and...
to the Kowdiar Palace
Kowdiar Palace
Kowdiar Palace in Trivandrum, Kerala, India was built in 1915 by Sree Moolam Thirunal and was gifted to Sethu Parvati Bayi.It is the official residence of the Travancore Royal Family....
of the Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma
Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma
Chithira Thirunal Maharaja was the last ruling maharaja of the princely state of Travancore, in southern India...
to revoke a ban on State Congress. The agitating mob also demanded the dismissal of the Dewan, C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, against whom the State Congress leaders had leveled several charges. The British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
police chief ordered his men to fire on the rally of over 20,000 people . Accamma Cherian cried, `I am the leader; shoot me first before you kill others.' Her courageous words forced the police authorities to withdraw their orders. On hearing the news M. K. Gandhi hailed her as ‘The Jhansi Rani of Travancore’. She was arrested and convicted for violating prohibitory orders in 1939.
In October 1938, the working committee of the State Congress directed Accamma Cherian to organize the Desasevika Sangh (Female Volunteer Crops). She, therefore, toured various centers and appealed to the women to join as members of the Desasevika Sangh.
The first annual conference of the State Congress was held at Vattiyoorkavu
Vattiyoorkavu
Vattiyoorkavu is located in the north-eastern side of Thiruvananthapuram city, Kerala, India. River Killi flows through this area....
on 22 and 23 December 1938 in spite of the ban orders. Almost all leaders of the State Congress were arrested and imprisoned. Accamma, along with her sister Rosamma Punnose (also a freedom fighter, M. L. A., and a C. P. I.
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
leader from 1948), was arrested and jailed on 24 December 1939. They were awarded one year imprisonment. They were insulted and threatened in the jail. Due to the instruction given by the jail authorities, some prisoners used abusing and vulgar words against them. This matter was brought to the notice of M. K. Gandhi by Pattom A. Thanu Pillai. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, however, denied it. Accamma’s brother, K. P. Varkey, also took part in freedom movement.
Accamma, after her release from jail, became a full-time worker of the State Congress. In 1942, she became its Acting President. In her presidential address, she welcomed the Quit India Resolution passed by the historic Bombay session of the Indian National Congress on 8 August 1942. She was arrested and awarded one year imprisonment. In 1946, she was arrested and imprisoned for six months for violating ban orders. In 1947, she was again arrested as she raised her voice against C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar’s desire for independent Travancore.
In 1947, after independence, Accamma was elected to the Travancore Legislative Assembly from Kanjirapally unanimously. In 1951, she married V. V. Varkey, a freedom fighter and a member of Travancore Cochin
Travancore-Cochin
Travancore-Cochin or Thiru-Kochi is a former state of India . It was created on 1 July 1949 by the merger of two former princely states, the kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin....
Legislative Assembly. They had one son, George V. Varkey, an engineer. In the early 1950s, she resigned from the Congress Party after being denied a Lok sabha ticket and in 1952, she unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary election from Cochin-Meenachil
Muvattupuzha (Lok Sabha constituency)
-Assembly segments:Muvattupuzha Lok Sabha constituency was composed of the following assembly segments:#Kunnathunad#Piravom#Muvattupuzha#Kothamangalam#Kanjirappally#Poonjar#Palai-Members of Parliament:*1952: P. T...
as an independent. In the early 1950s, when the parties ideologies were changing, she quit politics. With her husband V. V. Varkey, also in politics and an MLA (1952–54) to Kerala Legislative Assembly she left it in near-poverty. In 1967, she contested the Assembly election from Kanjirapally as a Congress candidate and was defeated by the Communists. Later, she served as a member of the Freedom Fighters’ Pension Advisory Board.
A statue was erected on her memory in Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
.
A documentary film was made on her life by Sreebala K. Menon.