The Angamaly Firing was an incident that took place in Angamaly

Angamaly

Angamaly is a satellite town of the city of Kochi, situated north of the city center and a municipality in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. It is one of the entry points or gateways to Ernakulam district from northern Kerala...

, 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....

, on June 13, 1959, when police opened fire on protesters who had been demonstrating against Kerala's communist government. Seven people were killed resulting in the intensification of Vimochana Samaram

Vimochana Samaram

The Liberation Struggle is an anti-Communist socio-political agitation started in 1958 against the first elected government in Kerala state, India under Communist Chief Minister E. M. S. Namboodiripad...

, a protest against the then communist led government.

Background

The Communist Government infuriated over the popular revolt demanding better governance gave the police strict orders to suppress all the protests at any cost, they started firing against unarmed innocents who marched towards the police station to inquire about a missing person. 7 people were killed in the firing - people from the Mattoor, Kyppattoor and Kottamam parishes of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam.

Aftermath

On the next day - Sunday 14 June, the dead bodies were taken to the nearby town of Kalady accompanied by a huge crowd and buried at the Cemetery of the Angamaly Forone Church. This event enraged the people of Kerala and intensified the Vimochana Samaram. Following this, the EMS government was dismissed and the state placed under President's rule

President's rule

President's rule is the term used in India when a state legislature is dissolved or suspended and the state is placed under direct federal rule...

pending elections. The Communist Party was routed in the re-election that followed.

Commemoration

The fiftieth anniversary of the firing was observed with a ceremony at the St. George Forane Church in Angamaly on June 14, 2009. Among the attendees were survivors of the incident, some of whom had been injured or imprisoned in its aftermath. Prayers were said over the graves of the seven victims.