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Variamkunnath Mohammed Haji

Variamkunnath Mohammed Haji (VK Haji) [1883-20 January 1922] grew up to become one of the foremost leaders of the Malabar Rebellion of 1921. Having nurtured anger against the British for the explicit torture and exploitation of the local people, he led the people in the uprising against the colonial rulers as part of the Khilafat movement. His role in the Malabar rebellion led him to the stature of the Rebel King. He led the uprising in the Nilambur-Pandikkad regions. He was one of the few leaders who fought with the conviction of capturing state power.

Biography

VK Haji was born near Manjeri in Nelikuttu to Variamkunnath Moideenkutty Haji and Kutaysha Hajjumma. He belonged to one of the very few wealthy landowning Mapila muslim families. His family had a tradition of belonging to the martial class/castes [?] who fought in the armies of the Zamorin, Attan Kurikkal and so on. There is a lot of contestation on when Haji was born. While commonly circulated opinion was that he was born in 1866, British police officer RH Hitchcock’s account points to him being born in 1883. Another belief suggests that he was around 47 years old when he was killed, which suggests that he was born around 1875-77.

He married thrice, the last to Mallu Hajjuma in 1920, his childhood friend and cousin, who went onto fight along with him in many battles during the rebellion. Because of his interest in local cultural traditions, he deployed duffmuttu and padapattukal in order to rally the people against the British.

At the age of 20, in 1896, he became associated with the struggle of the landless peasants against evictions from a land belonging to the Manjeri Kovilakam. Hundreds of people had gathered in protest against the evictions, and occupied the property owned by the kovilakam. The British army came in support of the Kovilakam and a total of 94 people died in the clashes. It was after this incident that Haji was forced to go to Mecca for 5 years. Two years before this, in 1894, his father was sent to life imprisonment to the Andamans by the British because of the murder of a jenmi which followed a fight between the army and the rebels.

Variamkunnan made his last trip to Mecca in 1914. In between 1905-1914, he visited Mecca multiple times and had already come to learn Urdu, Arabic and English. He was also in Bombay, briefly engaged in trade while lying low in the aftermath of the cases against him. Even upon his return, he was not actively engaged in politics, however, with the spiralling tensions and the eventual siege by the British at the Tirurangadi Mosque, Haji decided to join the Khilafat against the British.

Malabar Rebellion

Haji strongly believed that the Khilafat was the issue of the Turkish national question, however he believed in joining the khilafat in order to fight against the British rule in his native land. During the Malabar Rebellion of 1921, with the conflict in the uprising intensifying, many police officers escaped from Ernad and Valluvanad taluks of Malabar district, and the rebels declared it to be an independent state, whose undisputed leader was VK Haji. Many battles were endured by Haji and his team to secure a separate state Kerala Rajyam. In fact, in Nilambur, there was separate currency, taxes and passes for entry and exit. Supporters of the British, both Hindus and Muslims were punished by the rebels. Unlike popular myths about the Malabar rebellion, it was Haji and his companion Ali Musalyar who issued decree against forceful conversations and attacks against Hindus. However, it is believed that he attacked anyone who aided the British, be it Muslims or Hindus.

For nearly six months, Haji ran a parallel Khilafat regime headquartered in Nilambur, with even its own separate passport, currency and system of taxation. Armies comprising of both Hindus and Muslims defended this independent state against the British army and the police. Tenants were granted the power over the lands they cultivated along with tax incentives. It is said that attacks against women were not tolerated under his rule, and a system of civil court was also instituted at his rule. The passport issued under VK Haji’s rule read- “These people are coming with my passport. Nobody can stop or disturb the carrier of this passport. They are simple and good-intentioned people.” Many correspondences between British officers and their government suggest that the British were finding it impossible to defeat the rebel rule under V K Haji, including their guerrilla tactics in the jungles and hills.

Later on, in October 1921, Gorkhas, Chins and Kachins were brought to Malabar by the British in order to suppress the mass popular rebellion.

He was also directly involved in the protection of the Nambudiri Bank, and the Battle of Pandikkad (contestation), key events during the rebellion. In spite of several urges by the thangals (clergy class) to surrender to the British, he refused to do so and fought for the land and for the people. Haji’s name also features in the list 387 freedom fighters proposed to be removed by the ICHR, which lead to many controversies in 2021.

He was betrayed and arrested on the pretext of having called for a negotiation, and executed by shooting by the British on 20th January 1922. Atleast 200 acres belonging to VK Haji’s family was confiscated by the British in the aftermath of the rebellion.

References