A century and a decade ago, in 1907 people in the Madras Presidency were
excited by a series of lectures delivered by Bepin Chandra, Bengali journalist and lecturer. He commenced
a tour through the East Coast cities in April and he spoke on " Swaraj, " " Swadeshi "
and " Boycott. " His visit to Rajamundry had been followed on the
24th of April by a strike of students at the Government College there. On the
2nd of May in a speech at Madras he is reported to have said that, while the
British desired to make the Government in India popular without ceasing in any
sense to be essentially British, the Indians desired to make it autonomous, absolutely
free of the British Parliament. (not any figment of
imagination but words taken from Sedition report of 1918 and do you know what
the page no. 165 was devoted to)
About an year later, another man made a speech at Thai Poosa Mantapam in
the bed of river Thamirabarani at Tirunelveli [on the night of 9th March 1907]
and was convicted under sections 124A & 153A of Indian Penal Code by the
Bench consisting of CA White & Miller.
After that speech in 1908, he was
arrested on charges of sedition. Mahakavi Bharathiyar and Subramanya Siva
appeared in the Court in the case and VOC was sentenced to double life
imprisonment tantamount to 40 years ad confined to prison. He was treated badly
as a convict and subjected to inhuman torture. In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as
speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward
insurrection against the established order. Typically, sedition is considered a
subversive act, and the overt acts that may be prosecutable under sedition laws
vary from one legal code to another. Sedition is the stirring up of rebellion
against the government in power.
The report of the sedition commission
introduces “ Republican or
Parliamentary forms of government, as at present understood, were neither
desired nor known in India till after the establishment of British rule”. Infamous words of the President of Sedition
Committee who was later was viewed synonymous with cruelty - the Hon'ble Mr.
Justice S. A. T. ROWLATT, who in Apr 1918 wrote : Sir, I have the honour to refer to the order
of the 10th December 1917 by which it was announced that the Governor-General
in Council had, with the approval of the Secretary of State for India, decided
to appoint a Committee (1) to investigate and report on the nature and extent
of the criminal conspiracies connected with the revolutionary.. .. .. … …
As you
travel down south and as the train winds its way to a small station – perhaps
you might get down to free your legs, take a stroll or enjoy a cup of tea –
unlikely that you will bow down to touch the land ! – after Madurai, it would
be Virudunagar, Sattur, Kovilpatti and 624 km away from Chennai Egmore it is
Maniyachi station – now named ‘Vanchi Maniyachi Junction’.
106 years back, at 10.30 in the morning pistol sounded –
there was commotion as the only killing of British Official in South India
occurred – few minutes later – there were sounds of pistol again – this time
the martyrdom of a youth – hardly 25 years of age did the supreme sacrifice of
his life for the motherland.
This
is not to eulogise the killing but the martyrdom needs to be extolled. Inspired
by the Surat Congress in Dec 1907 the man who pioneered shipping – VO
Chidambaram Pillai organised political meetings in Tuticorin and Tirunelveli.
There were fiery speeches by Subramania Siva. The Freedom struggle
spread and on Feb 1908, around 1000 workers struck work in the Coral Mills of
Tuticorin. The collector Robert
William Escourt Ashe had
imposed restriction by Sec 144 and the union of workers was not to his liking.
When the patriotic leaders planned to celebrate release of Bipin Chanda
Pal as Swarajya day – violence was unleashed by the Dist Admn. VOC, Siva,
Padmanabha Iyengar were arested in Mar 1908. There were riots in Tuticorin and
Tirunelveli termed as incendiarism. Perhaps all these made
Ashe. The downfall of the VOC’s Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company was
also linked to Ashe.
Robert
Ashe had been born in 1872 in Ireland.
In 1895, he arrived in India,
where he began his career as an Assistant Collector and rose up to be District
Magistrate and Collector. In 1907 he had his posting in
Tirunelveli. For two months he officiated at Tuticorin during which
period much occurred.
A
few years later, on 17th June 1911 -
Ashe was travelling along with his wife Mary Lillian Patterson. At
10.38 the train halted at small Maniyachi, a neatly dressed man with tufted
hair alongwith another in a dhoti approached the carriage and shot Ashe on the
chest from point blank range with a belgian made pistol. The assailant
ran towards the latrine and shot himself in the mouth. He belonged to
Bharatha Matha Association.
----
and that Man of unflinching courage was Vanchinathan. He was born in 1886 to
Raghupathy Iyer and Rukmani Ammal. His actual name was Shankaran. He did his
schooling in Shenkottai and graduated in M.A. from Moolam Thirunal Maharaja College in
Thiruvananthapuram. Even while in college, he married Ponnammal and got into a
lucrative Government job.
After
Vanchi shot Ashe and himself, a letter was recovered which purportedly
indicated that the murder was political and caused great apprehension. The
timing of the assassination indicated a protest against the impending
coronation. A massive manhunt followed the assassination. Sadly, it
was reported that even his last rites were not performed. 14 persons were
arrested and charged with conspiracy. More deaths were to follow as two
committed suicide - Dharmaraja Aiyar took poison, while Venkateswara Aiyar slit
his own throat. Madasamy, widely believed to be Vanchi's accomplice and who was
seen running away after the assassination, was never traced.
In a
Court of Justice in the colonial context there were testimony of approvers who
perhaps were threatened and there was panic amongst the freedom fighters as
they feared strict action. What
happened to the family of Veera Vanchinathan is not documented but there cannot
be any doubt that his lineage would have suffered chill penury and were left
uncared for – they would have been hounded by the British and after India obtained
freedom, nobody ever cared for them.
Indians
exhibited their loyalty immediately after the killing by erecting two memorials
– one at the place where Ashe was interred and another a mantap at Great
Cotton Road in Tuticorin - the subscription of Rs.3002/- being raised from the
Indians !!.
The
life history of the Great Patriot Vanchinathan is not found in any great detail in the history
books and not many remember him. In his birthplace Sengottai [Shencottah]
in the foothills of Western Ghats closer to Tenkasi / Courtallam, a statue was erected
during the regime of CM MGR. In the movie Kappalottiya Tamizhan, Actor Balaji
played the role of Vanchinathan.
page 165 (para) of the Sedition report
Long
Live Bharat Mata and Long Live the Martyrs who gave everything to make us live
the way that we are doing today…..
With
tears thinking of the Great son of India
- S.
Sampathkumar.
17th
June 2017.
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