25th August 2021 – Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) has decided to correct a historical mistake in which several Moplah leaders, who orchestrated and arranged for murder, loot, rape and genocide of Hindus in 1921 in the Malabar district of Kerala, were termed as ‘freedom fighters’. The premier institution has decided to take off the names of such 387 Moplahs including Variamkunnath Kunhamed Haji and Ali Musaliar.
After this announcement, the netizens congratulated the ICHR on this epic decision. #MoplahMassacreTruth was trending on Twitter. On the other hand, several community leaders have slammed this decision for politicizing the history.
The tale of Moplah Genocide in 1921 is a lesser-known fact to many. Several historians have used the term ‘Moplah Rebellion’ and have failed to note the plight of Hindus who were massacred by Moplahs. However, British Indian records confirm that countless Hindu temples were burnt and desecrated and thousands of Hindus were forcefully converted to Islam during this genocide. Their cattle were killed, women raped, children orphaned and they were forced to leave their villages. Under the guise of freedom struggle, the Moplahs slaughtered Hindus and it was a definite attempt to establish caliphate.
Ram Madhav, member of National Executive, RSS, said “attempt to whitewash Moplah atrocities is latest case of Communist schizofascism”
External Resources –
Speech by Sandeep Balakrishna – https://youtu.be/M7l7d_Bv0yk
Cambridge University Press, Robert Hardgrave, 1977 – https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/24252
The Moplah Rebellion, 1921 by C. Gopalan Nair (published in 1923)
Moplah (mujhe is sey kya) by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
