Thread by @ranganaathan

Vairappan was a barber in Vedharanyam. He was very perturbed at the sight of the police beating and torturing people who joined the Salt Sayagraha. He vowed not to cut hair for the police. During the sathyagraha days he met with a difficult situation.

A policeman, to trick Vairappan into doing face-shave for him, came in civil clothes. Vairappan started his work. He completed shaving one side. A person who came that way, let the cat out of the bag.

He asked Vairappan, “What, you have resumed ? You are doing shaving for a policeman”. Taken aback at this revelation, Vairappan just left the policeman half shaved. The policeman threatened him, cajoled him, but Vairappan would have none of these to be valid.

Finally, the policeman foisted a case against Vairappan and dragged him to the court. The judge ordered Vairappan to complete his work.
Vairappan said, “Sorry Sir, I cannot do that. If you want you can do that” So saying he left his wares on the judge’s table.

Vairappan was slapped with a six months jail sentence.

Sardar Vedarathnam was narrating this heroic story in the public meeting at Sathankulam. For this ‘crime’ he was awarded a six month sentence.

The Police arrested a purohit, Arunachala Desikar. When questioned by the officials about his work, Desikar replied that he was a purohit performing the last rites for the departed.

When the jail authorities sarcastically asked him what work should they give to him, he casually replied “I understand the British Rule is dead. If required I shall perform the last rites for it”. This witty repartee got Desikar a one year stay in jail.

Are the Dumeels even remotely aware of such hero's of freedom movement in TN? Other than the wily EVR & Dravidian leaders who wanted British to stay back in India, youth have no clue of the above heros

The Salt Sathyagraha (1930), under the leadership of Rajaji, started from Tiruchi and ended at Vedaranyam. People all along the route decorated the paths and welcomed the procession with typical Tamil music band.

The self-respect movement people loyal to the imperialists created problems here and there.
In Kumbakonam, during Rajaji’s speech, printed handbills mocking Rajaji, were thrown among the crowd. The inebriated self-respect followers created trouble to disrupt the meeting.

They threw mud on the crowd. Realizing that they were eyeing the hundi, the Congress volunteers removed it to a safer place.

Except for a weak sporadic resistance by the self-respect people in Tamil Nadu, the agitation had spread all over the country. A hundred thousand people were arrested and sent to prison in one year.

In Nellore, a Congress supporter was imprisoned for six months for wearing a Gandhi cap. M Krishnan Nair, Law Minister in the Justice Party government, termed the sentence as fair.

He advised the Advocate General Venkatarama Sastry to appear in the High Court to confirm the sentence. A conscientious Venkatarama Sastry resigned the AG post. He then appeared for the victim and got the sentence rescinded .

The British Association run by the English in Bombay, in deference to the general opinion and mood of the public, decided against sending a representative to the London Round Table Conference.

But the Justice Party indifferent to public sentiment and resentment, sent A.T.Panneerselvam as its representative.

Adjournment and cut motions against the repression by the Govt, were moved in the Madras assembly by Sami Venkatachalam Chetti and R.N.Arockiyasami Mudaliyar. No member of the Justice Party spoke against the government let alone condemning it, scoffed at the freedom struggle.

In Telicheri, Malabar district, Smt.Leelavathi Prabhu was arrested for participating in civil disobedience movement. Dotwel, the judge, ordered the woman to pay a fine. Smt.Prabhu refused saying she wanted only imprisonment.

Angered at this, the judge shouted at the lady, “Why, you can sell what you are wearing round your neck”. People in the court cried. There was pandemonium and lathi charge was resorted to.
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An advocate tried to explain the significance of ‘thali’, the sacred thread and how dear women in India hold it. But the judge refused to be convinced. Forcibly the thali was removed from two more women apart from Smt.Prabhu

In the elections of 1934, S. Sathyamurthy from the Swarajya Party and A.Ramsawamy of the Justice Party contested against each other, in Madras city. “Thelicheri Thali” issue occupied the center stage in the campaign. In the end, S.Sathyamurthy won where non-Brahmins were large.

“Dravidan” the Justice Party organ, advised the government “if the Gandhiji’s movement is ignored it will automatically die”.

The entire India applauded the victory of salt sathyagraha, EVR, like a wounded ‘werewolf’ went missing, to sulk into silence in distant shores. EVR did not like the victory of the freedom struggle. Like a loyal orderly, EVR could not digest the defeat of his master, the English

Here is Mangala Murugesan’s account of EVR’s foreign jaunt:
13-12-1931- Periyar left Chennai in a French ship “Amboysi” to see a new world.
11-11-1932 -Returned to Chennai via Ceylon .

The purpose of this trip was to have a personal appraisal of the social and political organizations in the European countries as well as to establish contacts with the social reformation organizations.
He went to the nudist colonies in Germany to understand their real reasons.

He wrote about his outings to the nudist colonies in Kudiyarasu.
He who visited the nudist colonies to understand the purpose of nudity, did not mind a bit denuding himself. EVR and Ramanathan posed nude while talking to the nudists there in Germany.

While EVR was actively engaged with nudism at Europe, an incident happened that plunged Tamil Nadu into grief.
In Tiruppur, a youth of 28 years, was killed by the police for having held aloft the national flag in his hand.

The young man, bereaved by a young wife, was hailed by the Tamils as “Kodi Kaththa Kumaran”- the youth who saved the Flag.
Kumaran was one of six children to his poor parents, was born in Sennimalai in Erode district. He belonged to the sengunthar tradition.

It was a prevalent custom among Sennimalai sengunthars that for a marriage in their families, each family should offer Rs.1. In 1922 there were as many as 22 marriages. Unable to offer Rs.1 to every marriage,

Kumaran left Sennimalai and came to Tiruppur and joined a ginning factory as a clerk. He married Ramayee.
Kumaran was a devout person and a patriot to the core. He would wear khadar, recite Thirukkural and Thiruvasagam daily.

Kumaran wanted very much to join in Rajaji’s salt sathyagraha, but circumstances did not allow him. He was very sad about it. He participated actively in blockade against toddy shops. He used to take a five year old son of his neighbor with him.

The child would try to prevent people from going to the toddy shop by falling at their feet and would plead holding them tightly together. People found it difficult to wring themselves free from his grip.
The toddy shop owner threw bursting crackers on Kumaran’s face.

Even when Kumaran suffered burns on his face, he never let go of his resolve.
On 4.01.1932, Gandhi was arrested. People rose up in anger. Civil disobedience gained momentum in Tiruppur and other places. Kumaran readied himself for full involvement in disobedience movement.

Relatives strongly opposed and advised Kumaran not to go against the Government. Kumaran remained unperturbed. He made his decision and he met everyone to whom he owed money and payed them off.
The reserve police paraded Tiruppur’s main streets.

On the day of the protest 10th January, at 6 AM itself, nine members of the Tiruppur Desabandu Youth Association assembled in front of the leader Eswaramurthi’s residence. Kumaran was one of them. Fearing the police, Eswaramurthi declined to participate.

A volunteer P.S.Sundaram lead Kumaran, Raman Nair, Pongali Mudaliyar, Nachimuthu Chettiyar, Viswanatha Nair, Subbarayan, Nachimuthu Gounder, Narayanan, Appukutty, the boy joined the agitation.
The leader handed over the national flag to Kumaran. The procession starts.

The crowd Shouted “Vande Matharam, Bhatath Mata ki Jai” “Mahathma Gandhi ki Jai”. Near the Tiruppur Mangal Vilas Hall, volunteers were garlanded, tilak was applied on their foreheads. and arthi was performed.

As the procession neared the Tiruppur police station, Inspector Mohammaed and another officer blocked their progress and warned them of lathi charge.
Volunteers raised their pitch. Thirty policemen encircling the protestors, started beating them with lathis.

Inspector Mohammed beat Kumaran on his mouth cursing, “Is this the mouth that shouted Vande Matharam”. Police tried to wrench the flag from Kumaran. Kumaran was continuously attacked. Kumaran’s head was broken with blood gushing out.

Kumaran kept chanting Vande Matharam with his right hand tightly clutching the flag. Finally Kumaran, unable to stand the assault, collapsed on the ground bleeding severely. Raman Nair also suffered severely and collapsed.

Inspector Mohammed, with rabid savagery, pounced on P.S.Sundaram, unfeelingly showered lathi blows on him breaking his ribs. Kumaran, Nair and Sundaram were admitted in Tiruppur Government Hospital.

Next day, 11.01.1932, at the stroke of dawn, Kumaran passed away. “I will die; but you should live a good life” were the last words that Kumaran spoke to wife Ramayee.

When the Justice Party ruled, Tiruppur Kumaran was killed; agitators against toddy shops were beaten up and put behind bars; salt sathyagrahis suffered the same fate. The Justice Party harmed and tortured the nationalists only to please the English
- Nellai Jebamani

Christians must acknowledge the historical fact that from Bethlehem to Madras, most of their sacred sites are booty won in campaigns of fraud and destruction. – Koenraad Elst

Thomas of Cana, also known as Knai Thoma, led the first group of 72 Syrian Christian families to India in AD 345. There is no record of Christian communities in India prior to this date.

Thomas of Cana and his companion Bishop Joseph of Edessa also brought with them the tradition of St. Thomas the Apostle of the East. Later, Christian communities in Kerala would identify Knai Thoma with Mar Thoma—Thomas of Cana with Thomas the Apostle—

and claim St. Thomas had arrived in Kerala in AD 52 and established the first Christian church at Musiris—the ancient port near present day Kodungallur—the main trading port of the time.

Rev. Dr. G. Milne Rae of the Madras Christian College, in The Syrian Church in India, did not allow that St. Thomas came further east than Afghanistan. He told the Syrian Christians that they reasoned fallaciously about their identity and wove a fictitious story of their origin.

Their claim that they were called “St. Thomas” Christians from the 1st century was also false. Syrian Christians were called Nasranis (from Nazarean) or Nestorians (by Europeans) up to the 14th century. Bishop Giovanni dei Marignolli the Franciscan papal legate in Quilon invented

the appellation “St. Thomas Christians” in 1348 to distinguish his Syrian Christian converts from the low-caste Hindu converts in his congregation.

MARCO POLO WAS THE FIRST WRITER TO PUT ST THOMAS IN A SEASHORE TOMB. He wrote in Il Milione: “It is in this province, which is styled the Greater India, at the gulf between Ceylon & the mainland, that the body of St. Thomas lies, at a certain town having no great population.”

The bay between Ceylon and India is the Gulf of Mannar, part of the Coromandel Coast region.

Marco Polo is the first writer in history to locate the tomb of St. Thomas on a seashore and by so doing he revolutionises the legend.

All documents prior to him locate the tomb in a mountain of royal sepulchers following the Acts of Thomas. Marco Polo is also the first writer to locate the tomb in South India, in a certain unnamed town which the Portuguese later identified with Mylapore.

Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy and Marco Polo’s 13th century contemporary, called him a liar and maintained that his book was full of falsehoods and fabrications.

New research in Oxford agrees that the stories recorded in Il Milione were invented or recorded from travellers he met in the Constantinople bazaar, and that he had not actually visited the places he writes about.
Information Courtesy : ishwarsharan.wordpress.com/appendix-i/ish…