The first Martyr of the Indian Freedom Struggle

Another important historical fact that never reached our ears or eyes…

Today March 23^rd in Martyr’s day.. Cannot but honor the great souls that were lost for the sake of the freedom of our country which includes Bhagat Singh and others.

Everyone is talking about Bhagat Singh and his martyrdom but how many of you have heard of K V Balakrishna Menon, who was first in the freedom struggle in India to die in jail?  He was imprisoned in 1921 along with Mr. Kelappan, 10 years prior to Bhagat Singh.

Balakrishna Menon was a brilliant student, a young lad who was studying to become a doctor. He left his education to join the freedom struggle like scores of others including Mr. Kelappan when the then KPCC leaders K Madhavan Nair and U Gopala Menon were arrested and imprisoned in 1921. Mr. Kellappan Nair writes in his biography that he was studying law in Bombay and as soon as he heard about the arrests, he left his studies and boarded a train to Kerala. Both Kellappan and K V Balakrishna Menon pioneered the freedom movement in the city of Ponnani.

In 1921, the extremist groups among the Muslims in Kerala started a rebellion against all government establishments and the Hindus. While the riots spread to many parts of Malabar, it did not affect a small town called Ponnani because of the timely intervention of K Kelappan, K V Balakrishna Menon, K V Raman Menon, and  Padinjharakath Imbichikoya Thangal, the spiritual leader of the Muslims in Ponnani. 

According to history, when a group of about 400 Muslim rebels marched to attack Ponnani, the leaders of the freedom struggle with about 50 volunteers interrupted the rebels and tried to convince them of the principle of non-violence. But the rebels marched to the home of Padinjharakath Imbichikoya Thangal, the Kazhi or the spiritual leader of the Muslims seeking his opinion.  The Khazi instructed the rebels to follow the advice of the leaders of the freedom movement.  He also offered food to the people who had assembled there and they left in an atmosphere of harmony and concord.

However, when the army of the British Government suppressed the rebellion, they arrested the freedom fighters on charges of helping the rebels and were lodged in the Central Jail at Kannur.  Their agenda was to put down the freedom movement in whichever way possible. They took this opportunity to wrongfully bring charges against the freedom fighters and arrest them. There were several others who had to endure the same fate even though they were only trying to bring peace. While in jail, K V Balakrishnan Menon who was infected with typhoid died due to lack of proper treatment.

In K Madhavan Nair’s book Malabar Kalapam (page 148), he describes this incident and shows the frustration and sadness he felt for Balakrishna Menon's untimely death as a result of the British Government’s neglect. 

See below the translation of those events.

He first describes the report that the Ponnani Magistrate documented:

At around 8pm last night, a group of about five hundred Mappilas from Tirur, Pallippuram, and Vettam came to Ponnani with the intention of looting the treasury and destroying the public properties like the police station.

They had guns, swords, knives, sticks, and spears in their hands. They cut all the wires from Chamravattam to Ponnani and destroyed the new street lights. As they approached the bridge over the Connolly River, local leaders and other elders of the community visited them. Kellappan climbed on Balakrishna Menon's shoulder and made a speech pointing out the consequences of their dangerous feat and advising them to return in peace. They said they wanted to loot the treasury, confiscate all the guns in the police station, and release the prisoners.

However, Khilafat leaders including Panniliyakathu Muhammad Haji, the leader of the Tirur Khilafat Committee, Kelappan Nair, and Balakrishna Menon advised them not to do so. The group returned to Tirur the same night without causing any damage, although they set fire to toddy shops along the way. By four in the morning, everything was at peace.

Now in his own words:

The sub-inspector later arrested Kelappan Nair and Balakrishna Menon on many false charges including setting fire to toddy shop with the rioters. They were put in an airtight vehicle and taken to Kannur, where they were imprisoned for several months and eventually had to let go as they could not find anyone to testify against them. Balakrishna Menon contracted typhoid in jail and suffered from the disease without any help or care even when he lost his mind and ran around the room as the disease progressed. He was eventually released from prison at the request of his relatives but died a few hours later.

It was while studying for MBBS after his Intermediate that this young man joined the Congress co-operative movement and sacrificed his life for it. There was no one among the Congress workers with a purer heart than Balakrishna Menon. For the sake of Mother India, he threw all his relatives and friends into immense grief, left worldly pleasures, and became a prisoner and a sick man and ha! Sad! he left this world!

May that voice of freedom, which was burning till the end, excite the youth of Kerala forever!

In Malayalam from the book (with more details):