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Showing posts from November, 2023

My Grandfather's role in Kerala Piravy (Foundation) Day

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As we commemorate Kerala Piravi Day today  November 1 st 2023, I feel incredibly proud of my grandfather K Madhavan Nair, who had a major role to play in its inception. Kerala was split between the autonomous regions of Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore before this merger. From Trichur to Kasargod, the northernmost parts of Kerala were part of the British Malabar Presidency. The southern part was governed by the sovereign State of Travancore, while the middle section was controlled by the princely State of Cochin. At the 1920 All India National Congress meeting in Nagpur, when discussions were taking place to strengthen the local Congress chapters on linguistic basis, my grandfather, the leader of the Malabar Pradesh Congress took the podium. He spent hours arguing that fundamental states like Kerala should be included in the struggle for independence and that Travancore, Cochin, and Malabar should be united into a single Congress party that would be known as Kerala Congress and not