Aikya Kerala Movement

During the British period, the present day Kerala was part of 4 regions. Malabar district and Kasaragod taluk (South Canara district) in the Madras Presidency were under direct British rule while Cochin and Travancore remained as princely states were under the indirect rule of the British.

The Malayalam language, with its rich literary heritage, has always been an important factor in the emotional and cultural integration of the people of the three regions of Malabar, Travancore and Kochi.[1] The idea of a region for Malayalam speakers by uniting Travancore, Kochi and Malabar was formed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Ramakrishna Pillai, the editor of Swadeshabhimani, had written in the early twentieth century about the formation of a united Kerala by combining these three regions.[2]

A high-level committee formed to consider the recommendations of the Dhar Commission, at the Jaipur Conference of the Indian National Congress in 1948, comprising Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya, in its report (JVP Report) cautioned against going ahead with the proposal for linguistic reorganization of the states.[1] After Indian independence, on July 1, 1949, the state of Travancore and Kochi merged to form the state of Travancore–Cochin, as a Part B State of the Indian Union.[2] The Aikya Kerala Convention held at Aluva in 1948, appointed an Action Committee of 15 members with K. Kelappan as the President and K. A. Damodara Menon as the Secretary, to speedup actions for a united Kerala.[11] The Aikya Kerala Conference held at Palakkad in November 1949, under the Aikya Kerala Committee passed a resolution to form a State of Kerala without Rajpramukh.[1]

The most important decision taken at the Communist Party Plenum on April 4, 5 and 6, 1952 in Thrissur was to carry out a massive agitation for a united Kerala.[10] The party also decided to hold various conventions for this purpose. In addition, large conventions were held in major cities in India, such as Bombay, Madras, and Delhi.[10] More than 15,000 Malayalis participated in the Aikya Kerala Convention held in Bombay on October 18 and 19, 1952 under the leadership of the Communist Party.[10]

Travancore–Cochin or officially the United State of Travancore and Cochin formed by merging Travancore and Cochin on 1 July 1949. It was renamed 'State of Travancore–Cochin in January 1950. The State Reorganization Commission headed by Syed Fazal Ali, which was formed to form linguistic states across India, recommended the formation of a State comprising Travancore, Kochi and Malabar regions.[2] The Malayalam-speaking regions of the Travancore–Cochin merged with the Malabar District (excluding Laccadive & Minicoy Islands) and the Kasaragod Taluk of South Canara district in Madras State to form the modern Kerala state on 1 November 1956, according to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 passed by the Government of India.[12][2]

Diwan C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, with the permission of the Travancore royal family, carried out attempt to make a 'Immutable Executive' rule in Travancore and the subsequently to make Travancore an independent state (June 2, 1947).[6] After Indian independence, the Congressmen from Malabar were in favor of a southern state (southern state) by annexing the Travancore-Cochin region to the Madras province.[1] The political conference held at Palakkad in April 1953 under the leadership of the Malabar Pradesh Congress Committee officially approved the above proposal.[1] Although initially Congress workers from Malabar opposed the formation of a state of Kerala, a conference held in Kozhikode under the leadership of the Aikya Kerala Committee helped to influence public opinion in favor of the formation of a united Kerala in Malabar.[1]

• History of Kerala
• Kerala reformation movement
• Kerala Day