C. H. Mohammed Koya

Cheriyan Kandi Muhammad Koya (15 July 1927 – 28 September 1983) was an Indian politician who served as the 8th Chief Minister of Kerala from October to December 1979.[2] He is more often noted for being the Minister of Education of Kerala from 1967 to 1973 and again from 1977 to 1979.[2] After his Chief Ministership, Koya went on to become the 2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala from 1981 until his death in 1983. He is the first Indian Union Muslim League member to lead a state in independent India.[3]

C. H. Mohammad Koya
2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala
In office
24 May 1982 – 28 September 1983
Chief MinisterK. Karunakaran
Preceded byOffice Vacant
Succeeded byK. Avukader Kutty Naha
In office
28 December 1981 – 17 March 1982
Chief MinisterK. Karunakaran
Preceded byR. Sankar
Succeeded byOffice Vacant
8th Chief Minister of Kerala
In office
12 October 1979 – 1 December 1979
Preceded byP. K. Vasudevan Nair
Succeeded byPresident's rule
Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly
In office
9 June 1961 – 11 November 1961
Preceded byK. M. Seethi Sahib
Succeeded byAlexander Parambithara
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
25 February 1962 – 21 February 1967
Preceded byK. P. Kutti Krishnan Nair
Succeeded byEbrahim Sulaiman Sait
ConstituencyKozhikode
In office
5 February 1973 – 20 March 1977
Preceded byMuhammad Ismail
Succeeded byEbrahim Sulaiman Sait
ConstituencyManjeri
Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly
In office
5 April 1957 – 6 March 1962
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byC. Muhammed Kutty
ConstituencyTanur
In office
6 March 1967 – 17 September 1970
Preceded byP. Abdul Majeed
Succeeded byM. Moideen Kutty
ConstituencyMankada
In office
17 September 1970 – 5 February 1973
Preceded bySayed Ummer Bafakhy
Succeeded byP. Seethi Haji
ConstituencyKondotty
In office
25 March 1977 – 3 January 1980
Preceded byU. A. Beeran
Succeeded byU. A. Beeran
ConstituencyMalappuram
In office
26 March 1980 – 28 September 1983
Preceded byAbdulla Kurikkal
Succeeded byIshaq Kurikkal
ConstituencyManjeri
Personal details
Born(1927-07-15)15 July 1927
Atholi, Madras Presidency, British India
Died28 September 1983(1983-09-28) (aged 56)
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Political partyIndian Union Muslim League
SpouseK. K. Amina (married on 1 June 1950)[1]
ChildrenTwo daughters and a son (M. K. Muneer)
As of 2 November, 2007
Source: Govt. of Kerala

As the Minister of Education, Koya championed the progress of the education of backward classes in northern Kerala.[4] He also served as the Home Minister (1969–73) and the Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala (1981–83).[2]

Life and career

Cheriyan Kandi Muhammad Koya was born in 1927 at Atholi in northern Kerala, to Payampunathil Ali and Mariyumma.[2][5] Koya floated the Muslim Students Federation, the youth wing of the All-India Muslim League, in Malabar District while he was at Zamorin's College, Calicut and later helped to organize an admirable reception for the prominent Muslim League leader Liaquat Ali Khan at Calicut (1945).[4] He joined the Chandrika newspaper, the official organ of the Muslim League, in 1946.[6][4][2][7]

Koya was first elected to the Kerala Assembly in the 1957 legislative elections. He went on to hold several key Kerala cabinet posts (Minister for Education, Deputy Chief Minister, Home Minister, and Minister for Finance). He served under both Indian National Congress and Communist Party of India Chief Ministers (E. M. S. Namboodiripad, C. Achutha Menon, K. Karunakaran, A. K. Antony, and P. K. Vasudevan Nair).[4][2] He was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1962 (1962–67) and in 1973 (1973–77,[4] by-elections, replacing recently deceased M. Muhammed Ismail).[8]

He was a Member in the Kerala University Senate and served as Chairman, Governing Body, REC, Calicut.[8]

Koya died on 28 September, 1983 while serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala.[8] He was aged just 56 at the time of his death.[8]

Legacy

"Young men like C. H. Muhammad Koya realized that violent revolt promised nothing for them [the Kerala Muslims]. Electoral politics, on the other hand, might offer a great deal."

— Robin Jeffrey (historian)[6]

Koya was known his eloquent oratory and was described by scholar R. E. Miller as "grassroots star of the Mappila community" and the "ranking hero of Muslim youth" in Kerala.[4] He acted as a "bridge-builder" among various social and religious groups of Kerala.[4] Koya is remembered for his "spirited" reply to Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India when the latter publicly criticized Indian Union Muslim League as "a dead horse" at Calicut (1955).[4]

As the Minister of Education, Koya championed the progress of the Mappila community in secular education.[4] During Koya's tenure as the Minister of Education, the University of Calicut was established in northern Kerala.[4] He also advocated higher standards in the 'Arabic Colleges'.[lower-alpha 1][4]

Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly

Source: Kerala Legislative Assembly (profile)

  • 1st Assembly (1957–59) – Tanur
  • 2nd Assembly (1960–64) – Tanur (resigned on 6 March 1962)[8]
  • 3rd Assembly (1967–70) – Mankada
  • 4th Assembly (1970–77) – Kondotty (resigned on 5 February 1973)[8]
  • 5th Assembly (1977–79) – Malappuram
  • 6th Assembly (1980–82) – Manjeri
  • 7th Assembly (1982–87) – Manjeri (died on 28 September, 1983)

In Kerala council of ministers
Ministry Office Term of office Source(s)
Pattom Ministry Speaker (independent) 09-06-1961 to 10-11-1961 [2][8]
2nd E. M. S. Ministry Minister for Education 06-03-1967 to 21-10-1969 [2]
1st Achutha Menon Ministry Minister for Home

Minister for Education

01-11-1969 to 01-08-1970 [2]
2nd Achutha Menon Ministry Minister for Home

Minister for Education

04-10-1970 to 01-03-1973 [2]
1st Karunakaran Ministry Minister for Finance

Minister for Education

 25-03-1977 to 25-04-1977 [2]
1st Antony Ministry Minister for Education
  • 27-04-1977 to 20-12-1977
  • 04-10-1978 to 27-10-1978
 [2]
P. K. V. Ministry Minister for Education 29-10-1978 to 07-10-1979 [2]
Koya Ministry Chief Minister 12 October to 1 December 1979
2nd Karunakaran Ministry Deputy Chief Minister 28 December 1981 to 17 March 1982 [2]
3rd Karunakaran Ministry Deputy Chief Minister 24 May 1982 to 28 September 1983 [2]

Works

Source: Kerala Legislative Assembly (profile)

  • My Haj pilgrimage
  • Caux-London-Cairo
  • The Malaysia I Saw
  • How Legislative Assembly Works
  • Soviet Union
  • Muslim Rule in India Through Stories
  • Five Days in Sri Lanka
  • Camel to Cadillac
  • Travel Around the World

Notes
  1. Kerala 'Arabic Colleges' are the equivalent of north Indian madrasas

References
  1. Loksabha Profile (1962)
  2. Chief Minister of Kerala (Official Website)
  3. Aravamudan, Gita; Louis, Arul B. (30 November 1979). "RSS is Attacking the Muslim minority: Mohammed Koya". India Today. Trivandrum.
  4. Miller, E. Roland. "Mappila Muslim Culture" State University of New York Press, Albany (2015); p. 204, 235–36, 329, 333, and 345.
  5. Miller, Roland. E., "Mappila" in "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Volume VI. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 1987. pp. 458–56.
  6. Jeffrey, Robin. "Politics, Women and Well-Being: How Kerala became a Model" Palgrave McMillan (1992); 112 and 114.
  7. Speakers & Deputy Speakers Book – Kerala Legislative Assembly
  8. Kerala Legislative Assembly

Further reading
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