In remembrance of Panchami, Kerala school adds memories of historic event to its title

When 6-year-old Ruby Bridges was escorted by federal agents to an all-white school in Louisiana, US, a similar movement in Kerala was already fifty years old. While there are several pictures and videos showing how Bridges walked past hateful protesters during desegregation of a school, a partially burnt bench is all that is left to tell the heroic tale of Panchami, a young girl from an opposed Pulaya community in Kerala.

Holding the hands of social reformer Ayyankali in 1910, who was determined to enroll her at a school in Ooruttambalam where only students from upper caste communities studied, Panchami might not have realised that she was scripting history. Commemorating this historic movement, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Friday, renamed the Government UP School, Ooruttambalam, as Ayyankali-Panchami Memorial School.

Though the Diwan of Travancore had ordered for the opening of schools to Dalits in the mid 1900s, it was not implemented due to opposition from upper caste. Through the persistent efforts of social reformer Ayyankali, the then director of education department Crichton Mitchell issued the order allowing opening of schools to Dalit children in 1910. The efforts of Mahatma Ayyankali, however, weren’t easy. According to the biography of Ayyankali written by THP Chentharassery, a violent clash broke out the day Panchami entered the school. Within days, the school was torched by upper caste men, who were annoyed by the efforts to enroll Dalit students. As per the book, members from the Pulaya community were falsely charged as an accused in the case. Following this, one of the first organised workers’ strikes, arguably first in the world, happened for the rights of Dalit education.

The workers’ strike began following the famous declaration of Ayyankali that they would let weeds grow in the paddy fields if kids from oppressed communities were not allowed to learn. Later, the strike also included demands for better wages and the right to access public roads. Dalit workers stayed away from paddy fields from June, 1913 to May 1914 till the upper caste communities agreed to some of their demands. Kattakada MLA IB Sathish said that various such incidents which were part of the Renaissance movement of the state went into oblivion. “We wanted to make sure that such incidents will be commemorated and preserved for future generations to understand our history. When the LDF government took charge, the first state school re-opening ceremony was held at the Government school Ooruttambalam. The government later sanctioned money to turn it into a smart school,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that the school enrollment of Panchami was a major chapter in Kerala’s history. “Our country is going through a time when fake narratives are being peddled as real history. Names of historic places were changed to portray that they belong to a particular community. There are also attempts to remove historic events from textbooks. At this time, it is very important to keep alive the memories of Ayyankali’s historic fight against the caste system,” he said. The CM also inaugurated two buildings of LP and UP school. The school has preserved the bench as a memorial. In 2019, the then finance Minister Thomas Isaac used a painting of Ayyankali and Panchami as the cover page of the budget speech.

Courtesy : News9 live

Note: This news piece was originally published in news9live.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights .