The Angamaly Firing was an incident that took place in

Angamaly Angamaly () is a municipality in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. Angamaly is part of the Kochi metropolitan area and is located northeast of the Kochi city centre. As of the 2011 Indian census, the municipality has a population of 33 ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, on 13 June 1959, when police opened fire on protesters who had been demonstrating against Kerala's

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

government. Seven people were killed resulting in the intensification of Vimochana Samaram, a protest against the then communist-led government.

Background

In 1957, a communist government was elected in Kerala for the first time under the leadership of

E. M. S. Namboodiripad Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), popularly known as E.M.S. Namboodiripad or simply by his initials E. M. S., was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister of ...

. Subsequently, a revolt propagated against the government. At Angamaly, the prime centre of Kerala

Saint Thomas Christians The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an Ethnoreligious group, ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Ker ...

, the intensity of fury was broke into open violence. On 13 June, Saturday, 1959 police mindlessly opened fire on an innocent mob. The innocent mob was fired upon without provocation, yet police killed 7 people in cold blood. But, the version of Communist government was different, saying that the police was forced to open fire on what they claim was a violent mob, who allegedly attempted to attack the police station.

Aftermath

On the next day - Sunday, 14 June - the dead bodies were taken to the nearby town of Kalady, accompanied by a huge crowd. The bodies of the victims were taken out in a motorcade comprising more than 300 cars and buried at the cemetery of the St. George Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church, Angamaly in a common tomb. This event enraged the people of Kerala and intensified the Vimochana Samaram.The then Ernakulam bishop Mar Joseph Parekkattil led the funeral rites. Later addressing a massive gathering, the champions of Liberation struggle like Panampilly Govinda Menon, Wellington, and Mathai Manjooran unleashed a tirade against the EMS Ministry, which led to its downfall Following this, the EMS government was dismissed and the state placed under President's rule, pending elections. The Communist Party was routed in the re-election that followed. The popular slogan- "Angamali kallarayil, njangade sawdharaanakkil, aa kallarayanu kattayyam, pakaram njangal choodikkum"; had then reverberated throughout the state. The Forane church and its cemetery had for a short period turned into a pilgrim centre of the Liberation struggle activists and became the point from where the ‘jeevasikha’ march, had been led by the legendary Mannath Padmanabhan which culminated in the expulsion of the EMS ministry.

Commemoration

The fiftieth anniversary of the firing was observed with a ceremony at the St. George Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church in Angamaly on 14 June 2009. Among the attendees were survivors of the incident, some of whom had been injured or imprisoned in its aftermath. Prayers were said over the graves of the seven victims.

References

{{Christianity in Kerala Anti-communism in India Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly 1959 in India History of Kerala (1947–present) 1959 riots Police brutality in India