Cheriyankandi Muhammad Koya (15 July 1927 – 28 September 1983) popularly known as C. H. Muhammad Koya was an Indian statesman who served as the 8th Chief Minister of Kerala from October to December 1979. He is more often noted for being the Minister of Education of Kerala from 1967 to 1973 and again from 1977 to 1979.Chief Minister of Kerala (Official Website)
/ref> 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 Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the IUML or Muslim League) is a political party primarily based in Kerala. It is recognised as a List of political parties in India, State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India. After the ...

member to lead a state in independent India. As the Minister of Education, Koya championed the progress of the education of backward classes in northern Kerala.Miller, E. Roland. "Mappila Muslim Culture" State University of New York Press, Albany (2015); p. 204, 235–36, 329, 333, and 345. He also served as the Home Minister (1969–73) and the Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala (1981–83).

Life and career

Cheriyan Kandi Muhammad Koya was born in 1927 at Atholi in northern Kerala, to Payampunathil Ali and Mariyumma. Koya floated the Muslim Students Federation, the students wing of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

, in Malabar District while he was at Zamorin's College,

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

and later helped to organize an admirable reception for the prominent Muslim League leader

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan (1 October 189516 October 1951) was a Pakistani lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the first prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the he ...

(1945). He joined the '' Chandrika'' newspaper, the official organ of the Muslim League, in 1946.Jeffrey, Robin. "Politics, Women and Well-Being: How Kerala became a Model" Palgrave McMillan (1992); 112 and 114.Speakers & Deputy Speakers Book – Kerala Legislative Assembly
/ref> 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 An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

, and Minister for Finance). He served under both

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

Chief Ministers ( E. M. S. Namboodiripad, C. Achutha Menon, K. Karunakaran, A. K. Antony, and P. K. Vasudevan Nair). He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

in the

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

(1962–67) and in 1973 (1973–77, by-elections, replacing recently deceased M. Muhammed Ismail). He was a Member in the Kerala University Senate and served as Chairman, Governing Body, REC, Kozhikode.Kerala Legislative Assembly
/ref> Koya died suddenly due to a massive

hemorrhagic stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop ...

on 28 September, 1983 while serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala. He was aged just 56 at the time of his death. His death came in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, where he had gone for a meeting of state Industrial Ministers. His dead body was flown back to

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, and later transported to his native place, where he was buried with full state honours. He was survived by his mother, wife, three children and many siblings.

Legacy

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. He acted as a "bridge-builder" among various social and religious groups of Kerala. Koya is remembered for his "spirited" reply to

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, the then

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

when the latter publicly criticized

as "a dead horse" at Kozhikode (1955). As the Minister of Education, Koya championed the progress of the Mappila community in secular education. During Koya's tenure as the Minister of Education, the

University of Calicut The University of Calicut, also known as Calicut University, is a State ownership, state-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to ...

was established in northern Kerala. He also advocated higher standards in the 'Arabic Colleges'.

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) *3rd Assembly (1967–70) – Mankada *4th Assembly (1970–77) – Kondotty (resigned on 5 February 1973) *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

Works

Source

* ''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

References

External links

C. H. Mohammad Koya: Interview with India Today (1979)C. H. Mohammed Koya in Louis Malle's ''Phantom India''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koya, C. H. Mohammed Koya, C.H. Mohammed Koya, C.H. Mohammed Chief ministers of Kerala Malayali politicians Kerala politicians Politicians from Kozhikode Speakers of the Kerala Legislative Assembly Malayalam-language writers Indian Union Muslim League politicians India MPs 1962–1967 Lok Sabha members from Kerala Deputy chief ministers of Kerala Kerala MLAs 1957–1959 Kerala MLAs 1960–1964 Education ministers of Kerala Kerala MLAs 1967–1970 Kerala MLAs 1970–1977 Kerala MLAs 1977–1979 Kerala MLAs 1980–1982 Kerala MLAs 1982–1987