Cheriyan Kandi Muhammad Koya (15 July 1927–28 September 1983), known as C. H. Muhammad Koya, was an Indian politician who served as the Minister of Education in various Kerala Governments from 1967 to 1973 and from 1977 to 1979. He also briefly led the cabinet as the eighth

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. F ...

from 12 October to 1 December 1979.Chief Minister of Kerala (Official Website)
/ref>Miller, E. Roland. "Mappila Muslim Culture" State University of New York Press, Albany (2015); p. 204, 235–36, 329, 333, and 345. Koya was the first

Indian Union Muslim League The Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the I. U. M. L. or the League) is an Indian political party primarily based in the Indian state of Kerala. It is recognised as a State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India. The firs ...

member to lead a state in independent India. As the Minister of Education, Koya championed the progress of the education of

backward classes The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with Forward caste, Gen ...

in northern Kerala. 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 youth wing of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcon ...

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

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

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

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theorist ...

(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 The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minis ...

, and Minister for Finance). He served under both

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

and Communist Party of India Chief Ministers (

E. M. S. Namboodiripad Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), popularly known as EMS, was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957–1959 and then again in 1967–1969. ...

, C. Achutha Menon,

K. Karunakaran Kannoth Karunakaran (5 July 1918 – 23 December 2010) was an Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress (INC). He served as the Chief Minister of Kerala four times during the late 1970s through the mid 1990s. He is th ...

A. K. Antony Arackaparambil Kurien Antony (born 28 December 1940) is an Indian politician and attorney who was the 23rd Defence Minister of India. He was Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, from Kerala from 1985 to 1995 and again from 2005 to 2022. He ...

, and

P. K. Vasudevan Nair Padayatt Kesavapillai Vasudevan Nair (2 March 1926 – 12 July 2005), popularly known as PKV, was the 9th Chief Minister of Kerala and a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times, in 1957 I ...

). He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

in the

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

(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, Calicut.Kerala Legislative Assembly
/ref> Koya died on 28 September, 1983 while serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala. He was aged just 56 at the time of his death.

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 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, the then

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India ( IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of th ...

when the latter publicly criticized

as "a dead horse" at Calicut (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-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to be set up in nor ...

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