Popular actor Prithviraj on Sunday (June 22) took to Facebook to announce his next project titled “Variyamkunnan”. Sharing the posters of the Malayalam movie he hailed Variyamkunnath as a person who “stood up against an empire that ruled a quarter of the world”.
ലോകത്തിന്റെ നാലിലൊന്ന് ഭാഗവും അടക്കി ഭരിച്ചിരുന്ന ബ്രിട്ടീഷ് സ്വാമ്രാജ്യത്തിനെതിരെ യുദ്ധം ചെയ്ത് ‘മലയാളരാജ്യം’ എന്ന…
Posted by Prithviraj Sukumaran on Sunday, June 21, 2020
The film directed by Aashiq Abu, of Virus (2019) fame, is about the controversial Muslim leader of the Moplah community who is considered as person responsible for the massacre of thousands of Hindus in Kerala during the Moplah riots that happened in 1921.
The movie is considered as an attempt to whitewash the image of Variyamkunnan by portraying as a freedom fighter.
Who was Variyamkunnan?
Chakkiparamban Variyamkunnathu Kunjahammed Haji aka Variyamkunnathu / Variyamkunnan was a Muslim leader who proclaimed himself as Sultan of Eranad. He led the Moplah riots where Muslims looted, plundered and killed thousands of Hindus living in the Malabar region. The riots initially targeted against the British and jenmis (Hindu landlords), took a communal turn and became an episode of Hindu genocide. The areas of Ernad and Valluvanad were declared as Caliphates. Around 2500 Hindus were slaughtered, atleast 26000 fled as refugees, atleast 2500 forcibly converted, sexually assaulted, along with the destruction of more than 100 Hindu temples.
The bloody riots were spearheaded by Khilafat leaders like Ali Musliyar, Kunhi Kadir and Variankunnath Kunhammad Haji.
Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar in his book Pakistan or Partition of India called the Malabar riots as “blood curdling atrocities committed by the Moplas against the Hindu”. He said “All over Southern India, a wave of horrified feeling had spread among the Hindus of every shade of opinion, which was intensified when certain Khilafat leaders were so misguided as to pass resolutions of congratulations to the Moplas on the brave fight they were conducting for the sake of religion”.
Swami Shraddhanand described the riots as “wholesale killing of Hindus and burning of Hindu homes and the forcible conversion to Islam”