K. Kelappan
{{short description|Indian politician, reformer, and freedom fighter}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = K. Kelappan
| image = K Kelappan 1990 stamp of India.jpg
| honorific_prefix = Kerala Gandhi
| birth_name = Koyapalli Kelappan Nair
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1889|8|24}}
| birth_place = Muchukunnu, Koyilandy, South Malabar (present-day Kozhikode, Kerala)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1971|10|7|1889|8|24}}
| death_place = Kozhikode, Kerala
| resting_place_coordinates =
| office = Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
| term_start = {{Start date|1952|||df=yes}}
| term_end = {{Start date|1957|||df=yes}}
| predecessor = Vella Eacharan
| successor = E. K. Imbichi Bava
| constituency = Ponnani, Madras State
| office1 = President, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee
| term_start1 = {{Start date|1946|||df=yes}}
| term_end1 = {{Start date|1949|||df=yes}}
| predecessor1 = P. K. Moideen Kutty Sahib
| successor1 = Kumbalathu Sanku Pillai
| office2 = President, Nair Service Society
| term_start2 = 1914
| term_end2 = 1920
| predecessor2 = Office created
| successor2 = Changanassery Parameswaran Pillai
| nationality = Indian
| other_names =
| known_for = Indian independence movement
| education = Graduate
| alma_mater = University of Madras
| occupation = Freedom Fighter, Politician, Renaissance leader,Teacher, Editor and Founder President of Nair Service Society
| title =
| father = T. Kanaran Nair
| mother = K. Kunjamma
| spouse = T. P. Lakshmi Amma
| children = T. P. K. Kidavu
}}
{{Given name hatnote|Kelappan|Koyapalli|lang=Malayali}}Koyapalli Kelappan (24 August 1889 – 7 October 1971) was an Indian politician, independence activist, educationist and journalist. During the Indian independence movement, he was the lead figure of Indian National Congress in Kerala and was popularly known as Kerala Gandhi. After Indian independence, he held various seats in Gandhian organisations. He was the co-founder and the first president of the Nair Service Society and was also the founder of Kerala Kshetra Samrakshana Samiti (Temple Protection Movement).{{cite news |title=K. Kelappan an unsung hero |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/k-kelappan-an-unsung-hero/article4053139.ece |accessdate=18 January 2017 |work=The Hindu |date=1 November 2012}}{{Cite web|last=Kuvalayamala|date=2019-12-29|title=കേളപ്പജി: ആധുനിക കേരളത്തിന്റെ പിതാവ്|url=https://medium.com/@Kuvalayamala/%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B3%E0%B4%AA%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%AA%E0%B4%9C%E0%B4%BF-%E0%B4%86%E0%B4%A7%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%95-%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%B3%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A4%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B1%E0%B5%86-%E0%B4%AA%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B5%E0%B5%8D-3938ad8509b3|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Medium|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=കേരള ക്ഷേത്ര സംരക്ഷണ സമിതി: Kerala Kshetra Samrakshana Samithi|url=https://keralakssamithi.blogspot.com/2019/09/kerala-kshetra-samrakshana-samithi_2.html|access-date=2021-04-23|website=കേരള ക്ഷേത്ര സംരക്ഷണ സമിതി}}
Early life
Kelappan was born in the small village of Muchukunnu at Koyilandy in Kozhikode, Kerala as the son of Thenpoyil Kanaran Nair, a Clerk at Court and Koyapalli Kunjamma.{{cite web |title=Freeindia > Biographies > Freedom Fighters > K. Kelappan |url=http://www.freeindia.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=516 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030422105214/http://www.freeindia.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=516 |archivedate=22 April 2003 |accessdate=1 February 2011 |work=Freeindia.org |publisher=Sh. Kelappan Centenary State Committee Kerala}}{{cite web | url=https://gpura.org/item/1982-kelappan-enna-mahamanushyan-c-k-moosad | title=1982 - കേളപ്പൻ എന്ന മഹാമനുഷ്യൻ - സി.കെ. മൂസ്സത് – ഗ്രന്ഥപ്പുര (Granthappura) – ഗ്രന്ഥപ്പുര (Granthappura) }} Kelappan got his family name, Koyapalli, through matrilineal succession.
He studied in Kozhikode and Madras and graduated from the University of Madras before starting his career as a teacher at St. Berchmans High School, Changanassery. Kelappan was the founding President of the Nair Service Society and later became the principal of a school run by the society.
As reformer
He fought for social reforms on one hand and the British on the other. He fought relentlessly against untouchability and caste-based discrimination.{{cite book |author=K. P. K. Menon |title=The History of Freedom Movement in Kerala: (1885-1938) / by P.K.K. Menon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cda8mAEACAAJ |year=1972 |publisher=Government Press |page=116}} Along with K. Kumar, he became the earliest in Kerala to remove the suffix to his name that implied caste-status.K. Kumarji Smaraka Grantham - 1974 - (K. C Pillai) He was called Kerala Gandhi.{{cite web |url=http://www.freeindia.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=516 |title=Freeindia > Biographies > Freedom Fighters > K. Kelappan |work=Freeindia.org |publisher=Sh. Kelappan Centenary State Committee Kerala |accessdate=1 February 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030422105214/http://www.freeindia.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=516 |archivedate=22 April 2003}}
Kelappan labored incessantly for the equality of all sections of the people. He was a major influence on the Vaikom Satyagraha movement and later led the Guruvayur Satyagraha in 1932. During Gandhi's visit to Travancore to commemorate the Temple Entry Proclamation, he seconded the most critical resolution re-establishing faith in Gandhiji's leadership and the forward steps to be taken in conformity with the Gandhian approach to translate the spirit of the move for social equality. The resolution was presented by K. Kumar of Travancore, a veteran reformer and one of the leaders of the Vaikom Satyagraha who later came to be forgotten by people and historians.Vaikom Satyagraha Rekhakal - (Prof P C Menon and Adv. P K Harikumar) Pages 353, 299, 160, 217,298 etc
Role post independence
After independence he left the Congress Party. He joined the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party and was elected to Parliament from the Ponnani Lok Sabha seat in 1952. At the end of his term, he left active politics and became a Sarvodaya worker and was actively associated with Bhoodan Movement in Kerala.{{cite web |title=SOME PROMINENT LEADERS OF THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE IN KERALA |url=http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe0898/f0308982.html |accessdate=26 February 2013}}
Kelappan helped in starting Mathrubhumi and was its editor for several years. He worked for the unification of Kerala into a new linguistic state. He was also the president of many Gandhian organizations in Kerala including Kerala Sarvodaya Sangh, Kerala Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Kerala Sarvodaya Mandal, and Gandhi Peace Foundation, Calicut.
Kelappan opposed the formation of Muslim-majority Malappuram District in Kerala arguing that it would create a 'mini Pakistan'. He was involved in the Tali Temple Movement which aimed at a temple resurrection near a mosque in Angadippuram, in Malapppuram which caused some communal tensions.{{Cite magazine|author=Ramji |date=December 7, 1968 |url=http://www.frontierweekly.com/archive/vol-number/vol/vol-1/vol-1-issues/1_35_7december1968.pdf |title=A Mini-Pakistan? |magazine=Frontier Weekly |editor=Samar Sen |location=Calcutta |pages=8–9}} Kelappan was instrumental in the Tali Temple Movement. But before its completion, Kelappan died on October 7, 1971. The temple built with his support stands alongside the mosque, symbolizing harmony among different communities.{{Cite web|title=തളി ക്ഷേത്ര സമരനായിക യശോദാമാധവൻ അന്തരിച്ചു|url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/print-edition/kerala/article-1.2962696|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Mathrubhumi|language=en|archive-date=23 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423130718/https://www.mathrubhumi.com/print-edition/kerala/article-1.2962696|url-status=dead}}
Awards and recognition
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Koyapalli Kelappan}}
Category:Indian civil rights activists
Category:Indian independence activists from Kerala
Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala
Category:Lok Sabha members from Kerala
Category:People from Kozhikode district