Some years ago, while researching for my book on political violence in Kannur, it struck me that parts of this northern Kerala district had missed out on the positive influences of early 20th-century caste-based organisations among the Hindus, in sharp contrast with most other Malayalam-speaking regions that became Kerala in 1956. Such organisations were less active and their presence was not as entrenched in north Malabar comprising Kannur and a few other districts as they were in Travancore and Cochin in south and central Kerala. Of course, the great reformer Sree Narayana Guru had travelled up north from his base in today’s Thiruvananthapuram and set up bases in Kannur, but it is public knowledge that caste outfits did not have the spell they had -- or even have -- on the lives of Hindus in places like Kannur or Kasargod as they have in other districts, especially the southern and central ones.

The northerners of Malabar take pride in keeping caste-based formations at bay as a mark of being more steadfast and secular in their political affiliations. However, being politically and socially conscious is an altogether different matter, a spirit that was aggressively promoted by caste-oriented reformers of the state. The iconic social reformers of what we now call Kerala – which was formed by unifying Malayalam-speaking regions of Malabar, Kochi, and Travancore – came from the south and central areas. Most of them focused on uplifting members of their community although the impact of their activities could be felt much beyond theirs. There were collaborative efforts among these people whom we now look up to as titans of the Kerala Renaissance.

Historically, organised caste groupings of early 20th century Kerala played a pivotal and revolutionary role in transforming the society of the time. In hindsight, all of them were hugely successful in not only helping people of their community organise and acquire material gains such as jobs and education, but they also vigorously advocated self-growth and entrepreneurship. They encouraged people to aim for self-actualisation and attain sublimation as humans. The rise of these entities coincided with a national movement demanding freedom from British rule. Their work, which would soon go hand-in-hand with the Mahatma Gandhi-led freedom movement and its political offshoots, laid great emphasis on training their wards to become more humane, compassionate and accommodating of multiple faiths. From being miserable wretches under the clutches of Brahminism and its codified system of varna that entrapped everyone, including the Brahmin himself, these movements set in motion a rapid reformation in Kerala, from top caste groups to the ones considered the lowest.

In the light of reforms sweeping members of other communities, the Brahmins of Kerala themselves woke up and looked to reform themselves and acquire education, jobs, and a decent life in which they were able to rise above prejudices that had shaped their past. Yogakshema Sabha was formed in early 1908 in Aluva by the leading lights among the Namboodiri Brahmins of the time. It had multiple aims of imparting English education as well as improving the lives of women from among the Kerala Brahmins. In their annual meetings they also invited well-known people from other communities, a big departure from the norms of the time.

The pioneering work towards human emancipation and fight against untouchability and unseeability was stepped up much earlier in 1903 by Sree Narayana Guru whose work among the Ezhavas inspired members of the higher castes to join him as his disciple. As a result, Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam) was founded on 15 May 1903.

Anti-caste crusader and social revolutionary Ayyankali, who belonged to the Dalit community, had already been active in the last lap of the 19th century defying discriminatory rules, organising protests, including strikes and riding bullock carts in places members of the lower castes were not allowed to enter. He also demanded that students from the community be given admission to schools else nobody would work on the farms. By then, Christian missionary activities had helped many students from the backward castes acquire education and look for jobs elsewhere in the country. The Church Missionary Society and London Missionary Society were notable names that offered education and modern health care to all irrespective of caste and faith. Ayyankali went on to set up the Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham (SJPS) in 1907 to further his cause under this umbrella unit.

Similarly, from among the fisherfolk came the man who was called the “Lincoln” of Kerala, Pandit Karuppan, who was from Kochi. His book, Jaathikkummi, is a definitive work on the prevailing caste system in Kerala of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period when Swami Vivekananda called Kerala a lunatic asylum. Historians are divided on whether the peripatetic saint from Bengal was more upset with the caste system of Kerala or a system that encouraged a flurry of conversions to Christianity and Islam. These two religions also saw a massive churning within Kerala at the time, with some of its enlightened leaders coming to the fore to check social ills and working towards a fair society.

All caste groups of the time, be they slaves, backward or upper castes, were equally affected by the caste hierarchy although to varying degrees. While the most backward bore the brunt of the system, intermediary communities, and even the most ‘privileged’ communities, languished in a world of superstition, darkness, and strange customs and rituals. For instance, upper-caste women were forced to undergo chastity tests if a family member alleged carnal indiscretion. Again, only the oldest male in a Namboodiri Brahmin family could officially marry and the rest of the males had to contend with mistresses.

There are several more figures from various caste groups who engineered a horizontal social reform – within their castes and communities – in Kerala in the late 19th and early 20th century, such as the indefatigable Chattambi Swamigal, Poykayil Yohannan, Vakkom Moulavi, Kuriakose Chavara, Sahodaran Ayyappan, Ayyathan Gopalan, Vaghbadananthan and others. They also stressed communal amity and gender equality.

But the core point to note now is the current role of the organisations these luminaries had helped found and how far they have come from their iconoclastic ways.

The most notable are SNDP Yogam, of which Narayana Guru was the first president, and the Nair Service Society (NSS), founded by Mannath Padmanabhan in 1914. Between them, the two organisations together claim to represent 23% and 14.5% of Kerala’s population, respectively. Both have been zealously wooed lately by the Hindutva parties that have organisational strength, but insignificant electoral prowess in the state. Efforts to forge a united front comprising SNDP Yogam and NSS have not reached anywhere thanks to the inherent contradictions between these immediate caste groups. Ezhavas, who were denied most white-collar jobs in government even until the early part of the last century in Travancore, have risen miraculously in the social ladder in less than a century and now they occupy crucial positions of power in the government as well as in the private sector. They account for a large chunk of serial entrepreneurs in the state and elsewhere. This upward social mobility is often resented by a section of the older generation of Nairs who have historically enjoyed enormous power and prosperity – thanks to their proximity with the nobility and royal families -- when Travancore was still a princely state. Social reformation movements and later Kerala’s Leftists-dominated politics changed the rules of caste engagement, forever. 

At the moment, the BJP has no members in the state legislative assembly. The only time it had a member in the state assembly was in the last term, when it had one. The party has so far, not even in its previous avatar as the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), won a seat either in the state assembly or Parliament from Kerala.

Over the last decade, the Sangh Parivar had won the backing of a section of the SNDP Yogam. The NSS, too, has shown an increasing inclination to champion the causes that Hindutva forces have taken up in the state, most notably the Sabarimala agitation against women of menstruating age from entering the premises of the hill shrine, protesting a Supreme Court verdict and the state government’s decision to honour the judgement.

That the stance -- taken by a section of leaders of the SNDP Yogam -- is completely at variance with that of Narayana Guru’s ideals and teachings is a foregone conclusion. He was to religious polarisation what Mandela was to apartheid. The NSS, too, has a history of fighting against injustice and social inequality of all forms. Its founder Mannath Padmanabhan had taken part in most of the temple-entry agitations that had rocked Kerala in the pre-Independence era. He was also at the forefront of anti-untouchability campaigns and had served jail sentences for the Congress party. He had a close association with Narayana Guru and had worked hard to get rid of the ills that had plagued the Nair community. He was a forever critic of discriminatory policies and initiated several reforms. In the process, he earned a name for himself among the pantheon of Kerala Renaissance figures. In addition, the Gandhian movement and communism also put Kerala on the fast track to enhanced social development.

Now, the current NSS leadership has made a statement that Kerala assembly speaker AN Shamseer had offended Hindu sentiments. It is an exaggerated response to a remark by Shamseer that myths should not be confused with science and taught in textbooks. The NSS stand suggests that the organisations that had once helped transform a ‘lunatic asylum’ into a redistribution-oriented progressive society are now wide off the mark from their original goals. Members of their community from the Congress party, which includes authors and orators of note, have taken up a surprising position: that one must confine oneself to one’s own faith while making comments on religion. I was surprised to hear of even a scholar of the repute of Shashi Tharoor making such an assertion. Why comment on others’ beliefs is a ridiculous question to ask. In the first place, the comment was not exactly about someone else’s belief, but about projecting myths as science. RSS theoretician Ranga Hari, as well as Tharoor himself, had called out people who have a penchant for making science out of pseudo-science. Some of them also misquoted the Speaker, alleging that he had referred to Lord Ganesh as a myth, though, in fact, Shamseer’s speech had merely advocated for a more scientific temperament.

In short, these once-upon-a-time liberal and revolutionary organisations appear to have long capitulated on their core values. On the other hand, their anti-science stance makes them appear responsible, along with radicalised elements from other faiths, for turning Kerala back into the period when it was a hub of all discriminatory practices and therefore a madhouse.

Perhaps Kerala’s social reformation has imploded on itself. Another renaissance is due.

Ullekh NP is a writer, journalist, and political commentator based in New Delhi. He is the executive editor of the newsweekly Open and author of three nonfiction books: War Room: The People, Tactics and Technology Behind Narendra Modi’s 2014 Win, The Untold Vajpayee: Politician and Paradox, and Kannur: Inside India’s Bloodiest Revenge Politics.