Neill statue Satyagraha was an agitation that took place in
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
during the
Indian Independence Movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
. It took place in 1927 demanding the removal of the statue of Colonel
James Neill situated at
Mount Road
Anna Salai (), formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towards St. Thomas Mount, and end ...
(now Anna Salai) in
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
.
James Neill of the Madras Fusileers regiment played a major role in putting down the
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...
. He was killed during the
siege of Lucknow
The siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the British Residency within the city of Lucknow from rebel sepoys (Indian soldiers in the British East India Company's Army) during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After two successive relief att ...
and was reviled as the "Butcher of Allahabad" by the Indians. A statue of him was placed at Mount Road, Madras. In 1927, it became the target of the Indian nationalists. The Madras Mahajana Sabha and the Madras provincial committee of the
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 Em ...
passed a resolution demanding its removal. They started a series of demonstrations in Madras. The agitators came from all over the Madras Presidency and were led by
S. N. Somayajulu of Tirunelveli. Several agitators were arrested and sentenced to prison terms ranging from a few weeks to a year of rigorous imprisonment. After the major leaders - Somayajulu and Swaminatha Mudaliar were arrested,
K. Kamaraj
Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...
became the leader of the agitation (September 1927).
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
who visited Madras during the same time, gave his support to the agitation. The
Madras legislature also passed resolutions demanding the removal of the statue. The agitation lost steam after a few months and was dropped to make way for the
Simon Commission
The Indian Statutory Commission also known as Simon Commission, was a group of seven Members of Parliament under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon. The commission arrived in India in 1928 to study constitutional reform in Britain's largest a ...
boycott.
Neill's statue remained in the same place and was moved to the
Ripon Building
The Ripon Building is the seat and headquarters of the Greater Chennai Corporation in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It is an example of neoclassical architecture, a combination of Ionic and Corinthian styles. The Ripon Building is an all-white structure ...
campus for a few years. In 1937, when the newly elected Congress government (under the
1935 act) of
C. Rajagopalachari
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...
moved it to the
Madras museum
The Government Museum, Chennai, or the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India af ...
after a resolution demanding its removal was passed in the Madras Corporation. As of 2021, it still remains in the Anthropology section of the museum.
References
{{reflist
Indian independence movement in Tamil Nadu
1927 in India
History of Chennai
Protests in British India