Thandaaneth Mathai Varghese (1886–1961) was an

India freedom fighter India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, lawyer, statesman, former minister and politician from Kerala. He was born in a Mar Thoma Syrian Christian family and the eldest son of Thandaaneth Mathai at Pallickal, (near

Kayamkulam Kayamkulam is a town and municipality in the ''Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha district in Kerala. It is the second biggest town in Alappuzha district. It is located on the western coast of India, and was an ancient maritime trading center. O ...

). His education was at Mavelikkara and

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. After graduating from the Law College, he began practicing at

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

. There he actively started political activities. He was the foremost leader of the (Responsible government Struggle) struggle against

C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer (12 November 1879 – 26 September 1966), popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law ...

, the Dewan of Travancore State and Abstention movement or Nivarthana Prakshobham.

Family life

At the age of 16 he married from Mavelikkara. His bride was only 9 years old. T. M. Varghese had 11 children. T.M. Varghese's education was paid for by his paternal uncle P.T. John, a very wealthy prominent lawyer of his time. The family bought a piece of land near Kammankulam near Government Boys High School,

. The lake near this land has interesting connections with Kallumala Samaram.

Political career

He was the founder member of the

Travancore State Congress Travancore State Congress also known as the State Congress is a political party which was formed in 1938 to demand responsible governance in the princely state of Travancore. Background Following the formation of People's Ministries (responsible g ...

party. He was a prominent figure in struggles towards

democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a ful ...

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

Abstention Movement.

Soon after Sir

C. P. Ramaswami Iyer Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer (12 November 1879 – 26 September 1966), popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law ...

popularly known as Sir C.P. was appointed as Dewan of Travancore, he appointed non native, Tamil Brahmin to all the top posts of Government. Against this the

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histor ...

s joined together and agitated. This is known as the “Malayali Memorial Agitation.” As a result of this, Maharaja of Travancore

Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma , popularly known as Sree Chithira Thirunal, was the last ruling Maharaja of the Princely State of Travancore, in southern India until 1949 and later the Titular Maharajah of Travancore ...

issued a proclamation on October 21, 1932 to constitute a new State Assembly. This came into effect on January 1, 1933. As per this order, the seats were divided among the community as given below: Total population 5,090,000 and the total seats in the Assembly 70. Christians, Ezhavas and Muslims who were contributing to economy significantly and were demographically prominent were grossly underrepresented in terms of assembly seats. So under the leadership of T.M. Varghese representatives of

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, Ezhava and

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

communities met the Diwan. The meeting didn't yield any results. T.M. Varghese realized that a government with no responsibility to the people was an anachronism.A meeting of the leaders of the three communities including C Kesavan was called at the L.M.S. hall, Thiruvananthapuram on January 25, 1933. They decided to stay united under T.M. Varghese and abstain from the elections. This is known as ''Nivarthana Prakshobhanam (Abstention Movement)''.

Joint Political Party.

The Christians of Travancore met together at

on November 21, 1932 and formed All Kerala Christian Union (Kerala Kristava Maha Sabha). A general meeting of this Union was held at

Kozhencherry Kozhencherry ( ml, കോഴഞ്ചേരി) is a census town in Pathanamthitta district of Central Travancore region (South Central Kerala) in Kerala state, India. census, the population was 433,357 people in 92,825 households. History Kozh ...

from May 9 to 11, 1935. On the first day T.M. Varghese proposed a resolution that, ''“The election of the Travancore Legislative Assembly is not justifiable, the government officers have made unlawful influence in its formation, and it is against the wishes of Christian-Ezhava- Muslim people, it is requested that the government should immediately disband the present assembly and elect a new one.”'' On the last day there was a meeting of All Kerala Joint Political Meeting. C. Kesavan one of the speakers said, ''“I am talking about C.P. (

). We don’t require this pest. Travancore got a bad name after his arrival. This country will be gone to the dogs unless this man leaves.”'' (this is now known as C. Kesavan's Kozhencherry Address). This angered the Diwan Sir C.P. and

C. Kesavan C. Kesavan (23 May 1891 – 7 July 1969) was a politician, social reformer, statesman and the Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin during 1950–1952. He led the Nivarthana agitation in Travancore to gain the democratic authority for the citizen ...

was arrested on June 7, 1935 and was sentenced to two years jail. Three lawyers T.M. Varghese, K.T.Thomas and Barrister George Joseph appeared for C.Kesavan. All Kerala Joint Political Party (Samuktha Party) was formed and elected T.M. Varghese as Chairman and K.T.Thomas as Secretary. Because of all these, the government at last conceded their demands to a certain extent by introducing communal reservation in appointments to the public service. On August 1936 a new constitution was promulgated and election for the Travancore State Assembly was held on April–May, 1937. T.M. Varghese won the election as a candidate of the All Kerala Joint Political Party. In the

Sree Moolam Popular Assembly The Sree Moolam Popular Assembly in the erstwhile state of Travancore was the first popularly elected legislature in the history of India. Its predecessor legislative council was formed in Travancore in 1888 with eight appointed members. Sri Mu ...

he was elected as Deputy Chairman. C. Kesavan who was put in jail in 1935 was released in 1937. Welcoming Kesavan at Kollam and Alapuzha, T.M. Varghese said, “In the name of and on behalf of the 5.1 lakhs (5,10,000) of people of Travancore, I accord with pleasure, a hearty welcome to the most-self sacrificing individual C. Kesavan." Diwan was furious. As per his suggestion a no confidence motion was moved against the Deputy speaker. In the voting that followed 42 supported the motion, 24 was against and 2 abstained. Thus T.M. Varghese was removed from his post as deputy speaker.

State Congress.

In February 1938, T.M. Varghese tabled a motion to discuss the point “''Responsible Government,” (Utharavaditha Bharanam - Government responsible to the people)''. Sir C.P. allowed this motion to be discussed. In the Assembly, T.M. Varghese declared. “''There is no need of a Diwan, in between the 5.1 million people of Travancore and their Maharaja.”''

Pattom Thanu Pillai Raja Shri Pattom A. Thanu Pillai (15 July 188527 July 1970) was a participant in the Indian independence movement who later served as the chief minister of Kerala from 22 February 1960 to 25 September 1962. He was known as the 'Bhishmacharya' o ...

and K.T. Thomas spoke supporting the motion. On that day after coming out of the Assembly hall, they formed the Travancore State Congress. Arrests followed. Banks and newspapers were closed. Agitation spread. In 1938, a number of leaders and newspaper editors were assaulted. There was no enquiry on this. For discussion, T.M. Varghese brought a resolution in the Assembly but Sir C.P. did not accept it. Finally on July 30, 1947

decided to join Indian Union. On August 15, India attained freedom. On 19, Sir C.P. resigned. The government issued a proclamation on September 4, 1947 stating the formation of a “Responsible Government.”

Minister.

In the first general election to the Travancore legislative assembly after Travancore and Cochin were unified, T.M. Varghese was elected from

Pathanapuram (State Assembly constituency) Pathanapuram State assembly constituency is one of the 140 Kerala Legislative Assembly, state legislative assembly constituencies in Kerala state in southern India. It is also one of the 7 Kerala Legislative Assembly, state legislative assembl ...

and became minister of education. On October 17, 1948 the ministry resigned. In 1949, T.M. Varghese was elected as the Speaker of the Assembly. Again in 1952 T.M. Varghese became Home Minister in A. J. John's short lived ministry.

Arts

He was instrumental in helping

Kunchacko Kunchacko (19 February 1912 – 15 June 1976) was an Indian film producer and director who worked in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. His venture Udaya Studios influenced the gradual shift of Malayalam film industry from its origi ...

set up

Udaya Pictures Udaya Studios was one of the oldest film studios in the Malayalam film industry of India. It was established in 1947 by director-producer Kunchacko (1912–1976) and film distributor K. V. Koshy in Pathirappally, Alappuzha in Kerala. The studi ...

, the first prominent Kerala based film production company. He provided legal assistance to set up the company and also became a shareholder in it.

Death and memorials

He died on 31st December 1961. The body was cremated at

Marthoma Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...

. There is a park constructed in

in memory of him and is maintained by Kollam Municipal Corporation. There is also a library in his name maintained by municipality situated near Ammachiveedu.

References

* Kovoor, E. M.

965 Year 965 ( CMLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II conquers the fortress cities of Tar ...

''T. M. Varghese'', Current Books, Kerala. * Mathew, N. M.

007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

''Malankara Mar Thoma sabha charitram'', (History of the Mar Thoma church), Volume 2. Pub.: E. J. Institute, Thiruvalla, Kerala. * Mathew, N. M.

008 008, OO8, O08, or 0O8 may refer to: * The Streetwear Brand @008us , inspired by Ian Fleming & Virgil Abloh *"030", the fictional 030 Agent of MI6 * '' 038: Operation Exterminate'', a 1965 Italian action film * '' Explosivo 030'' a 1940 Argentine c ...

''Malankara Mar Thoma sabha charitram'', (History of the Mar Thoma church), Volume 3. Pub.: E. J. Institute, Thiruvalla, Kerala. * Menon, A. Sreedhara

967 Year 967 ( CMLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Otto I (the Great) calls for a council at Rome, to present the ne ...

''A survey of Kerala history'', S. Viswanathan Printers & Publishers, Chennai.

External links

History of Kerala legislature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varghese, T. M. 1886 births 1961 deaths Mar Thoma Syrian Church Politicians from Kollam People from Kollam People of the Kingdom of Travancore 20th-century Indian lawyers Indian independence activists from Kerala Malayali politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala Members of the Kerala Legislative Assembly