Vakkom Majeed (born S. Abdul Majeed; 20 December 1909 – 10 July 2000) was an Indian

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

, politician and a former member of the Travancore-Cochin State Assembly.Pg 20, Who is who of freedom fighters in Kerala – K. Karunakaran Nair, 1975 He was born into one of the most prominent aristocratic Muslim families in

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. A ...

. Influenced by the works of his uncle, Vakkom Moulavi, he became involved in social and political reform movements. Majeed was one of the early architects 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 E ...

in Travancore, eventually becoming the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

for

Attingal Attingal is a municipality in Thiruvananthapuram metropolitan area in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala state, India. It was the location of the Attingal kingdom, under Travancore. It is the headquarters of Chirayinkeezhu Taluk, and t ...

constituency (1948–1952). Regarded as one of the great Indian nationalists of 20th century, Majeed belonged to a tradition of politics that was intrinsically value-based, secular and

humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

.Pg 66, Vol 1299, Kalakaumudi, Ormayil Vakkom Majeed (In memory of Vakkom Majeed) – K.M. Seethi, 2000

Early life and family

Majeed was born on 20 December 1909, in Vakkom, into a prominent and influential Muslim family Poonthran which had ancestral roots to

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration i ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

. His maternal great grandfather, Thoppil Thampi and maternal grandfather, Mohamed Kunju were radical for their times. His uncle, Vakkom Moulavi, was a visionary, social reformer, scholar, educationist, writer, journalist and the founder of '' Swadeshabhimani'' newspaper. Majeed was the first of four children born to Syed Mohamed and Mohamed Beevi. He had one sister: Safiya Beevi (1912–1986) and two brothers: Mohamed Abda (1914–1992), and Abdul Latheef (1917–1999). Majeed obtained his early education at St. Joseph High School, Anjengo. In 1936, Majeed married Suleha Beevi, the niece of Vakkom Moulavi. They had five children: Fathima (born 1937), infant boy (1939–1940), Najma (1943–1957), infant girl (1953-died soon after birth) and Shameema (1957–2011).

Freedom struggle

He was attracted to the social reform movement of his uncle, Vakkom Moulavi, as well as

Narayana Guru Narayana Guru, , (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritu ...

. He came to politics in his early school days. When the Indian National Movement emerged in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

, Majeed was in the forefront of its leadership. He was one of the early architects of the

in Travancore. As a young man, he also became greatly involved in the social reform movement. Majeed was one of the few Congress leaders in Travancore who exhibited enormous courage by participating in the Quit India movement in 1942 and got arrested. He remained in jail for several months. Subsequently, when the idea of "independent Travancore" was mooted, Majeed was a staunch opponent of it and took part in the agitation against the move. He was incarcerated again for several months. When the INA hero Vakkom Kadir was sentenced to death by the British, Majeed visited him in the Madras Central jail. It was Majeed who brought Kadir's last letter to his father before the hanging.

Political career

Majeed was a politician-extraordinary in the socio-political realm of

in the 20th century. A staunch opponent of the Two-Nation Theory and

Pakistan movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

, Majeed argued that only a secular-nationalist India could keep the heart and soul of the masses together. In 1948, he was elected (unopposed) to the Travancore-Cochin State Assembly from the

constituency. When the tenure of his term came to an end in 1952, he decided to eschew practical politics and took to serious reading. He was attracted to the writings of

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, a ...

, M.N. Roy and several French writers. Majeed was opposed to doctrinaire politics and argued for secular-humanist perspective in politics and social issues. Majeed upheld the values of Liberalism and

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

and called for the return of

Ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a l ...

(freedom of thought) in Islamic traditions. He equally valued the thoughts of

and pointed to the increasing relevance of a "casteless" society.

Later years and death

The last three decades of Vakkom Majeed was the decades of his intense exploration and reading (and rereading) of nationalist history, ideology and practice. In 1972, during the Silver Jubilee celebration of Indian Independence, the nation honoured him by giving 'Tamrapatra' for his participation in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal ...

. He received the 'Tamrapatra' from the then Prime Minister,

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 and was al ...

. By the end of the 1980s, Majeed's health was failing, and he was soon bedridden for a year. His wife Suleha Beevi died on 18 June 1993. Although he managed to attend few socio-political functions in the later 1990s, his health was suffering. On 8 July 2000, he fell seriously ill and admitted in a private clinic. His condition worsened soon afterward and shifted to the CCU (Critical Care Unit) of Cosmopolitan Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. On 10 July 2000 he suffered a fatal heart attack and was pronounced dead at 6:30 local time (1:00 UTC). Majeed was buried in East Jamaat Masjid (Vakkom Padinjare Jamaat Mosque) in Vakkom, alongside his ancestors.

Ancestors

References

External links

* http://vmmrcblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2007/05/vakkom-majeed.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Majeed, Vakkom 1909 births 2000 deaths Indian agnostics Indian independence activists from Kerala Indian nationalists Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala Malayali politicians Travancore–Cochin MLAs 1949–1952 Politicians from Thiruvananthapuram