During the late 1970s and early 80s, subaltern
historiography emerged as an alternative to the nationalist, Marxist and
colonial historiography, accusing the latter of robbing the common people of
their agency. However, within the nationalist historiography there were
attempts to marginalise nationalists owing to religious reasons.
One such marginalised figure was George
Joseph (1887-1938), who was always seen as a Christian nationalist. A
multifaceted personality, he was a famous lawyer, journalist, a trade unionist
and a champion of subaltern.
George Joseph remains practically unknown among the freedom
fighters of suth India, despite his being in the vanguard of struggle for
freedom along with great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru,
Rajagopalachari, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahadev Desai.
Born in Chengannur, Kerala, on June 5, 1887,
Joseph had his school education in Kerala and went to the Madras Christian
College in 1903. He did M.A. in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and
went on to study Law at Middle Temple in London in 1908. During his stay in
London, he came into contact with several great Indian revolutionaries and
freedom fighters of the day. George Joseph, completing his studies, left London
in December 1908 and arrived in India in January, 1909.
AGAINST CRIMINAL TRIBES
George Joseph married Susannah and both went to Madras
in 1910. During his short stay in Madras, he contributed to the South Indian
Mail, which later became defunct. Later, he, through his friend Gopala Menon, a
criminal lawyer, came to Madurai and started his legal practice in 1910.
Within a few years, Joseph, modelling himself
on Eardley Norton, a prominent lawyer and one of the founding members of Indian
National Congress, established himself as a leading criminal lawyer in Madurai.
He was one of the first members to have
vehemently opposed the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) at a time when even members
from the affected communities such as Piramalai Kallars and Maravars did not
raise their voice. He fought for their cause in courts, wrote extensively in
newspapers and espoused their rights as labourers in the Madura Mill.
Even to this day, members of the Kallar
community pay homage to him on his death anniversary and name their children
as Rosappoo or Rosappo Durai . Elders in the
community say it is not clear whether he was referred to as Rosappoo Durai
because he used to wear a rose on the lapel of his jacket or a mispronunciation
of Joseph.
Joseph's main contribution was against the
punitive powers of CTA, 1911, by which members of the criminal tribes had their
fingerprints taken and their mobility restricted. Under Section 10(a) of the
Act, hours were fixed for them to report to the police.
In 1919-20, 1,400 Kallars were brought under
this Section. The hours fixed were 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., which compelled them to
sleep at the police station every day. This made life difficult for the Kallars
and the women in the community had no safety. In April, 1920, the Piramalai
Kallars rioted in Madurai and a subsequent official enquiry at which George
Joseph was present directed that Section 10(a) be applied more sparingly in
future.
Representations made by him and others
resulted in a more humane approach by the government against these communities.
His 1936-diary contains entries regarding visits by delegations of Kallars who
had come to him for advice on various issues.
FIRST LABOUR UNION
He played a leading part in setting up one of
the early trade unions in India in Madurai. Madurai Labour Union was formed
with the help of J. N. Ramanathan of Justice Party and George Joseph in 1918.
Eamon Murphy, in his book, Unions
in Conflict: A Comparative Study of Four South Indian Textile Centres,
1918-1939, ' states that Ramanathan's motives for becoming engaged
in the labour union are not clear. Although he used labour meetings to
criticise the Congress, he was ready to work with individual nationalists such
as George Joseph within the union. It was the above said two events which
formed the political evolution of George Joseph.
Joseph was introduced to Mahatma Gandhi by Rajaji on March 22,
1919, in Chennai and at once he was mesmerised by the presence and words of the
Mahatma. Later, Gandhi came to Madurai on March 26, 1919, and stayed at the
residence of Joseph. Joseph played a leading role in organising a public
meeting for Gandhi in Madurai on March 29, 1919, in which 20,000 people
attended.
They were administered the ‘Satyagraha pledge'
as an act of resistance to the Rowlett Act. A resolution was passed at this
meeting to the effect that the people of Madurai were fully prepared to observe
a hartal on April 6, 1919. On April 5, 1919, Joseph organised a huge procession
in Madurai. At the meeting, he appealed to the people to stop work and observe
fast the next day. This was translated into rebellious action by a large
section of people and all shops remained closed on April 6, 1919. Joseph became
the trusted lieutenant of Gandhi in Madurai from that moment.
In the 1920s, he left Madurai to join politics
at the national level. In February 1920, Motilal Nehru made Joseph the Editor
of ‘The Independent' newspaper in Allahabad. During this time, Joseph was
arrested with members of the Nehru family on the charge of sedition on December
6, 1921. On September 27, 1923, he assumed the editorship of Gandhi's ‘Young
India' from Rajaji. The tenure lasted for about six months.
RETURN TO SOUTH
As a socially engaged leader, Joseph, after
coming to south India, participated in the Vaikkom Temple entry struggle in
March 1924, much against Gandhi's dislike. Gandhi wrote a letter on April 6,
1924 stating that temple entry was a problem of the Hindus and let them solve
it themselves.
In his words, “I think that you should let the
Hindus do the work. It is they who have to purify themselves. You can help by
your sympathy and by your pen, but not by organising the movement and certainly
not offering Satyagraha.” (Gandhi M.K. (1959) Collected Works of
Mahatma Gandhi XXIII P.391)
Joseph did not look at the Vaikkom struggle as
an isolated movement for temple entry but perceived it as a denial of basic
civic right of free entry to public space for the ‘untouchables' and
participated in the struggle.
In January, 1925, Joseph and
his wife returned to Madurai where they took up Gandhi's constructive
programmes, which included promotion of khadi, removal of untouchability and
restoration of communal harmony.
From 1925 to 1938, Joseph kept himself in
touch with all political activities. In 1929, at the request of the Congress,
he contested the municipal elections believing that the Congress would support
him. However, he lost the election which made his political isolation complete.
Yet, he came back to politics. In July 1937, he was elected to the Central
Legislative Assembly from Madura-cum-Ramnad-Tirunelveli constituency.
An avid reader, George Joseph was to be found
more often in the Connemara Public Library and Literary Society in Chennai, and
on his return to Madurai he renewed his membership at the Victoria Edward
Library where he used to spend at least two hours in the evening.
His grandson, George Gheverghese Joseph, in
his book George Joseph: The Life and Times of a Kerala Christian
Nationalist, 2003, says that print media was the important means to
express his views and it was through The Hindu most of his
views came to the public sphere. Political and social issues formed the major
part of his contributions. Joseph's relationship with Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
was a complex one but still he admired him because of his uncompromising stand
against the Swarajists and his gutsy approach to stand and fight alone when
needed.
He admired B.R. Ambedkar and corresponded with
him on Vaikkom struggle and mass conversion. Joseph had a special relationship
with Kamaraj. As a youngster, Kamaraj was busy with Joseph in organising
demonstrations against Simon Commission and successfully organised thousands of
volunteers near Tirumalai Naicker Mahal. When Kamaraj was implicated in the
‘Virudhunagar Conspiracy Case' in 1933, Joseph and Varadarajulu Naidu argued on
his behalf and proved the charges to be baseless.
During his later days, Joseph became highly
critical of Congress and Gandhi's views and in an article titled “Gandhiji's
New Formula in The Hindu , he criticised Gandhi's views on
khadi , Salt Act and Prohibition.
Joseph, after prolonged illness, died at the age of 50 at
American Mission Hospital in Madurai on March 5, 1938. His requiem mass was
held at St. Mary's Church and he was laid to rest at the East Gate Cemetery.
Gandhi, on hearing the news of Joseph's death,
wrote to Susannah, “I have before me your most pathetic and humane letter. I
have seen your longer and fuller letter to Mahadev Desai. You must not grieve.
That will show lack of faith in God. He gives and takes away. And surely it is
with Joseph. You will come to me whenever you can and want to. You shall remain
a dear daughter and more so, if possible, now that Joseph is no more in our
midst in the flesh. Love to you and children — Bapu.”
The Congress government in 1966 erected a statue of him at
Yanaikkal junction. It was unveiled by the then Home Minister P. Kakkan.
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