Daily Current Affairs 02-04-2024

Centenary of the Vaikom Satyagraha

Syllabus :GS 1/History

In News

• The year 2024 marks the centenary of the Vaikom Satyagraha.

About Vaikom Satyagraha

• Background: Vaikom was  a temple town in the princely state of Travancore. The low-caste Hindus were not allowed to enter into the temples. 
• The issue of temple entry was first raised by Ezhava leader T KMadhavan in a 1917 editorial in his paper Deshabhimani.
  • In the 1923 session of the INC in Kakinada, a resolution was passed by the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee to take up anti-untouchability as a key issue. 
  • Vaikom, with its revered Shiva temple, was chosen as the location for the very first satyagraha.
  • Vaikom Satyagraha was the first among temple entry movements in India
    • It lasted for 604 days (20 months) from March 30, 1924 to November 23, 1925
• Reasons:The princely state of Travancore had a “feudal, militaristic, and ruthless system of custom-ridden government.
  • The idea of caste pollution worked not only on the basis of touch but also sight — lower castes were forbidden entry to any “pure” place, such as temples and the roads surrounding them.
• Prominent Leaders : The movement, led by TK Madhavan, EVR Periyar, MK Gandhi, and Narayana Guru.
• Temple Entry Proclamation : In November 1936, the Maharaja of Travancore signed the historic Temple Entry Proclamation which removed the age-old ban on the entry of marginalised castes into the temples of the state. 

Impacts of the Vaikom Satyagraha

• Vaikom Satyagraha was a testing ground for the Gandhian Principles of Satyagraha.
• In 1925, Gandhiji wrote to W. H. Pitt, then Police Commissioner of Travancore to resolve the ongoing matter. Thus, Pitt intervened and a settlement was signed between the Government and Gandhiji.
• The Vaikom Satyagraha proclaimed its significance almost a decade later whe