Dr. P. Palpu was born on November 2nd 1863
at Trivandrum, in Kerala State. He remains ever an example of the
persecution that the backward communities suffered in Kerala in those
days. Though he came fourth in the examination conducted in 1884 by the
Govt. for selecting ten students for the study of
medicine, Palpu was denied the opportunity just because of his caste.
But, he had no difficulty in getting admission to the Madras Medical
College for the L.M.S. course. After getting the medical degree, he was
again rebuffed by the Travancore Government when he applied for job in
his native state. He was forced out to the neighboring state of Mysore
for his employment just as he was sent out of the State for his higher
education. He started his meritorious service under Mysore Govt. at the
starting salary of Rs.100 when the Govt. of his own State would not give
employment to any one from the backward classes even at the lowest
level at the meager salary of five rupees.The
determination of Dr. Palpu to gain equality for the members of his
caste found expression in the formation of S.N.D.P. in 1903. It was the
advice given by Swami Vivekananda to associate with some spiritual
person in his effort to fight for the rights of the Ezhavas that drew
him to Sri Narayana Guru. The Swami asked Dr. Palpu to “Spiritualize and
Industrialize the Masses”. Swami told him that the garb of spirituality
was essential for any organization to be successful in India. S.N.D.P.
later became thus beacon for many social movements in Kerala
His
concern for the depressed was not limited to the people of the caste to
which he belonged. The sight of many poor people in Mysore who spent
nights in public places without any shelter to protect themselves from
the severe cold moved his heart to spend some money out of his first
salary for getting blankets for these helpless people. While in Mysore,
Dr. Palpu helped the Valigar community there to form an association to
fight for their birthrights.
Dr. Palpu was a relentless fighter for
the cause of the Ezhavas in Kerala. He wrote many articles in English
newspapers published from India highlighting the degrading customs in
Kerala that made the condition of the Ezhavas miserable. He published at
his own cost the book, ‘Treatment of Thiyas in Travancore’, a
compilation of the memorandums that were submitted to the Travancore
Govt., and the articles that he wrote in newspapers. This book, and its
translation that he published in Malayalam, became records for the
future generations to know about the horrible social situation that
existed at that time.
Ezhava Memorial’ and ‘Malayali Memorial’ were
two landmarks in the struggle of the backward classes for gaining their
legitimate rights from the Govt. that was representative of the mad
social customs that prevailed in the state at that time. ‘Malayali
Memorial’ which was submitted to the Maharaja of Travancore in 1891
marked the beginning of the united social effort in the state to press
the demands of the backward classes. This mass petition in which Dr.
Palpu was the third signatory complained about the ‘Divans’ (govt.
officers) who came from outside the state, and appropriated a greater
part of the jobs for their own people. The memorandum spoke about the
pitiable condition of Ezhavas of the State who were denied even the
lowest govt. jobs though their counterparts could occupy even higher
jobs in the Malabar State due to the absence of any discrimination
there. The Govt. in its reply dated 1891 April 21
ststated
that since the Ezhavas were generally uneducated, it was better for them
to pursue their present occupations like cultivation, coir making, and
toddy tapping than trying to get education.
As Dr. Palpu was
irritated by this humiliating reply from the authorities, he frequently
visited the state to organize the backward people to protest against the
callousness of the rulers. He realized that organized protest was the
only way to put an end to the inhuman discretion that the Govt.
practiced against the majority of its own people. He soon formed the
‘Greater Ezhava Association’, and more than 300 hundred people attended
its first meeting held at Thiruvananthapuram. The meeting decided to
submit a mass petition to the govt. signed by ten thousand Ezhavas
demanding the abolition of the discrimination against them. Dr. Palpu
himself took the initiative to get the signatures, and on 1896 Sept. 3
rd the
petition, the historically famous ‘Ezhava Memorial’, signed by 13176
people was submitted to the Govt. In the memorandum Dr. Palpu enumerated
as an example the humiliations that the members of his own family had
to suffer from Govt.
His next move was to bring to the attention of
the British Parliament the injustices done by the Travancore Govt. to
the Ezhavas, and the difficulties that they experienced in the social
life in the state. Dr. Palpu sent Barrister G.P.Pillai with a letter
secured from Sister Niveditha, the disciple of Swami Vivekananda, to
England to get some Member of the British Parliament to represent the
case of the Ezhavas. Dr. Palpu shared the major part of the expenditure.
In addition to this, when he went to England for higher studies, he got
Deadbeat Navroji who was a member of the British Parliament to raise a
question regarding the condition of Ezhavas in the Parliament. With his
help a memorandum was submitted to the State Secretary for India. All
these measures taken by the doctor began to have results at home when
the British Govt. began to enquire about the condition of the Ezhavas in
the State.
Dr. Palpu maintained close contacts with several national
leaders like Swami Vivekananda and Sarojini Naidu. Sarojini Naidu
praised Dr. Palpu as a great revolutionary when someone tried to brand
him as a communalist. When Swami Vivekananda visited Mysore, the doctor
had the rare opportunity of pulling him in a rickshaw through the
streets of the city. It was during this contact that the Swami advised
him to “Spiritualize and Industrialize the Masses.” The Mysore Govt.
sent him to Europe to get training in lymph production when he was the
in charge of the Vaccine Institute. Dr. Palpu showed the rare courage of
treating patients when plague struck Bangalore killing about 15
thousand people. Another example of his humanism was in his disobedience
as the Jail Superintendent to execute two prisoners whom he considered
innocent when he went through their case. During his tenure as the Jail
Superintendent, he made many innovations for the production of useful
things out of discarded and useless things.
After his retirement from
Mysore service he started ‘Malabar Economic Union’ for the
industrialization of the region, and the profits from the venture were
spent for the welfare of the public. The country lost a great
revolutionary leader when he breathed his last on 1950, January 25
th,
the day before India became a republic. He was the revolutionaries’
revolutionary in the sense that he changed people like Kumaran Asan,
T.K.Madhavan, and Sahodharan Ayyappan into great social leaders who also
fought for the betterment of the backward classes in the State. It must
be remembered here that Dr. Nataraja Guru, who founded Sri. Narayana
Gurukulam for the propagation of the ideals of Sri Narayana Guru was the
son of Dr. Palpu.
