VAKKOM ABDUL KHADER- FREEDOM FIGHTER

Hussain Randathani

History can’t write off this valiant freedom fighter of India Sri. Vakkom Abdul Khader. He laid his life for the cause of freedom in his flourishing young age. He was born at Vakkom  in Chirayin kizh Taluk , in the southern Kerala state  of India  on 25^th May 1917. He is the eldest son of  Sri. Vava Kunhu and Ummu Salma. He was called as Khader by his kith and kin. He stopped his education at tenth and became an active member of Pradesh Congress party which was in the forefront of the freedom struggle in Travancore area. Meanwhile his parents decided to send him to Malaysia in search of a job to sustain the family. Since it was the practice of the day , his countrymen were migrating to Malay or Singapore in search of some jobs.  And at the age of 22 he reached Malay.

At Malay Khader joined  the Indian Independence League led by Rash Bihari Gosh  and worked for the freedom of the country. Later he became an active member of Indian National Army (INA) of Subash Chandra Bose. He joined for military training at Swaraj Institute of Penang which was aimed at providing training for the fighters of INA. Here the institute was headed by one Ragavan, one of the pillars of INA. Khader was intelligent and clever that he excelled in the war tactics and spying. The INA decided to sent twenty of its cadets to India to gather information about the movement of India’s British Army in the world war. Khader was one among them.  Two sub marines were sent to Indian coast in September 1940 with INA soldiers. Khader was in the second one and he left Malaysia to India on 18 September. He was accompanied by Muhammed Gani of Trissinapalli, C.P Eappen of Thiruvananthapuram, George of Alappuzha and Ananthan Nair of Thiruvananthapuram. A third group left for India through  the land. The duty of these people was suicidal and the group was called as suicidal squad. Khader and his party landed  in Rubber boats at Tanur, the coastal town in the Malabar region of  Kerala.

The British police,patrolling on the coast was informed about the  presence of the strangers . Since it was a festive day, the coast was crowded and the news spread easily. The local loyalists  actively assisted the police in capturing Khader and his party. But knowing the imminent danger  khader jumped in to the sea and threw away  all the records kept by him in the sea. However he was captured and sent to jail at Calicut. He was bitterly tortured by the police to get secret information, but despite all the atrocities he stood firm without revealing any secrets. He was taken to Madras and Delhi army camps for questioning. But his companion Balakrishnan under acute pressure from the army revealed all the secrets regarding the INA activities to the authorities. Khader was brought to trial before E.E.Mak, the Special Judge for treason and spying for the enemy. The accused were convicted with IPC 121 A. The first accused was Vakkom Khader. Among the 19 accused fourteen were freed without any evidence. The remaining five were sentenced for severe   imprisonment for five years and execution after that. Fauja Singh, Ananthan Nair, Bardan, Bonyface were among others who had been sentenced to death. Later punishment for Bonyface was  reduced to life imprisonment. The judgment came on 1 April 1943.

Unfortunately, the High Court intervened in the  judgment  and by considering the seriousness of the matter the judge insisted  to execute the accused  immediately. By hearing the news Khader’s father along with Vakkom Majeed , another freedom fighter, reached the jail to see his beloved son . He saw the face of his brave son for the last time and with a grieving heart he left him. September 10 was the day of execution. In the previous night (9-9-1943) he wrote a long letter to his father. The letter gives the strength of  character and belief in God  shown by Khader while facing the execution. He trusts in God and takes it as a pride for being a martyr in the holy month of Ramzan.  The execution took place on the seventh day of Ramzan, 10 September 1943 early in the morning. drhussaink@gmail.com