A forgotten hero remerges as Congress, BJP lay claim to his legacy

Chettur Sanakaran Nair, forgotten Indian patriot, remembered for courage against British, sparking political rivalry between Congress and BJP.

A pioneering Indian patriot who charted his own course, despite fierce differences with Mahatma Gandhi, is remembered on his 91st death anniversary for courageously taking on the British in the London court over the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Chettur Sanakaran Nair, a trailblazing figure who made history as the sole Malayali to hold the office of the Indian National Congress president in 1897, has faded from memory largely due to the party’s own oversight and flawed narrative.

Chettur’s long-abandoned tomb on the banks of the Bharathapuzha at Mankara in Palakkad district became a hub of activity on Thursday when the BJP unexpectedly laid claim to his legacy, rivalling the Congress’ traditional association with him.

Chettur, the visionary who contributed immensely to India’s development while being a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, has few memorials in his land. A couple of trusteeship bodies in his name based at Ottappalam may be an exception. But the hard path to his tomb, winding through paddy fields at Mankara, appears to mirror the Congress’ neglect of his legacy.

Until 2020, none bothered to remember him even on his death anniversary. Even his family members did not care. “If Chettur’s family members had been actively involved in politics, his legacy would likely have been celebrated within the Congress, much like K. Karunakaran and Oommen Chandy,” said Boban Mattumantha, Palakkad district chairman of the Congress’s cultural wing Samskara Sahiti.

None of his family members were in active politics. Many of his descendants held diplomatic and juridical positions. K.P.S. Menon was his son-in-law. Former High Court judge Chettur Sankaran Nair, 92, a descendant, could not respond as he was relaxing at home.

Sivadas Chettur, another descendant who is a practising chartered accountant, attributed his great-granduncle’s fading legacy to the fact that Chettur’s political career predated Mahatma Gandhi’s involvement in the Indian national movement.