Konnanath Balakrishna Menon (18 June 1897 – 6 September 1967) was an Indian academic, politician and revolutionary activist from Kerala. He was a professor at Harvard University and part of the revolutionary Ghadar Movement before returning to Kerala at the behest of Jayaprakash Narayan to champion Indian independence there in 1936. A protégé of both Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, he nonetheless eschewed nonviolence, as the mastermind behind and leader of the 27-man team behind the 1942 Keezhariyur bombings. He is remembered as the architect and father of the Quit India Movement in Kerala.[1]
K. B. Menon | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Vadakara | |
| In office 1957–1962 | |
| Preceded by | Position Created |
| Succeeded by | A.V. Raghavan |
| Member of Madras State Legislative Assembly for Thrithala | |
| In office 1952–1956 | |
| Preceded by | Position Created |
| Succeeded by | Constituency Abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Konnanath Balakrishna Menon 18 June 1897 Thaliparamba, Malabar district, Madras Presidency, British India (now in Kerala, India) |
| Died | 6 September 1967 (aged 70) Kozhikode, Kerala, India |
| Political party | |
| Relations | V.K. Krishna Menon
K. Sankara Menon K. Kunhirama Menon Dewan Raman Menon K.R.K. Menon Bhaskar Menon |
| Parent | Vengalil Raman Memon Konnanath Lakshmi Amma |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley, University of Colorado |
After independence, he declined a position in Nehru's Indian Congress party government, instead representing Thrithala in the Madras State Legislative Assembly from 1952 to 1956, and then Vadakara as its inaugural Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha between 1957 and 1962. In 1965 he was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly as member for Quilandy.[2][3]
Early life
editHe was born in 1897 into the aristocratic landowning Konnanath tharavadu, as the son of Vengalil Raman Menon, a munsiff magistrate in Calicut, and son of the former Dewan and Dalawa of Travancore, Palakkal Raman Menon. Minister of Defence and de facto Foreign minister of India V. K. Krishna Menon, Kalakshetra boss K. Sankara Menon, leading trial lawyer K. Kunhirama Menon (who would represent him in the Keezhariyur bomb case),[4] Finance Secretary K.R.K. Menon, and Indian-American record executive Bhaskar Menon were first cousins or first cousins once removed of his, while his uncle K. Kunjan Menon was a subordinate judge.[5]
Menon graduated from Madras University in 1920 and was appointed at Nizam college, Hyderabad. Soon, he resigned the post in order to a pursue graduate degrees, including a Ph.D. in Economics, at the University of California, Berkeley. After earning a graduate degree from Berkeley in 1923 for a thesis entitled The cooperative movement and economic welfare, Menon went on to receive a doctorate in economics and sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1932, with his dissertation entitled Postwar Progress of the Cooperative Movement in the United States and USSR: A Comparative Study.[6] He joined Harvard as professor, where he met Jayaprakash Narayan who was sent to the US for higher studies; that friendship guided Menon into a new way.[1]
Independence movement
editMenon resigned from Harvard and returned to India in 1936.[7] He assumed the office of general secretary of the All India Civil Liberties Union founded by Jawaharlal Nehru aimed at aiding people suffering from torture for participation in National movement, and of general secretary of the Citizens' Forum of the Princely States.[7] Menon became a resident of Gandhi ashram when the office of citizens' forum of the princely states was changed to Wardha in 1941 and secured friendship with Mahatma Gandhi.
Keezhariyur Bomb Case
Menon returned to Kerala as part of Quit India Movement, this arrival intensified strength of the movement in Malabar dist. and Cochin.[8] He was main man behind the famous Keezhariyur bomb conspiracy case which attracted media attention from the whole country, with Mathai Manjooran as his second-in-command.[9] He was the first accused and sentenced to ten year rigorous imprisonment. He was released after five years following independence, however those days in jail rotted his health.[10][11][12]
After independence
editMenon was a strict follower and proponent of Gandhism as well as socialism. He left Congress as socialists departed. Nehru, a close friend and admirer of his wanted Menon by his side, but Menon asked to join the socialists instead. He was elected to Madras Legislative Assembly in 1952 from Thrithala constituency as a socialist candidate.[13] He represented Badagara in the Loksabha following the second general election. Once again he shone in electoral politics as he was elected from Quilandy constituency in 1965, since none of the parties gained majority the assembly was dissolved. There was a move in background for creating government under Menon but he became a victim of backstage betrayals. He returned to Congress in his last days.
Death
editMenon died on 6 September 1967 at Kozhikode Medical College. He was cremated in the compound of Thrithala High School where he used to reside during his last days, the school was established as a result of his serious interventions.[14]
Eponyms
edit- Dr. K. B. Menon Memorial Higher Secondary School
- Villappally Panchayat PHC
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b The Architect of the Quit India Movement in Malabar!, This Unsung Kerala Scholar Was (4 August 2018). "This Unsung Kerala Scholar Was The Architect of the Quit India Movement in Malabar!". The Better India. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ Biodata, Dr. K.B. Menon Member of Parliament (MP) from Badagara (Kerala) (26 December 2018). "Dr. K.B. Menon Member of Parliament (MP) from Badagara (Kerala) Biodata". Entranceindia. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ DR. K. B., M.A., Ph.D., MENON. "MENON, DR. K. B., M.A., Ph.D." loksabhaph.nic.in. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Krishnan, Murali (18 April 2019). "Kerala's acclaimed Trial Lawyer, late Advocate Kunhirama Menon". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ Sen, S. P. (1974). Dictionary Of National Biography Vol. 3(m-r).
- ^ "Students' Dissertations in Sociology". American Journal of Sociology. 38 (1): 79–108. July 1932. doi:10.1086/215983. ISSN 0002-9602.
- ^ a b Mahotsav, Amrit. "K.B. Menon". Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ K B Menon, Remembering (30 September 2016). "Remembering K B Menon". Mullappally Ramachandran. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ the Bomb Case, The Unsung Heroes of (26 September 2010). "The Unsung Heroes of the Bomb Case". Calicut Heritage. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ കീഴരിയൂർ ബോംബ് കേസ്, ബ്രിട്ടിഷ് സാമ്രാജ്യത്തെ വിറപ്പിച്ച (9 August 2017). "ബ്രിട്ടിഷ് സാമ്രാജ്യത്തെ വിറപ്പിച്ച കീഴരിയൂർ ബോംബ് കേസ്". manoramaonline. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ എഴുപത്തിയഞ്ചാമാണ്ട്, കീഴരിയൂര് ബോംബ് കേസിന് (8 August 2017). "കീഴരിയൂര് ബോംബ് കേസിന് എഴുപത്തിയഞ്ചാമാണ്ട്". mathrubhumi.com. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ play a hit in US, Keezhariyur bomb case (13 August 2017). "Keezhariyur bomb case play a hit in US". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ MADRAS LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 1952-1957 A REVIEW (PDF), Chennai: MADRAS LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, 1957
- ^ ചരിത്രം മറക്കാത്ത തീപ്പൊരികൾ, ഡോ. കെ.ബി. മേനോൻ (5 September 2017). "ഡോ. കെ.ബി. മേനോൻ: ചരിത്രം മറക്കാത്ത തീപ്പൊരികൾ". manoramaonline. Retrieved 29 May 2021.