RAHUL GANDHI is not the first person to move to Wayanad. There have been many before him who put down roots in this northern district of Kerala—like Pathan missionaries from the Deccan plateau, Jains from Karnataka, Muslim traders from Malabar, members of the Chetty community from the plains, and Christian and Ezhava farmers from Travancore. All looking for greener pastures, much like the Congress president.
“Wayanad is the land of migrants. Many have come here and made it their home. Except for the adivasis, every single person in Wayanad is a migrant,” said Kalpetta Narayanan, author of many books on Wayanad, his home district.
If the Jains brought their strong liking for agriculture to Wayanad, Muslims with Arab connections established coffee plantations here. The British later expanded the plantations; the Christian migrants who came later took the plantations to the next level.
Before all of them, though, this picturesque region in Western Ghats belonged to indigenous communities, such as the Paniyan, Kattunayakan, Kuruman and Adiyan tribes. At 18.5 per cent, the tribal representation in the district’s population is still the highest in Kerala.
A mountainous tri-junction where Kerala meets Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Wayanad has been fought over by Tipu Sultan, the East India Company and Pazhassi Raja of the Kottayam kingdom. Rahul, too, seems to have chosen it for its strategic importance.
Wayanad has a long history of fighting colonial forces. Pazhassi Raja, whom ballads describe as the Lion of Kerala, is the only Indian ruler to have defeated Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and a leading military strategist of 19th-century Britain, in a battle. Wayanad was also a beehive of activity during the Quit India struggle. “Wayanad’s significance in history is as a place with a strong anti-colonial history,” said O.K. Johny, author of Wayanad Rekhakal, which traces the history of the region.
The people of Wayanad are proud of its legacy. Case in point: A popular college in the district, run by a Christian management, is named after Pazhassi Raja, a Hindu king. “When the elders of the migrant Christian community decided to start a college, they did not think twice before naming it after the brave king who killed himself to prevent capture by the British. Every native of Wayanad, regardless of their migrant status or religion, is proud of Pazhassi Raja,” said Jibin Varghese, who teaches at Pazhassi Raja College at Pulpally.
The influx of Christians from Travancore in the 1940s and 1950s saw Wayanad taking a right turn politically. But, in the 1970s, it took a drastic left turn as Naxals established a red corridor by linking the tribal hubs that bordered the Thirunelli forest. “It was the sad tryst with left extremism that consolidated the anti-left narrative in Wayanad, eventually turning it into a Congress bastion,” said Saju K., a senior journalist from Wayanad.
According to him, the tribal agitation for land, started by activist C.K. Janu in the 1990s, is another event that influenced Wayanad’s sociopolitical leanings. “Though the struggle was suppressed by the Congress government, it did bring self-respect among tribals,” said Saju. “They are no longer pushovers. Every political party is eager to listen to them.”