PM hails Sankaran Nair who took on the British in their own court over Jallianwala Bagh massacre

He said that in addition to those who died due to the cruelty of the British, there was one more aspect, which was pushed into the darkness.

“This aspect is manavta ke saath, desh ke saath khade hone ka buland jazbe ka. Is jazbe ka naam hai Sankaran Nair (This aspect relates to the spirit of humanity and standing with the country. The name of that spirit is Sankaran Nair). Nobody would have heard of him. He was a renowned lawyer and in those days, he held a very big post. He could have enjoyed all the luxuries, but inspired by Jallianwala Bagh, he raised his voice against British atrocities. He was kicked out of his post,” said Modi.

The PM further said, “Nair was from Kerala and the incident took place in Punjab. He fought on his own. Sankaran Nair took them (the British) to court. It is not only an example of standing with the humanity, it shows unity of the country too.

A man from far-flung Kerala fought with Britishers over an incident that took place in Punjab. Such spirit was the real inspiration behind our country’s freedom struggle. This inspiration, today, is the biggest strength in our ‘Viksit Bharat’ journey”.

Modi’s remarks came ahead of the release of ‘Kesari-2’ — a film based on Nair’s life — later this month.

“We must know about the contributions of Sankaran Nair. Every child in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal should know about him,” he added.

Hundreds of people protesting peacefully against the Rowlatt Act, which granted the colonial administration repressive powers, were gunned down by British forces without any provocation on April 13, 1919, at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.

Nair was a member of the viceroy’s council until 1919. He resigned as a mark of protest against the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.

And engaged in courtroom battle against then Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, Michael O’Dwyer, whom he had accused of being responsible for the atrocities at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Thereafter, O’Dwyer had sued Nair for defamation in England.

The trial before the King’s Bench in London went on for five and a half weeks — the longest-running civil case at that time. Eventually, O’Dwyer won the case with 11 of the 12-member all-English jury siding with him.