Those were the days when the
seeds of the struggle for freedom sown during what was miscalled ‘the
Indian Sepoy Mutiny’ of 1857, had begun sprout glowingly all over the
sprawling British- ruled India. Many young men fired by the blaze of
national spirit burst on the horizon spreading the message of freedom
in secret, and also openly, committing acts of protest to tell the
world what they sought. Some called them ' misguided youth ', and some
branded them as ' traitors’ but they were neither. Indeed they were
the heroes of the Indian Freedom Movement. They laid down their
precious young lives at the altar of their motherland, Bharatha Matha.
The stirring story of one such group of noble patriotic sons of Mother
India, which spun round the murder of a British civilian officer, came
to be known as " Ashe Murder Case". It occupies a place of honor in
the history of the Indian Freedom Movement.
Robert W.
D.
E.
Ashe,
a
member
of
the
Indian
Civil
Service
(ICS,
also
known
as
the
‘Steel
Frame’
of
the
British
Indian
Government)
and
tradition-bound
Britisher
was
then
the
Sub--Collector
at
the
small
sea
port
town
Tuticorin
(now
Thoothukudi) on
the
Bay of Bengal
in
South
India. Like
most
Britishers
in
India
of
the
day
Ashe
felt
that
the British
owned
India lock,
stock
and
barrel,
and
Indians
were
destined
only
to
serve
their
white alien
masters, and
their duty was to
do
and
die
and
not
to
reason
why. He
hated
Indians
who dared
to ask
him
why
and
the
man
he
hated
most
in
that town
famed for pearl fishing
was the
celebrated patriot
V. O.
Chidambaram
Pillai.
Chidambaram
Pillai
immortalized
under
his
famous
initials
VOC ("Va. Vu.
Si " in Tamil) was
a small town
lawyer
practising
in
Tuticorin.
Born in
Otthapidaram, a
place famous
for
revolutionaries
like
the
cult figure-rebel
leader, who was a
veritable virile thorn
in
the
flesh
of
the
British,
Kattabomman, VOC had imbibed such
spirit
and
threw
his
lot
in
the
struggle
for
Indian
Freedom. That
was
the
era
when
lawyers,
men
of
education
and
professionally
trained
to
fight
for
causes
were
in
the
forefront
of
public
service
as
leaders
of
society. Thus
VOC
emerged
as
one
such
leader
in
his
town, and
leading
champion
of
the
underdog,
oppressed,
and depressed.
VOC
advocated
that
the
Indians
should
boycott
foreign
goods
especially
the British
and
encourage
local
products
or
‘swadeshi’
goods. This
would
be
one
of
the
ways
to
drive
the
alien
Englishman
from our Motherland
and
establish
Swarajya
and
Independent
India. The
words
‘Swarajya’
and ‘Swadeshi’
were
in
the
air
in those days
and thrilled
people.
Besides speaking
in
public
VOC
floated
a
corporate
enterprise,
'
The Swadeshi
Steam Navigation
Company. '
This
was
indeed
a
daring
move
for
its
day,
something
extraordinary
for
a
small town
lawyer
even
to
dream
about
but
VOC
made
it. The
steam
navigation
business
was
then the
monopoly of
the
ruling
British
and
this
‘native
'
company
attracted
good
deal
of
the
sea
traffic
between
Tuticorin
and
Colombo. This
business
was
actually
dominated
by
the
British
India
Steam
Navigation
Company
and
VOC
made
inroads
into
it. Thus
VOC
became
not
unnaturally
perhaps
an
opponent
of
the
British
-owned
shipping
company.
VOC’s political
work,
his
clout
with
the
public,
his
shipping business
enterprise,
all
these
and
more
did
not
please
the
ruling
class. Indeed
they
hated
him more and
one
of
them
was
the
then
Sub-Collector
Ashe. He
took
it
into
his
head, heart,
soul, and
body
to
crush
this
'
cheeky
impudent
native
lawyer
'
and
he
went
all
out
to
achieve
his
mission. He
had
VOC
arrested
on
sedition
and
such
charges
and
made
several
moves
to
drown
the
local
shipping
company. No
wonder
Ashe
in
turn
became
the
most
hated man
himself.
Considered as
one of
dangerous hurdles
in
the
pathway
to
freedom.
Someone to
be
removed
from
the
scene. Fast!
However Ashe
received
pats
and
praise
from
his
superiors
and
he
was
promoted
as
Collector
and
District
Magistrate
of
Tinnevelly
(now
Thirunelveli).
June
17, 1911...
Ashe
was
travelling
by
train
in
a
first
class
compartment
and
when it
stopped
at
Maniyachi,
a
railway
junction,
a
young
man
made
his
way
into
the
compartment.
Suddenly he
whipped out
an
automatic
Browning
revolver
and
shot
Ashe
dead
at
point
blank
range. As
crowds,
cops
and
all
rushed,
he
escaped
and
ran
down
the
un-paved
gritty gravelly platform.
As cops
chased
him
he
ran into a
lavatory
on
the
platform
and
shot
himself
in
the
mouth
using
the
same
weapon. His
name was
Vanchinatha Iyer,
a
Brahmin
from
Shencottah,
then
situated
in
the
princely
native
state
of
Travancore
ruled
by
its
Maharaja. The
police
found
a
letter
on
his body,
which suggested
a
political
conspiracy
behind
the
murder. It
read
as
follows,
''
Every
Indian
is
at
the
present
time
endeavoring to
drive
out
the
Englishman
who
is
the
enemy
of
[our] country
and
to
establish
‘Dharma
'
and
liberty...
we
3000
Madrasis
have
taken
a vow.
To make
it
known,
I,
the
least
of
them
did
this
day
commit
this
act. ''
(To be continued)
