Wagon Tragedy

The Wagon tragedy was the death of 67 prisoners on 20 November 1921 in the Malabar region of Kerala state of India. The prisoners had been taken into custody following Mappila Rebellion against British Colonial rule and Hindu landlords their deaths through apparent negligence discredited the British Raj and generated sympathy for the Indian independence movement.

In order to attract more Muslim support to the National Movement, Mahatma Gandhi and the national leaders of India supported the Khilafat movement and merged it to the famous Non Co-operation Movement; This succeeded in bringing almost all sections of Indians under one flag for a Pan-Indian movement for the first time.The southern Malabar district welcomed this movement in a great spirit. But in Eranad and Walluvanad taluks it took the form of an armed rebellion by Muslim Mappila community who were largely tenants being exploited by British and their supporters high caste Hindu landlords.After a series of events that culminated in violent clashes between police and protesters, Martial law was introduced and the rebellion mostly crushed. The British packed 100 prisoners into a railway goods wagon at Tanur railway station to be sent to the Podanur Coimbatore district jails. By the time they reached their destination 67 of the prisoners had died from suffocation. A monument to this notorious tragedy can be now seen at Tirur.