I have found an old Malayalam book, published in early 1930’s titled , Thiyyarude Abhivridhi Margangal (Steps to Liberate Thiyyas), written by a group of famous Thiyya (Ezhavas) leaders of Malabar, Kerala.
The writers include Arayam Parambil Govindan, Kotra Krishnan who were highly respected Thiyya leaders.
The thesis of the book is that the Thiyyas (Ezhavas) were never Hindus but Untouchables.
The book suggests steps to fight the brahminical social order of which the Thiyyas were one of the worst victims despite being the single largest community of Kerala. It advocates that since the Thiyyas are not Hindus they must establish and maintain their separate identity – religious, cultural, social and political. And this is what Sri Narayana Guru did.
Thiyyas were Buddhists: Another important disclosure made in the book is that Ezhavas were originally Buddhists and hence they must take over to Buddhism which is the only way to fight brahminism.
It is a small book of 65 pages and its reprint is very urgent. The book will be sold like hot cakes and will serve a very important purpose as the Ezhavas and Thiyyas have to be rescued from the clutches of both RSS and “marxists”.
Will some Ezhava (Thiyya) community leader come forward to reprint the book?
