C. H. Mohammed Koya

Cheriyan Kandi Muhammad Koya (15 July 1927–28 September 1983), known as C. H. Muhammad Koya, was an Indian politician who served as the Minister of Education in Kerala Government from 1967 to 1973 and from 1977 to 1979.[2] He also led the cabinet as the eighth Chief Minister of Kerala from 12 October to 1 December 1979.[2][3] Koya was the first Indian Union Muslim League member to lead a state in independent India.[4]

C. H. Mohammad Koya
2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala
In office 24 May 1982 – 28 September 1983
Chief Minister	K. Karunakaran
Preceded by	Office Vacant
Succeeded by	K. Avukader Kutty Naha
In office 28 December 1981 – 17 March 1982
Chief Minister	K. Karunakaran
Preceded by	R. Sankar
Succeeded by	Office Vacant
8th Chief Minister of Kerala
In office 12 October 1979 – 1 December 1979
Governor	Jothi Venkatachalam
Preceded by	P. K. Vasudevan Nair
Succeeded by	President's rule
Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly
In office 9 June 1961 – 11 November 1961
Preceded by	K. M. Seethi Sahib
Succeeded by	Alexander Parambithara
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 25 February 1962 – 21 February 1967
Preceded by	K. P. Kutti Krishnan Nair
Succeeded by	Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait
Constituency	Kozhikode
In office 5 February 1973 – 20 March 1977
Preceded by	Muhammad Ismail
Succeeded by	Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait
Constituency	Manjeri
Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly
In office 5 April 1957 – 6 March 1962
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	C. Muhammed Kutty
Constituency	Tanur
In office 6 March 1967 – 17 September 1970
Preceded by	P. Abdul Majeed
Succeeded by	M. Moideen Kutty
Constituency	Mankada
In office 17 September 1970 – 5 February 1973
Preceded by	Sayed Ummer Bafakhy
Succeeded by	P. Seethi Haji
Constituency	Kondotty
In office 25 March 1977 – 3 January 1980
Preceded by	U. A. Beeran
Succeeded by	U. A. Beeran
Constituency	Malappuram
In office 26 March 1980 – 28 September 1983
Preceded by	Abdulla Kurikkal
Succeeded by	Ishaq Kurikkal
Constituency	Manjeri
Personal details
Born	15 July 1927 Atholi, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	28 September 1983 (aged 56) Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Political party	Indian Union Muslim League
Spouse(s)	K. K. Amina (married on 1 June 1950)[1]
Children	Two daughters and a son (M. K. Muneer)
As of 2 November, 2007 Source: Govt. of Kerala

As the Minister of Education, Koya championed the progress of the education of backward classes in northern Kerala.[3] He also served as the Home Minister (1969–73) and the Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala (1981–83).[2]

Life and career

Cheriyan Kandi Muhammad Koya was born in 1927 at Atholi, in northern Kerala, to Payampunathil Ali and Mariyumma.[2][5]

While studying at Zamorin's College, Calicut, Koya founded the Muslim Students Federation - MSF, the youth wing of the All-India Muslim League.[3] He later helped to organize a reception for the prominent Muslim League leader Liaquat Ali Khan (at Calicut in 1945).[3] He joined the Chandrika newspaper, the official organ of the Muslim League, in 1946.[6][3][2][7]

Koya is remembered for his "spirited" reply to Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India (when the latter publicly criticized Indian Union Muslim League as "a dead horse" at Calicut in 1955).[3]

He was first elected to the Kerala Assembly in the 1957 legislative elections. He went on to hold several key Kerala cabinet posts (Minister for Education, Deputy Chief Minister, Home Minister, and Minister for Finance). He served under both Indian National Congress and Communist Party of India Marxist Chief Ministers (E. M. S. Namboodiripad, C. Achutha Menon, K. Karunakaran, A. K. Antony, and P. K. Vasudevan Nair).[3][2]

Koya was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1962 (1962–67) and in 1973 (1973–77,[3] by-elections, replacing recently deceased M. Muhammed Ismail). He was a Member in the Kerala University Senate and served as Chairman, Governing Body, REC, Calicut.[8]

Koya died on 28 September, 1983 while serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala.[8] He was aged just 56 at the time of his death.[8]

Legacy

"Young men like C. H. Muhammad Koya realized that violent revolt promised nothing for them [the Kerala Muslims]. Electoral politics, on the other hand, might offer a great deal."

— Robin Jeffrey (historian)[6]

Koya was known his eloquent oratory and was described by scholar R. E. Miller as "grassroots star of the Mappila community" and the "ranking hero of Muslim youth" in Kerala.[3] He acted as a "bridge-builder" among various social and religious groups of Kerala.[3]

As the Minister of Education, Koya championed the progress of the Mappila community in secular education, but also advocated higher standards in the 'Arabic Colleges'.[lower-alpha 1][3] During Koya's tenure as the Minister of Education, the University of Calicut was established.[3]

Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly

Source: Kerala Legislative Assembly (profile)

• 1st Assembly (1957–59) – Tanur
• 2nd Assembly (1960–64) – Tanur (resigned on 6 March 1962)[8]
• 3rd Assembly (1967–70) – Mankada
• 4th Assembly (1970–77) – Kondotty (resigned on 5 February 1973)[8]
• 5th Assembly (1977–79) – Malappuram
• 6th Assembly (1980–82) – Manjeri
• 7th Assembly (1982–87) – Manjeri (died on 28 September, 1983)

In Kerala council of ministers

Ministry	Office	Term of office	Source(s)
Pattom Ministry	Speaker (independent)	09-06-1961 to 10-11-1961	[2][8]
2nd E. M. S. Ministry	Minister for Education	06-03-1967 to 21-10-1969	[2]
1st Achutha Menon Ministry	Minister for Home Minister for Education	01-11-1969 to 01-08-1970	[2]
2nd Achutha Menon Ministry	Minister for Home Minister for Education	04-10-1970 to 01-03-1973	[2]
1st Karunakaran Ministry	Minister for Finance Minister for Education	25-03-1977 to 25-04-1977	[2]
1st Antony Ministry	Minister for Education	27-04-1977 to 20-12-1977 04-10-1978 to 27-10-1978	[2]
P. K. V. Ministry	Minister for Education	29-10-1978 to 07-10-1979	[2]
Koya Ministry	Chief Minister	12 October to 1 December 1979
2nd Karunakaran Ministry	Deputy Chief Minister	28 December 1981 to 17 March 1982	[2]
3rd Karunakaran Ministry	Deputy Chief Minister	24 May 1982 to 28 September 1983	[2]

Works

Source: Kerala Legislative Assembly (profile)

• My Haj pilgrimage
• Caux-London-Cairo
• The Malaysia I Saw
• How Legislative Assembly Works
• Soviet Union
• Muslim Rule in India Through Stories
• Five Days in Sri Lanka
• Camel to Cadillac
• Travel Around the World

Notes

1. Kerala 'Arabic Colleges' are the equivalent of north Indian madrasas

References

1. Loksabha Profile (1962)
2. Chief Minister of Kerala (Official Website)
3. Miller, E. Roland. "Mappila Muslim Culture" State University of New York Press, Albany (2015); p. 204, 235–36, 329, 333, and 345.
4. Aravamudan, Gita; Louis, Arul B. (30 November 1979). "RSS is Attacking the Muslim minority: Mohammed Koya". India Today. Trivandrum.
5. Miller, Roland. E., "Mappila" in "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Volume VI. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 1987. pp. 458–56.
6. Jeffrey, Robin. "Politics, Women and Well-Being: How Kerala became a Model" Palgrave McMillan (1992); 112 and 114.
7. Speakers & Deputy Speakers Book – Kerala Legislative Assembly
8. Kerala Legislative Assembly

External links

• C. H. Mohammad Koya: Interview (India Today) 1979
• C. H. Mohammed Koya in Louis Malle's Phantom India (video) (@ 39.20)