The high-awaited film, Kesari Chapter 2, has finally been released on JioHotstar after a wait of two months. It has presented a lesser-known chapter from India’s freedom struggle to a wider audience.
Those who have watched the film have felt the pain and anguish of innocent Indians killed in one of the darkest phases of Indian history. But it also brought the spotlight on Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, portrayed by Akshay Kumar. Are you curious to know the real story of Sankaran Nair? Let’s understand the life of a barrister and nationalist who took on the British Empire after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
CS Nair: Jurist, nationalist and courageous voice of conscience against the British EmpireÂ
C. Sankaran Nair’s name doesn’t come up in most of the history textbooks, but his actions shook the foundations of the British Empire. He was born in 1857 in the Malabar region of Kerala. CS Nair’s father was a Tahsildar in the British government and, after a traditional upbringing, he went to the Presidency College, Madras. After taking a degree in arts, he pursued law from the Madras Law College. CS Nair was married to his maternal cousin, Parvati Amma, and they had six children.Â
He served in multiple roles, including the Indian National Congress president in 1897, Advocate-General of Madras, a judge of the Madras High Court, and a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council in 1915, where he managed the education portfolio. He fought significant cases and was knighted in 1912. Sankaran Nair resigned from the Viceroy’s Council in the aftermath of the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre, and later, in 1928, he was the President of the Indian Central Committee to cooperate with the Simon Commission. They made an accurate draft asking for Dominion Status for India, and when its Viceregal announcement was made, he retired and later passed away in 1934.
How did C Sankaran Nair challenge the British empire for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre?
Kesari Chapter 2 is based on the book, The Case That Shook The Empire by CS Nair’s great-grandson, Raghu Palat. But it takes some creative liberties to convey how Sankaran Nair and ‘Dilreet Gill’ portrayed by Ananya Panday, filed a genocide case against General Reginald Dyer for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. But, in reality, after resigning from the Viceroy’s Council and the Hunter Commission verdict, CS Nair authored Gandhi and Anarchy. In the book, he called out Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation methods. He mentioned that the then Punjab Governor, Michael O’Dwyer was aware beforehand and responsible for the atrocities in the Amritsar massacre. In a chapter titled The Punjab Atrocities, he penned:
“Before the reforms (referring to the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919), under a Lieutenant-Governor — a single individual — the atrocities in the Punjab, which we know only too well could be committed almost with impunity.”
Michael O’Dwyer demanded an apology for the blame, and when CS Nair refused, the former filed a libel case. As one of the longest civil cases, it was heard in the King’s Bench for five weeks, and all the odds were against Sankaran Nair. Locals from Amritsar refused to testify. Those who agreed were not considered accurate by Justice McCardie, who was also impartial along with the 11-member jury except one. Despite CS Nair being represented by former Chief Justice of Madras HC, Sir Walter Schwabe, Sankaran Nair lost the case and had to pay 500 pounds to Michael O’Dwyer.Â
Despite losing the case, C Sankaran Nair didn’t back down and brought one of the most inhumane Jallianwala Bagh massacre before the world and fueled India’s struggle for Independence.Â
Next Read:‘Kesari Chapter 2’ Vs History, What Akshay Kumar’s Film Got Right And Wrong About The Real Story
