Returning To The Seat Of Freedom

 We all know the story of India’s independence from British rule. What about Pondicherry’s liberation from French rule? Watch the story unfold at Kizhoor, a sleepy village, 25 kilometres from the city.

“India’s freedom came at midnight, but Pondicherry  woke up to freedom at dawn,” reads a plaque in a dome-shaped room at Kizhour village, perched on the border of Tamil Nadu. While Pondicherry, like the rest of India, celebrates August 15 with the usual pomp reserved for the occasion, it also quietly rings in August 16, the ‘de jure day’, when Pondicherry was finally recognized as a union territory of India.

Interestingly, it is in the hamlet, around 25 kilometres from the city, that Pondicherry’s story of demand for independence from French rule took a definite course towards its culmination. At the end of a recently laid road tunneling through an avenue of trees, and flanked by green fields , is the memorial  that commemorates the end of colonialism and the dawn of a new era for Pondicherry.

Right next to the Government Middle School, stands an enclosure with four flat marble columns, etched with names from top to bottom. These are the names of the 178 people who voted in the historic referendum that decided the fate of Pondicherry- to join the Indian union or not. On October 18, 1954,the dome shaped structure adjacent to the enclosure, must have been filled to capacity as these representatives of the municipal council  and members of the representative  assembley from Pondicherry, Mahe, Yanam and Karaikal shaped the course of the land’s history. A whopping majority of 170 voted in favour of the merger of French territories with the Indian Union.

The occasion was a milestone in the chequered course of the quest for Pondicherry’s liberation which strengthened after Indian independence in 1947. At this site today, is a permanent painting exhibition depicting the decisive moments and Kizhour and the aftermath. While the memorial was inaugurated on August 16, 1972, the exhibition was opened on the  50th anniversary of ‘de jure day’  in 2004.

Though pictures hang on crooked frames and could do with a more appealing display, a short tour lets you relive those moments , all those years ago. Copied from photographs that are also framed at the gallery, the paintings depict Lambert Saravane, submitting a motion calling for transfer of four French Indian settlements to the Indian Union to the French national assembly and the signing of the merger by Keval Singh and Pyer Lendhi, representing Indian and France, respectively.

Scenes from a victory procession with thappu and nadhaswaram are a glimpse of the celebrations that must have broke out after the verdict. Events that followed are also chronicled including the hoisting of the Indian tricolor in the Government House after transfer of power ceremony and the first visit of Jawaharlal Nehru to Pondicherry after its merger with India.

A few portraits of key personalities like Muthucoumarappa Reddiyar, E. Goubert and Venkatasubba Reddiar line the dusty shelves. Notices condemning the French rule, newspaper clippings chronicling various milestones, Preamble of the Treaty of Cession,all provide more insights. A few cartoons say it all without words- one depicts India as a woman in saree looking aghast at a French policeman dangling a cage with her four babies – each named after each one of the French territories. Congratulatory messages from the Prime Minister and President laud the friendly spirit of the negotiations, going on to express hope that Pondicherry would remain a centre of French culture.

Yet, the road to a complete merger took some more time-  the de facto transfer of  power came into effect on November 1, 1954, after which Pondicherry, became part of the Indian union (November 1st will be celebrated as Puducherry’s Independence day, from 2014 onwards). But only on August 16, 1962, France ratified the treaty of cession, giving India full sovereignty over the territories it held.

To reach Kizhour, take the Villianur road and the turn at the next sign on the left after Pangur. The memorial Is open between 7 a.m to 7 p.m on all days including Sundays. History once, was created here, and you can still feel it breathe.