In less than 80 years what must have once been a prominent precinct on the beach front, has vanished without a trace. I allude to the residence of M. Singaravelu or to use the way he is presently referred to – M. Singaravelar. For purposes of convenience, I will use the former as that is how he is written of by his biographers. I allude to the book Singaravelu, First Communist in South India, by K. Murugesan and C.S. Subramanyan, published by People’s Publishing House, Delhi, in 1975.
It is apparent that even in 1975, the authors could not get a clear picture of what the house was like. From their writings it appears that it was more an enclave where members of the extended family lived. They also state that the property was vested in a trust which administered it. Singaravelu himself was one of the trustees though he was not happy being one, vexed as he was with the litigious nature of some of his relatives. He in fact purchased property in Thiruvanmiyur and often set out in a bullock cart from Beach Road, to spend extended periods of time in blissful solitude. Whether this was in Neelangarai is not clear but there is even today a warren of several cross streets in that area named after him. It also houses a fish market.
The family belonged to the fishing community and was among the leaders in it. Modern imagery of fishing villages and communities has reduced them to a set of huts and slums but it is clear that the leading families were wealthy as was Singaravelu’s. His father Venkatachala Chettiar was more into the business of fish than in actual fishing. Their residence, close to the fishing hamlets of Parthasarathy Kuppam and Ayodhya Kuppam by the Marina, was a large one. It was from here that young Singaravelu, born in 1860, must have set out for the Hindu High School in Thiruvallikeni. He later obtained his FA at the Madras Christian College, then in George Town, and his BA at the Presidency College, which must have been just a hop, skip and jump from home. Rather late in life, when he was in his forties, he qualified as a lawyer and set up practice in 1907.
His lawyer’s chambers seem to have been in Broadway but there is no doubt that many seeking justice must have beaten a track to his home as well. Very early in his practice he became a success and specialised in cases concerning the oppressed. And at least from 1918, labour cases too came within his ambit. For it was as a labour leader that he established himself. But even prior to that, he had become enamoured of Buddhism and saw it as a religion that downtrodden Hindus could take to. In this he was following the line taken by Iyotheethas Pandithar and was a forerunner of Dr BR Ambedkar. He became a member of the Maha Bodhi Society headquartered in the then Ceylon. What is more important is that his residence on Beach Road became the Madras office. None other than the multifaceted personality Thiru Vi Kalyanasundara Mudaliar would recall this detail.
It was in 1918 that the first labour union of India – the Madras Labour Union, was formed. The prime movers were of course Selvapathi Chettiar and G Ramanujulu Naidu but there were several others who played key roles – Annie Besant, GS Arundale, BP Wadia, Thiru Vi Ka and Singaravelu. This was primarily a body to demand better workers’ rights at the Binny Mills but immediately thereafter, a whole host of other labour unions was formed in the city, in most of which Singaravelu had a role to play. He headed some of them too. It was also around this time that Gandhi began coming to Madras and Singaravelu became a member of the Congress. In 1921, not far from his residence, at a public meeting on the beach, Singaravelu formally consigned his lawyer’s gown to the flames in response to Gandhi’s call that courts dominated by British laws ought to be boycotted.
His procession in Madras following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre brought him to the notice of the police. The British establishment watched him and his residence for the comings and goings of revolutionaries. And then, when in 1921 he organised a succession hartal against the visit of the Prince of Wales, he became a marked man.
On May 1, 1923, Singaravelu formed the Kisaan Labour Party, one of the early outfits in India that had Communist leanings. The first meeting, held on the same day, was at the High Court Beach but from August the same year, he made it a practice to hold worker meets at the Napier’s Park, at the northern end of Mount Road. This was a thoroughfare then with many industrial establishments and large employers, with many of them having unionised workers. In 1925, the KLP was formally merged with the Communist Party of India, whose first conference was presided over by Singaravelu the same year at Kanpur.
As a reward, his residence was thoroughly searched for seditious material by the police. Though nothing was found, he was charged with treason as part of the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy and only his ill-health, which prevented him from appearing in court, saved him from a harsh sentence. But when he organised the famed strike of the workers at the South Indian Railway Company in 1928, he once again had to face the ire of the law. A battery of lawyers, led by Nugent Grant and S Satyamurti represented him gratis, such being their regard for him. But this time he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, which was commuted in 1930.
Singaravelu was no longer an active participant thereafter but he was a mentor to many. His early friends had it is said included Subramania Bharathi. In later years he was close to Periyar EV Ramaswami Naicker though the two differed in their attitude to British rule. Singaravelu believed that differences such as caste and creed had to be sorted out by Indians as an independent nation and so British rule was not needed. This fundamental divergence however did not sour their friendship, and he wrote frequently for Periyar’s Kudiarasu. He was also a regular contributor to The Hindu and was a close friend of Kasturi Ranga Iyengar. A young leader he mentored was Pa Jeevanandam whom he assisted in the setting up of the Congress Socialist Party.
Afflicted by paralysis in the 1940s, Singaravelu remained increasingly homebound, surrounded by books. It was at home that he passed away in 1946. It is said that he is buried at the family burial plot in Royapuram. What happened to 22, South Beach Road thereafter is a mystery. In recent years there was a suit instituted in the High Court alleging that the then British Government had taken over the property and given it to the Lady Willingdon Institute. But this was disproved as it was made clear through documents that the property was owned by the PWD and had been acquired through formal process of law.
Singaravelu however remains a deeply venerated figure and there are statues for him as also roads in his honour. Napier’s Park was renamed in 1996 as May Day Park and in a sense, it commemorates him too.