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Marshal Nesamony
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Marshal Nesamony was a political leader from Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, India. He was the second son of Kesavan Appavu Nadar & Gnanammal, born on 12 June 1895 at Nesarpuram ,Palliyadi, in Vilavancode Taluk, Kanyakumari district. He was among those involved with the merger of four Taluks like Kalkulam, Vilavancode, Peermade, Devicularn, and Chittoor from Southern Travancore to Tamil Nadu. Due to his efforts, the Tamil speaking majority population of the area addressed him as Nesamani Rasa

He was educated at Scott Christian High School and then at C.M.S. College in Tirunelveli. While studying at C.M.S. College, he was elected as students' leader, which provided him with an opportunity to attend the Congress Conference at Calcutta. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi at that time, he chose to wear only Khadi cotton dresses throughout his life. He graduated with a BA degree from Maharaja's College, Trivandrum, after which he began teaching, spending a year at Kurnool Bishop Heeber High school. He later became headmaster at Salvation Army Middle School in Trivandrum.



Marshal Nesamony joined the Law College, studied law and registered himself as a Lawyer in 1921 at Nagercoil Sessions Court. His knowledge in law, the style of argument and presentation attracted the judges many times and that reputation placed him on the list of very eminent criminal lawyers in Travancore. As he was a reputed lawyer, many young advocates irrespective of caste or religion wished to become his juniors. They gained much from him and later contributed to the society as lawyers and politicians. A few among them were Chidambaranathan Nadar, Ponnappan Nadar, Gopalakrishnan, Fakrudeen Adam and Razak. The TTNC president Sam Nathaniel was also his junior.




Nesamony was made Neyyoor district Secretary in 1933 and in the same year was even elected to the Travancore Mission Council. The Constitution and Rules of the Church Council was penned down by him in 1939. He went on to become the Vice-President in the South Travancore Diocese. Consequently after its bifurcation in the year 1959 he became the Vice-President of Kanyakumari Diocese, CSI.


Nesamony was called to serve the public. He was elected as the President of Nagercoil Lawyers’ Association in 1943. In the same year, he was elected as the chairman of the Nagercoil Municipal Council. He served as a member of Sri Mulam Assembly of Travancore He was a Member of Parliament elected from Tamil Nadu.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Nagercoil constituency as an Indian National Congress candidate in 1951,1962 & 1967 elections. He was also a Member of the Legislative Assembly. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as an Indian National Congress candidate from Killiyur constituency in 1957 election.





Nesamony might have experienced the Nair dominance as he was born in Kalkulam Taluk and brought up in Vilavancode Taluk. This must have been his motivation to fight against the atrocities inflicted on the Nadars.


The hero of the twentieth century struggle, Marshal A. Nesamony was a senior advocate, belonging to the Protestant Christian Nadar community. On September 8 1947, around two hundred advocates under his leadership had assembled at Allen Memorial Hall. Muthukaruppa Pillai was a member of the State Congress who also represented his party. According to him as Trivancore State Congress was the only organisation which represented both Malayalees and Tamilians in the States so a new organisation to look after the welfare of the Tamilians specifically was not required. Others argued that Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress was the only group which worked for the welfare of the Tamils so all Tamil speaking people should join it to strengthen it. Both these resolutions were put to vote. Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress was considered as the representative body of the Travancore Tamilians. Under Nesamony’s leadership, the organization was made popular among the Nadars. Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress gathered people in the southern Taluks to explain its objectives. Their main intention was to form a Tamil state with full autonomy under Maharaja’s authority.


In the Parliament, representatives of Travancore Cochin State opposed the Commission's recommendation for merging the Southern Taluks with state of Madras. Nesamony was obliged to withdraw his proposal as it would mar the face of Kerala. However he argued constantly for the merger of Neyyatinkarai, Devicularn, Peermade and Chittoor with Madras. He argued that the estates of Devicularn and Peermade were the results of hardship of the Tamilians. His request was not considered. Fasal Ali’s Commission had recommended merger of Thovalai, Agasteeswaram, Kalkulam and Vilavancode with Madras State. The Joint Committee which was appointed to give a final shape to the state boundaries suggested that only eastern portion of Shenkottai should be merged with Madras. This was the ultimate decision and it was published on 16 January 1956.


During the reorganisation of states language wise in 1956, Nesamony played a major role in the merger of Kanyakumari district with Tamil Nadu. Nesamony died in 1968 while serving as a member in the Lok Sabha. Nesamony was a visionary whose role was instrumental in freeing the Tamilians from the clutches of the Nair oppression. His powerful argumentative style helped him to place the resolution of merging the four southern taluks with Tamil Nadu and also made it implement amongst strong opposition.

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