Manjeri War: The memorial tomb in Manjery Government Boy’s High School demands restroation

Manjeri: 176 years after the historic Moplah rebellion where the revolutionaries of Manjeri fought the British, the tomb of British soldier Ensign Wyse at Manjeri Government Boys’ High School is almost in a dilapidated state.

The Moplahs of Malabar took up arms against the colonialists under the leadership of Manjeri Athan Kurikkal. The resistance movement against the British, said to have started on August 25, 1849, later came to be known as the Manjeri war. Besides Ensign Wyse, four other British soldiers too were killed in the war.

Lots of soldiers and revolutionaries were severely injured. 64 Moplahs who fought bravely in the war also had lost their lives. Meanwhile, Ensign Wyse was killed on August 28. 

A memorial structure was built at the place where Ensign Wyse was buried. This memorial tomb located in the premise of the high school campus has been neglected for years and is now overtaken by moss and thickets.

Artefact collector Saleem Padavanna and Indian National League treasurer Yasser Pattarkulam made representations to the director of the archaeological department to preserve the memorial. The representation had demands to include the tomb in the list of protected memorials and to restore the tomb.