On June 17, 1911, Robert William D’Escourt Ashe, then Acting Collector of the Tirunelveli District, and his wife, Mary Lillian Patterson, were in a first-class carriage at Maniyachi Station. They were on their way to Kodaikanal to see their children. A young man in a dhoti got into the carriage, pulled out a Belgian-made Browning automatic pistol and shot Ashe in the chest. R Vanchi Aiyar, the young assassin, then ran across the platform and shot himself in the latrine.

This was the only political assassination attempt in South India during the struggle for independence. But what led to the murder of the British official in 1911? The strike by Coral Mills workers at Tuticorin and the subsequent arrest of freedom fighter VO Chidambaram Pillai in 908 may have led to the Ashe murders in 1911, reveals the Select Document Series 1900-1947 on Tinnevelly Riots Conspiracy and Ashe Murder, which currently exhibiting at an exhibition organized as part of the Independence Day celebrations at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (IN THE MIDDLE) Here.
“The murder was a direct result of the VOC’s arrest and suppression of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, which provided stiff competition to the British India Navigation Company. One of the three Madras Supreme Court Justices, C. Sankaran Nair, cited this as one of the main causes of the murder,” said historian and MIDS professor AR Venkatachalapathy.

This document prompted Venkatachalapathy to track down Ashe’s grandson in Ireland a few years ago.
“A systematic study of the contribution of Tamilnadu The struggle for India’s freedom has yet to be fought,” Venkatachalapathy said. There are still many mysteries surrounding the case that have yet to be resolved.
Madasamy, one of the Vanchi’s accomplices who fled after the assassination, was never tracked down.
A collection of Sri Aurobindo’s “Bante Madaram” journal articles, “Report of the Disorders Inquiry Committee 1919-20” on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, a book “Penal Settlement in Andamans” containing letters detailing the reasons for it, and rare biographies of the freedom fighters are among the books on display at the exhibition through August 18.
“The MIDS library has a collection of 62,000 books and documents. We have exhibited about 300 books and documents related to Indian independence to inspire students and youth,” he said Rengaiah MuruganLibrarian of the MIDS.
The Institute has also compiled information on 38 unsung heroes of India’s independence movement, including Rodriguez, father of former actor Chandrababu. Visitors can scan QR codes to access the information.
“We are organizing this exhibition as part of the MIDS Golden Jubilee and 76th Independence Day celebrations,” said L Venkatachalam, Acting Director of MIDS.