C. H. Mohammed Koya
Cheriyan Kandi Muhammad Koya (15 July 1927–28 September 1983), known as C. H. Muhammad Koya, was an Indian politician who served as the Minister of Education in Kerala Government from 1967 to 1973 and from 1977 to 1979. He also led the cabinet as the eighth Chief Minister of Kerala from 12 October to 1 December 1979. Koya was the first Indian Union Muslim League member to lead a state in independent India. As the Minister of Education, Koya championed the progress of the education of backward classes in northern Kerala. He also served as the  Home Minister (1969–73) and the Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala (1981–83). Life and career. Cheriyan Kandi Muhammad Koya was born in 1927 at Atholi in northern Kerala, to Payampunathil Ali and Mariyumma. While studying at Zamorin's College, Calicut, Koya founded the Muslim Students Federation, the youth wing of the All-India Muslim League. He later helped to organize a reception for the prominent Muslim League leader Liaquat Ali Khan (at Calicut in 1945). He joined the "Chandrika" newspaper, the official organ of the Muslim League, in 1946. Koya is remembered for his "spirited" reply to Jawaharlal Nehru, the then  Prime Minister of India (when the latter publicly criticized Indian Union Muslim League as "a dead horse" at Calicut in 1955). He was first elected to the Kerala Assembly in the 1957 legislative elections. He went on to hold several key Kerala cabinet posts (Minister for Education, Deputy Chief Minister, Home Minister, and Minister for Finance). He served under both Indian National Congress and Communist Party of IndiaChief Ministers (E. M. S. Namboodiripad, C. Achutha Menon, K. Karunakaran, A. K. Antony, and P. K. Vasudevan Nair). Koya was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1962 (1962–67) and in 1973  (1973–77, by-elections, replacing recently deceased M. Muhammed Ismail). He was a Member in the Kerala University Senate and served as Chairman, Governing Body, REC, Calicut. Koya died on 28 September, 1983 while serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala. He was aged just 56 at the time of his death, and the cause of his death was a massive brain hemorrhage, aided by diabetes and hypertension. Legacy. Koya was known his eloquent oratory and was described by scholar R. E. Miller as "grassroots star of the Mappila community" and the "ranking hero of Muslim youth" in Kerala. He  acted as a "bridge-builder" among various social and religious groups of Kerala. As the Minister of Education, Koya championed the progress of the Mappila community in secular education, but also advocated higher standards in the 'Arabic Colleges'. During Koya's tenure as the Minister of Education, the University of Calicut, University of cochin was established. Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly. Source: Kerala Legislative Assembly (profile) Works. Source: Kerala Legislative Assembly (profile)