Kunnikkal Narayanan, who tried to echo the ‘spring thunder’ of the Naxalbari and introduce Maoist ideology in Kerala back in the late 1960s, was commemorated at a meeting of former Naxalites held here on Friday.
Naxalite legend
Narayanan, who led the unsuccessful Naxalite raid on the Thalassery police station on November 22, 1968, is among the Naxalite legends of Kerala.
He had, along with A. Verghese, inspired a generation of angry young people into revolutionary thought. Narayanan, who died 39 years ago, his wife Mandakini, who died in 2006, and his daughter K. Ajitha were considered the first Naxalite family in Kerala.
Writer-activist M.N. Karassery, who opened the meeting organised by the Kunnikkal Narayanan Anusmarana Samiti, pointed out that Narayanan had practised what he preached.
Gender politics
Mr. Karassery said Ms. Ajitha later turned out to be a major women’s rights activist, and through her, Mr. Narayanan had contributed to women’s emancipation and gender politics.
Mr. Karassery said he never believed in the politics of violence and that the elimination of individuals would not solve any political or social problem and called for boosting democracy to address current socio-political issues.
Several former Naxalite leaders and those who spent a lifetime trying to build an egalitarian society, recalled Narayanan’s role in the Naxalite movement in the State. They included A. Vasu, M.N. Ravunni, M.M. Somasekharan, P.C. Unnichekkan and Ms. Ajitha.