CPI Veteran R Nallakannu Dies At 101: Freedom Fighter Who Championed Farmers, Labourers And Secular Politics

Communist veteran R Nallakannu, a freedom fighter and long-time leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in Tamil Nadu, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 101. Respected across political lines, he was known for his personal austerity, unwavering secular beliefs and decades of work among landless labourers, farmers and marginalised communities.

Born on December 26, 1925, in Srivaikuntam near Thoothukudi to Ramasamy and Karuppayi Ammal, Nallakannu grew up in a middle-class peasant family. His early political awareness developed during his school years at Carnation School, Srivaikuntam, when India's freedom movement was gathering momentum. As a student, he joined protests in nearby areas and later took part in the Quit India movement, for which he was jailed.

Initially inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's ideas, Nallakannu's politics later shifted towards Marxism after being introduced to leftist writings by his teacher Pallavesam. During the food shortages of the Second World War, he began questioning entrenched caste and economic power structures in Srivaikuntam and surrounding villages.

In one early act of activism, he exposed a large hoard of paddy stored inside a fortified granary in Srivaikuntam. Authorities seized nearly 2,000 sacks of rice following his complaint, bringing him wider recognition as someone willing to challenge powerful interests.

In 1943, while studying at Tirunelveli Hindu College, Nallakannu formally joined the Communist Party of India. He soon became a key organiser of landless agricultural workers across the then undivided Tirunelveli district, helping build the Agricultural Labourers Union into a platform for collective resistance.

Through sustained campaigns, he led struggles against big landowners and institutions controlling vast tracts of land. A significant movement focused on tenant labourers who faced eviction without secure housing rights. After years of mobilisation, many families secured permanent habitation rights, reducing the threat of displacement.

Even as a young activist, Nallakannu took a stand against caste discrimination. At wartime food committee meetings in Srivaikuntam, when dominant caste landholders excluded a Dalit member, he personally escorted the individual into the session and ensured equal seating, prompting a boycott by landlords.

When the Communist Party of India was banned in 1948 for its role in armed struggles, Nallakannu went underground. He was arrested on December 20, 1949, in Puliyoorkurichi village in Nanguneri. The years that followed were marked by custodial violence and organised resistance inside prisons.

Lodged later in Madurai Central Prison as prisoner number 9658, he led protests against excesses by guards and worked to secure better conditions for inmates. As the prisoner in charge of the prison library, he treated education as a tool of resistance, arranging study programmes that enabled several inmates to sit for SSLC examinations. He was released in December 1956 after spending seven years behind bars.

In 1958, he married Ranjitham, daughter of anti-caste activist Annachamy, and continued public work. He went on to hold leadership positions in the All India Agricultural Labourers Union at state and national levels, leading agitations on land rights, wages and environmental concerns.

From 1992 to 2005, Nallakannu served as CPI State Secretary in Tamil Nadu, steering state-wide campaigns on issues concerning workers, farmers and marginalised groups. In 2010, he approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court against illegal sand mining in the Thamirabarani river, argued the case personally, and secured a judicial ban on sand quarrying there.

He was widely cited for the simplicity of his personal life. For many years, Nallakannu lived in Tamil Nadu Housing Board rented quarters in Chennai's CIT Nagar and later moved to another rented house after demolition of the premises. Despite leading major struggles, he did not acquire property and continued to live in rented accommodation throughout his life.

On his 80th birthday, supporters of the CPI collected ₹1 crore and presented it to him, which he returned to the party. After receiving the Ambedkar Award carrying ₹1 lakh, he divided the amount equally between the CPI and the Agricultural Labourers Union. In 2022, upon receiving the Thagaisal Thamizhar award with a purse of ₹10 lakh, he added ₹5,000 from personal funds and donated the entire sum to the Chief Minister's public relief fund.

With his passing, the Communist Party of India and the wider Left movement in Tamil Nadu have lost a leader whose life was defined by sacrifice, simplicity and a lifelong commitment to social justice.