M K Kunjol The Social reformer and Padma Awardee
MK Kunjol, who won the Padma Shri award this time, is a person who forgot to think about his own house in the struggle for land of the scheduled castes. The award goes to the rented house of Kunjol, a hero of many land struggles in Perumbavoor Kuruppadi.
MK Kunjol’s life was a struggle for the land rights of the scheduled castes. Kunjol’s life was changed in the seventies by the struggle for land for the adivasis in Urulanthanni in Kothamangalam Kuttampuzha panchayath. With the victory of the first struggle, Kunjol took the lead in the land struggles of the Scheduled Castes.
Journey Of Kunjol
As a student itself, his journey for equity rose and even now, at the age of 82, M.K. Kunjol’s life is a story of struggles that he led for fairness in the public eye. He has been conferred with the Padma Shri for social work. This was awarded to him as an acknowledgment for his struggles to ensure equity for Dalits and his fights against police outrages on them. Kunjol has been active in making crafts by B.R. Ambedkar and Ayyankali are popular among the majority. He was considered by the State government with the first Ambedkar grant as of late.
Kunjol said “It was a proud moment for a person like me to be part of an elite gathering, which included the President, Prime Minister, Vice-President and the home minister. It is an honour for the backward classes who are still made to fight for their rights,”
Early Life
Kunjol’s wife keeps on filling in as a day by day wage worker. Kunjol proceeds with his battles for the minimized, in spite of his family, including six youngsters, struggling to make a decent living. Mr. Kunjol says “Until there is a sensible accomplishment for Dalits in the regions of training and occupations, the social improvement list doesn’t bode well,” who wanted to take admission in MBBS at the end of graduating in science from Maharaja’s College, but fate was something else for him as he couldn’t finish the course as a result of different reasons.
Kunjol, being a Harijan Balan who completed SSLC, got the opportunity to study Intermediate at Muvattupuzha and Kothamangalam Colleges. But Kochukuttan, the then minister, advised him to go to the Kalady Ashram and meet the Agamananda Swamis. With a strong desire for higher education Kunjol’s life took a turn for the worse when he reached Kalady Ashram on foot. Kunjol was happily admitted to Sreesankara College by Agamananda Swami as an Intermediate. From 1955, he studied at the Harijan Welfare Hostel at the Ashram for two years. The formation of Kunjol’s character was because of the life in the monastery. It also stimulated the Renaissance struggles.
His Life
He had never joined a gathering, even though he was in the middle of many understudy struggles and political issues. He turned into a well-known speaker and decided to battle decisions all alone. Along with his fight for social equity, he has made a thoughtful excursion too from adolescence. He takes on the fact that his stepping towards science has assisted him to unwrap more in the issues of body and psyche.
Kunjol being born into a family of six siblings to Vallothi and Kurumban near Perumbavoor, Kuruppampady, in Rayamangalam panchayat, Mr. Kunjol thought that regardless of the execution of land changes in the State, there are a plenty of individuals who are landless. He says, the two political fronts that had driven the administrations in the State, have not done equity to such individuals. Even he has no possession rights for his own home which is arranged on Government land.
He asks “Why did not the Government follow the 15-acre cap for individual land holdings, which is at the heart of land reforms Act,”
He has made a spiritual journey too from childhood, along with his fight for social justice. Today, he is the patron of Harijan Samajam of Kerala State that he had co-founded, Federation of SC and ST and the Hindu Aikya Vedi. He was active in setting up the Harijan Samaj Sri Budha Charitable Trust.
A small man, like a monk with a saffron dress and a gray beard was always at the lead of the Renaissance movements. Even after the eighties, he was still a man who awakened the zeal of a youth who has not lost any of his fighting spirit.
Association With Sangh Parivar
In 1978, Kunjol was united with the Sangh Parivar movement. It was totally unintentional. The Freedom of Religion Bill was introduced by Jana Sangh MP Omprakash Tyagi in Parliament when the Janata Party government was in power at the Center. Kunjol was the person who welcomed the anti-conversion bill. Including the press, the bill was extensively publicized. The then organizing secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, came to know about this. Janardhanan went to visit Kunjol at home and had a discussion about the bill. He delivered a speech on the Religious Freedom Bill the next day, at the VHP. The next day Kunjol also presided over the discussion on the bill held at the Ernakulam Hindi Prachar Sabha.
The 1982 Vishal Hindu Sammelan was the reason behind Kunjol’s association with the Sangh Parivar movement. It had gained power and he became one of the main fighters of the Hindu renaissance movement. He then took a main role in the Nilakkal movement and addressed all through the state.
He was truly a man to be honored and respected and hats off to his works.