KANHANGAD: Freedom fighter and peasant leader K Madhavan died at a private hospital late Sunday night. He was 101 years old.
He died of old age in a private hospital in Kanhangad, said his family.
Madhavan was the last living person to have participated in the Guruvayur Satyagraha, launched by freedom fighter K Kelappan in 1931, to gain right of entry to the Guruvayoor temple for the backward classes and the Dalits, said historian C Balan.
He was also one of the youngest volunteers to participate in the Salt Satyagraga under the leadership of Kelappan in 1932. A group od 32 members marched from Kozhikode to Payyannur "to show solidarity to Mahatma Gandhi". He was 15 years old then.
On the eve of Independence Day, Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy called on him and and honoured him at his house in Kanhangad.
"He was the hero of Kayyur Uprising. Though born in a feudal family, he worked towards destroying feudalism. His death is a big loss to the peasant movement of Kerala," said revenue minister E Chandrasekran.
The body was kept at Kanhangad Town Hall for the public to pay their last respects on Monday.
Schoolchildren, political leaders cutting across party lines, and people from all walked paid homage to their beloved leader.