KALPETTA: “Adivasis would be separated en masse in the ground adjacent to the Valliyoorkavu temple in Mananthavady during the annual festival. They would be sold to feudal Adiga and Chetti landlords for a year. The Adivasis under the bonded labour had to sweat it hard in the plantations or fields from dawn to dusk for a remuneration of one ‘ser’ (a measure of quantity) of paddy grains. Varghese fought for the rights of such terribly oppressed lot during 1960s,” recalled Varghese’s younger brother A Thomas, who is 75 now.
“Adivasi women had to surrender to the wishes of the landlord on the first night of their marriage. Anyone who protests would be killed and the body parts buried in the slushy ridges of paddy fields. There was no one to question. Adivasis weren’t aware of any of their rights,” said Thomas.
According to him, Varghese developed an empathy with the suffering of Adivasis while he was studying in high school itself. “While in school, he was put up at a relative’s ayurvedic shop in Thazheyangady. He used to come home once a week.” After SSLC, Varghese went to Kannur and became the office secretary of the then undivided Communist party there. “He worked along with then prominent leaders A K Gopalan, K P R Gopalan and Kanthalot Karunan, though in a lower role.
He returned to Mananthavady six years later, as the party assigned him to lead the campaign of its candidate, K K Annan, in the 1967 election. Varghese spearheaded the campaign and Annan won from North Wayanad seat, becoming the first MLA from the ST community in the state,” reminisced Thomas.Adivasis called Varghese their ‘Peruman’ (Saviour).