KOCHI: It was a proud moment for social worker Acharya MK Kunjol, who had dedicated his life for the uplift of the most backward classes, as he was seated on the first row of Padma Award winners to receive the national honour from President Ram Nath Kovind.
“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,” said Kunjol as he arrived to a tumultuous reception in his native village at Perumbavoor.
Kunjol was instrumental in the protest launched by tribal families at Urulanthanni in Kuttampuzha for land rights in the 1970s. “The ruling sections — both LDF and UDF — always favoured elite classes. I had held a 382-day protest in the 1970s demanding the transfer of a police officer, who favoured the land mafia which had encroached upon the land of the SC community at Muvattupuzha. Finally, then Governor intervened in the matter to ensure justice was delivered,” reminisced Kunjol.
The state had honoured him with Ambedkar Award in 2001. Kunjol is the patron of Kerala State Harijan Samajam, Federation of SC and ST and the Hindu Aikya Vedi. The 85-year-old has been spreading the message of spirituality among the downtrodden through social work. Born into a backward family, as the child of Kurumban and Vallothi at Kottappadi near Perumbavoor on May 8, 1937, Kunjol had his early education at St Rita LP School and Ashramam High School in Perumbavoor. Kunjol and his wife Karthyayani have five children. Kunjol’s son Ambedkar accompanied him to New Delhi to receive the Padma Award.