KOZHIKODE: When Kerala celebrates the silver jubilee of the People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) this year, the name of P K Kalan has been inscribed in golden letters in its history. Kalan’s tumultuous life shows the rare success of a man from one of the most downtrodden sections seated in the position of power in the three-tier panchayat raj system.
Belonging to the Adiya tribal community of Wayanad, Kalan had been a slave for 35 long years under the bonded labour system which had existed earlier. Yet, he managed to become the block panchayat (BP) president of Mananthavady in 1995, thanks to the PPC. Kalan also adorned the post of state folklore academy chairman.
“The steps Kalan had climbed in his lifetime are a sheer wonder. He made optimum use of the literacy campaign and entered the mainstream,” reminisced former finance minister T M Thomas Isaac in his Facebook page.
According to Dr Azeez Tharuvana, who authored the book ‘P K Kalan: Adivasi Jeevithathinte Samaramukham’, Kalan had experienced slavery in Kodagu and Wayanad. “Veerakam native Mathukodakan was his landlord in Kodagu under whom he had been a slave for 35 years. Kodagu was the border of Thirunelly, the native place of Kalan. The evil practice of bonded labour existed in Wayanad till 1977,” said Tharuvana.
Tharuvana quoted Kalan in his thesis about the slavery system: “We would go to the Valliyoorkavu temple festival in Mananthavady and sit on the spacious ground. Landlords would come near us to inspect our physique closely and pick us as their bonded labourers. We would follow the landlords to their places after they fixed the deal with our tribal chieftains. There would be 40-50 slaves under each landlord. At the landlord’s place, we would be asked to put up in an abandoned piece of land, mostly adjacent to forest or uphill. Once the land was converted into a habitable one after much toil, we would be asked to shift to another abandoned place. The landlord would then make the land his. This cheating would continue. The dawn-to-dusk hard labour in the landlord’s land would fetch no wage in money, but in grains,” said Kalan.
Kalan was elected to the then district council in 1990 on a CPM ticket. After five years, he was elected to Mananthavady BP. Though the Congress had the majority in the BP, it had no one to become president as the post was reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Thus, Kalan became the BT president. He was acceptable to all as an elected representative irrespective of politics.
Popularised Gaddika
Another major contribution of Kalan was popularising Gaddika, the traditional artform of Adiya. He converted the ritual art into a performing art with mass appeal. Kalan became the chairman of Kerala Folklore Academy in 2006. Former DIET senior lecturer K K Surendran observed that Kalan deserved much more. “We all expected him to become the Left candidate from Mananthavady, in the 2001 assembly poll. Kalan was such a mass leader. But surprisingly, CPM picked Saradha Sajeevan,” said Surendran.
The 75-year old died in 2010. Tribal leader C K Janu is his niece.