KOCHI/ALAPPUZHA: As Ayodhya is celebrating the consecration of the Ram temple, many fondly remember Malayali ICS officer Kandankalathil Karunakaran Nair (K K Nair), who had defied the order of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to remove the Ram Lalla idol from the premises of the Babri Masjid.
Nair was the district collector of Faizabad in 1949, when an idol was installed on the premises of the masjid. He had tasked Guru Datt Singh, an official in the district administration, to investigate the Ayodhya issue and submit a report. Permission was granted to the Hindus to visit the structure and offer pujas based on his report. However, the issue took a dramatic turn on December 23, when an idol was installed there.
The then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister G B Pant and Nehru had directed the district administration to remove the devotees from the premises forcibly. However, Nair refused to implement the order citing possibilities of a riot.
Though Nair was suspended from service, he was reinstated following a favourable court order. But he resigned from the job and started practising as a lawyer in the Allahabad High Court.
Nair and his wife Shakuntala entered politics and were elected to the Lok Sabha later. Shakuntala was elected from Kaiserganj constituency in 1952, 67 and 71, while Nair was elected from Bahraich constituency in 1967. He died on September 7, 1977.
“As an archaeologist, I can’t say K K Nair did the right thing by supporting the Ram temple cause. But his decision to support the worship of Ram Lalla on the disputed structure premises was a turning point. I could understand his popularity during my visit to Ayodhya in 1977. People worshipped him like a saint and I found his picture on the walls of many houses. There is also a colony named after him there,” said archaeologist K K Muhammed.
Born in 1907 to Sankara Paniker and Parvathi Amma of Kandamkalathil family in Kainakari, Kuttanad, Nair had completed his studies at SDV School, Alappuzha and University College, Thiruvananthapuram. Later, he went to England to pursue higher education. On return, he joined civil service at the age of 22.
“He was my father’s elder brother and I remember his visit to our ancestral house in Kuttanad during my childhood days. He had also attended my wedding,” said 78-year-old Padmanabha Pillai.
Pillai’s son Sunil Pillai, a chartered accountant and the chairman of K K Nair Memorial Charitable Trust in Alappuzha, has reached Ayodhya to attend the consecration. He said the trust, in association with VHP, is planning to build a memorial for Nair in Alappuzha.