ALAPPUZHA: At a time when wearing patriotism on one’s sleeves is rather common, this 75-year-old has undertaken a long walk to prove that he is a patriot and not a traitor. R Manoharan of Kumpalathu, Perungala, Kayamkulam, is walking from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram braving the elements to prove his love for the country.
He has been nursing a grouse for many years after he was sacked from two Central government jobs just for being a communist. In those days, being a communist was considered anti-national by some sections. After completing mechanical engineering from NSS Polytechnic, Pandalam, in 1968, Manoharan joined the Indian Army Madras Engineer Group. But after nine months, he was sacked.
“In the letter, the authorities said that my character was good, but my ‘service is no longer required’,” he told TNIE. “Later, I joined the Income Tax Department in Mumbai. But they sacked me because I was a communist and it was my bad mark according to the authorities,” he said.
Although he sent several memorandums to the chief minister and the Governor seeking reinstatement in the job and being absolved of the ‘anti-national’ tag, they were of no use. Once former CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury also raised this issue in the Rajya Sabha, but it failed to yield results.
“Now I am 75 years old and I have to prove my love for the country. I have decided to walk along the roads of the state to prove my patriotism in front of the public.” His journey started from Thalappadi in Kasaragod on August 15 and he plans to conclude the odyssey in Thiruvananthapuram by November. Manoharan covers around 15 to 20 km every day and he is currently in Malappuram district. He hopes to enter Palakkad next week.
After he was sacked, Manoharan dabbled in various jobs. He became a mechanic in Kerala Cooperative Transport (KCT), a private bus operators’ society located in Kayamkulam and went on to become its union leader. In 1980, he went to the Sultanate of Oman where he worked for nearly nine years and returned in 1989. After coming back to Kerala, he joined the LLB programme at the Kerala Law Academy in Thiruvananthapuram and enrolled as an advocate after graduating.
According to Manoharan, his father, Ramakrishnan, was a communist and he too became one after being fascinated with its ideology. He was active in the CPM until 2012. Following the murder of T P Chandrasekharan, he publicly voiced his opposition against the killing and was removed from party membership for that. “I am a communist, but I am not a traitor to the country. I have to prove it before my death,” he said.