THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kandiyoor Narayana Panikkar, widely regarded as one of India’s foremost Marxist historians and a fearless public intellectual, died in Thiruvananthapuram at the age of 90 following age-related illness.
Over a distinguished career, Panikkar served as Vice Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Vice Chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council, and founding president of the Kerala History Congress.
A prolific writer, his works include A Concerned Indian’s Guide to Communalism, Towards Freedom, 1940: A Documentary History of the Freedom Struggle, Against Lord and State: Religion and Peasant Uprisings in Malabar, Culture and Consciousness in Modern India, Culture, Ideology and Hegemony – Intellectuals and Social Consciousness in Colonial India, and Before the Night Falls.
Known for his sharp critiques of communalism and his unwavering defence of secularism, Panikkar’s writings remain a bulwark against sectarian distortions of history.
Beyond academia, he was a fearless voice in public debates on education, culture, and politics, often admired and sometimes controversial.
He also chaired an expert committee appointed by the Kerala government to review school textbooks and, in 2010, launched Indian Ruminations, an online portal for literature and journalism.
Born in Guruvayoor in 1936, Panikkar is survived by his wife Usha Bhargava, his classmate from Rajasthan University, and their two children, Ragini and Shalini.