The cashew groves of Ariyalur and Cuddalore districts helped the Naxals hide and develop the armed-struggle when it was in the budding stage in Tamil Nadu in the late 1960s. One of the foremost Naxal activists in the State was ‘Pulavar’ Kaliyaperumal, of Choundracholapuram near Pennadam. He was on death row, but later his sentence was commuted to life. Kaliyaperumal’s son Valluvan, who also faced death row and spent years sentence in jail along with his father, spoke to Express of the past. “Kaliyaperumal studied ‘Pulavar’ (Tamil course) in Thiruvaiyaru College in the late 1940s. At the time, three cadre of the communist party were killed in Thanjavur in early 1950s and this incident attracted the young Kaliyaperumal towards the Communist party. Following this, when the Naxal movement was launched in India, Coimbatore Appu first built the movement in Tamil Nadu a little later that was in 1968. Kaliyaperumal and a few other cadre began strengthening the movement after the death of Appu. Kaliyaperumal was widely called ‘Pulavar’ by the cadre.”
“In 1970, my father Kaliyaperumal and three other cadre, Ganesan of Thanjavur, Kaniyappan of Coimbatore and Churchill of Chennai were involved in making crude bombs in a coconut grove that belonged to my father at our native Choundracholapuram village. In fact, they were making the bomb with an aim to test it. But accidently, the bomb blasted while being made. Three other cadre died on the spot and Pulavar was seriously injured. I took him to Ayuthakalam village near Jayankondam and treated his injuries with the help of a ‘vaithiyar’. After that, we had to lead a life hiding from police for the next one and a half years. At that time, I was 18,” he recalls.
“Though Pulavar was in hiding, he continued the movement’s activities with other cadre,” Valluvan adds. “Naxal cadre followed the ‘annihilation’ policy and acted strongly against the land owners and money lenders, who exploited the poor agricultural laborers. The cadre also acted against caste-based discrimination. All these cases and mainly the bomb blast case, made the police intensify their search. My father and I along with five others were arrested by the police in 1971. Those arrested included my aunt Anandha Nayagi and my brother Chozanambiyar. In 1972, Cuddalore court gave death sentence to my father and me. Five others were given life sentence. Later our death sentence was commuted to life. After that we spent around 12 years in jails and we were released in 1983. We underwent unbearable torture in jail,” he recalls.
“In the early 1970s, the young and active cadre Tamilarasan also joined the movement. He was also jailed in some other cases. We held lot of discussions in jails regarding the policies and the movements. The discussions gradually moved the cadre, including Pulavar and Tamilarasan, towards Tamil nationalism. When out of jail in early 1980s, the cadre became involved in garnering people’s support by conducting meetings and besides this, the movement’s activities were also happening. They hid in cashew forests and carried out party activities,” he reveals.
“Pulavar died on May 16, 2007. We built a memorial and my mother Vallambal at our agricultural land in Choundracholapuram village. Our house at the village is now in dilapidated condition as our family members spent many years in jail. Pulavar’s eigth Memorial Day of Pulavar is coming next week. We will garland his memorial and pay respect to him,” he says of the day his father ‘Pulavar’ Kaliyaperumal is remembered.