A WhatsApp message read out through a microphone during a funeral blew the lid off the secret life of a revolutionary Naxalite activist in Kerala last Friday.
Nirappel N.A. Thankappan, 88, or Thankappan chettan to the residents of Mavadi village in Idukki district, was an unassuming farmer and CPI(M) worker leading a normal life till then. But the message from K. Ajitha, Kozhikode-based former Naxalite leader, to Jiji Varghese, secretary of the Parathod local committee of the CPI(M), changed all that.
“Comrade Allungal Sreedharan was a brave fellow who participated in the attack by farmer revolutionaries on the Malabar Special Police camp stationed at Seetha Devi Temple at Pulppally in Wayanad on the morning of November 24 in 1968. I was part of that attack along with comrades A. Varghese, Thettamala Krishnan Kutty, Sankaran Master, Kunjiraman Master, Philip M. Prasad, and Sukumaran. After my return to active life following jail sentence, I had not heard about him at all. Today morning, comrade Jiji informed me about his death in Idukki. I join his family members in their hour of grief. Heartfelt condolences.”
