U. Kalanathan, rationalist leader and former president of the Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham (KYS), died at his house at Vallikkunnu in the early hours of March 7 (Thursday). He was 84. He was ailing for a few weeks.
His body was donated to the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, after people from different walks of life paid him tributes at his house and at Vallikkunnu grama panchayat.
He was State president and secretary of the Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham for several years. He was national secretary of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA), an umbrella body of rationalist, sceptic, atheist and secularist organisations from across the country.