By Yogesh Maitreya, TwoCircles.net
Thiruvananthapuram: Anil Kumar N S, chairman of the Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM) and among the foremost activist who led the Dalit movement in Kerala, passed away here after a prolonged illness.
He was 48 years old.
Anil Kumar passed away on Saturday, July 18 in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. Fondly called as Thathu Annan, he was born in Nandancode, Thiruvananthapuram in 1968. He was educated at the Salvation Army School and Vengannor Boys High School and completed further studies from Government Arts College.
Anil Kumar N S
During College days he was actively involved in Dalit Cultural Force and The Ambedkar Cultural Centre. He was also involved in BSP and had contested the 2014 Parliament elections on DHRM–BSP ticket from Attingal.
He had taken over as the chairman of DHRM this year. Anil Kumar N S was not only a fierce Dalit activist but also an artist in his own right. He was a well-known painter and poet; he also contributed towards research in folk arts.
Formed in the year 2007 as a regrouping of Dalit workers in various political parties, DHRM has been campaigning against caste system. It was started as a watchdog agency: to monitor the atrocities against Dalits in India and to intervene legally against the human rights violations against Dalits. One of the unique projects that Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM) in Kerala came up with is a parallel English school for children. The school has for now been erected on an experimental basis. The school would be home tutored by the DHRM cadre for Dalit students.
[Photo Credit: The Hindu]