CK Janu: The Tribal Activist Behind Muthanga Uprising That Inspired "Narivetta" (Photo on X@RadhikaBarman5)
CK Janu, the prominent Adivasi rights activist who helmed several agitations, including the famous Muthanga protest, is being recalled as the Tovino Thomas starrer Narivetta hit threaters today, May 23. The Anuraj Manohar directorial is bringing back the fading memory of Muthanga violence occurred 22 years ago.
Janu was one of the key figures among the leaders who led the uprising to occupy the land at Muthanga forest, following the then Congress-led government’s failure to keep promise agreed upon in 2001 to distribute land among tribals.
Read Also: Real Story Of Najeeb, The Protagonist Of Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life)
Who Is C K Janu?
Janu was born in 1970 in a tribal village near Mananthavady, Wayanad to the Ravula community. The community, also known as Adiya, which means slave, was mostly landless agricultural labourers. Though she had no formal education, she learnt to read and write through a literary campaign. She started working as a daily wage labourer at the age of 13.
Influenced by her uncle, PK Kalan, a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), she also joined the left party and started activism through the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU), agricultural labour union of the leftist party that advocates for the rights and interests of agricultural workers and farmers, and worked as a campaigner for the union until 1987.
Read Also: Who Is Baba Bajrangi In Real-Life Whose Name Will Be Muted In Empuraan
Janu came to prominence after leading several protests and agitations and soon came to be known as the voice of tribal people. She also conducted tribal tours to study the community’s problems and thus mobilise them to achieve their rights. Janu is known for leading Muthanga uprising that led to the death of two people in 2003.
What Is Muthanga Incident
One of the major land-related uprisings in Kerala, the Muthanga incident roots back to 2001, when the Adivasi Dalit Samara Samithi (ADSS), led by prominent Tribal leaders such as CK Janu, among others, organised a 48-day protest in front of the official residence of then Chief Minister A.K. Antony.
The Congress government then reached an agreement with the tribal families, promising them land and rehabilitation. The government subsequently earmarked 19,000 acres of land for distribution among tribals. However, the delay in delivering the promises given to the tribal people led to a decision by Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS), formed by the protesters, to initiate land occupation inside Wayanad’s Muthanga forest in 2003.
As tribal groups began the occupation drive, the police and the forest department launched a forceful eviction, leading to deadly resistance by Adivasis. The massive violence ended up losing two lives, a tribal person and a police officer, as the police allegedly fired at the tribal people. The tribals allegedly captured police constable K.V. Vinod and forester P.K. Sasidharan. While Vinod was killed, Sasidharan escaped with serious injuries.
Both parties blamed each other for the violence. As the tribals said police unleashed violence upon them, police alleged it was the protesters waiting with bows and arrows atop trees who turned violent.
CK Janu’s Political Flip Flop
Though Janu has been with left parties for long, she announced a new political party, Janathipathya Rashtriya Sabha, in 2016, and contested the 2016 state assembly election as a BJP ally in the NDA from Sultanbathery unsuccessfully. Though Janu left the saffron party in 2018, she pledged JRP’s support to the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which the BJP fielded then-state chief K Surendran from Wayanad.
Janu, due to her association with the BJP, is being viewed as a betrayer of Tribes by many, and there were allegations that the activist made the deal with the saffron camp for money. CPI(M) leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan described Janu as an “opportunist” who lacked consistency.
Castigated by many for allying with the BJP, there have been allegations that she has made money out of her “deal” with the BJP. But what her detractors fail to realize is that she had no choice left, as both the CPI (M) and the Congress were unwilling to accommodate her.
According to Janu,” it is the old feudal system which persists in Kerala in another form. Politicians have replaced feudal homeowners. “That’s the only change Kerala society has witnessed in the decades since independence,” The New Indian Express quoted the tribal activist in 2024. Referring to Dalists and Adivasis, she says they will not be allowed to come up in life, and society won’t even recognize them as humans.
However, as Anuraj Manohar’s movie hits the big screen, the director is being lauded for giving voice to the forgotten struggle of the tribal community.
