Kerala Historian Dalit Bandhu NK Jose Dies At 95 (Photo: dalitbandhu.tripod.com)
Ninety-five-year-old historian NK Jose died on Tuesday. He was also known as Dalit Bandhu, and wrote more than 145 books on Kerala history. He was at his residence in Vechur of Kerala’s Kottayam district at the time of his death. He was suffering from age- illness, reported The News Minute.
Acknowledging the elaborate contribution of Jose in the field of history, the Indian Dalit Federation had conferred him with the title of Dalit Bandhu in 1990. NK Jose served as the long-lasting president of the Kerala History Congress. He was given the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 2019, for the Overall Contribution to Malayalam literature. Last year, Sankaracharya University announced that an archive in his name will be launched on its campus.
NK Jose was a Gandhian. He had gone to Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram in Wardha to study a course in Gandhism. He used to fats on January 30 every year, the day Gandhi was murdered in 1948. Reading on Ambedkar’s works made a change in his attitude. He was then disillusioned by several od Gandhi’s teachings. In 1994, which was considered to be Gandhi’s 125th birth anniversary, he went on and made 125 speeches across Kerala on how the Father of the Nation had not treated Dalits well.
He was critical of almost all of the political parties, and was drawn to socialism from a very young age. During an interview with The News Minute, Jose talked about his meeting Jawaharlal Nehru, during which the Prime Minister invited Jose to join Congress. The young Dalit Bandhu refused the invitation, staying loyal to his socialist party. He also left the said party over differences between him and the state party leader Pattom Thanu Pillai rose. NK Jose spent rest of his life in research, writing and publishing books. Some of his works include, Ayyankali, Veluthampi Dalava, and Ambedkarum Manusmritiyum.
