Kummanam Rajasekharan

Kummanam Rajasekharan
കുമ്മനം രാജശേഖരൻ


President, BJP Kerala State
Personal details
Nationality	Indian
Residence	Mararji Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram
Alma mater	CMS College, Kottayam
Religion	Hindu
Website	www.kummanam.info

Kummanam Rajasekharan (കുമ്മനം രാജശേഖരൻ )(born 23 December 1952) is an Indian politician, social worker, and the most famous figure from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or Sangh parivar in the state of Kerala. From 18 December 2015, he is the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala.^[1]^[2] He played the most important and pivotal role in the historical ‘movement against Nilakkal temple land encroachment’ and ‘Paliyam Declaration’^[3] pronounced by prominent Hindu religious scholars. In 1987, he resigned from the government service and became a full-time Pracharak of RSS, while instrumental in spearheading Kerala’s Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Kshetra Samrakshana Samiti, Balasadanams, and Ekal Vidyalayas. He was instrumental in bringing together several spiritual organisations and encouraging them to work for the improvement of the Hindus in common . As of 2013, he holds the responsibilities of Hindu Aikya Vedi Organisation-Secretary, Sabarimala Ayyappa Sewa Samajam, General-Secretary and Chairman of Janmabhumi daily. He is known for his disarming simplicity and extraordinary oration.^[4]

Early life and education

Son of Late Advocate V K Ramakrishna Pillai & P Parukkutty Amma, Rajasekharan born at Kummanam village of Aymanam in Kottayam district. After his schooling at his birthplace, he continued his studies at CMS College, Kottayam and graduated from there. Then he has completed his post-graduate diploma in Journalism and joined in various periodicals to acquire training in journalism. He never married and dedicated his life for serving society and follows simple lifestyle.^[5]

Professional career

Rajasekharan started his journalism career by joining to Deepika daily, Kottayam in 1974. Later he played different roles in many dailies in Kerala. He was the Sub-Editor of Rastravartha daily, Kochi. He also took the role of Sub-Editor in Keraladesam daily, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Bhooshanam daily, Kottayam and Kerala Dwani daily, Kottayam. In 1976, he took a short break from his journalism career and joined the Food Corporation of India, Kochi. In 1987, he resigned from this government job and became a Pracharak (full-time worker) of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). Like all other RSS Pracharaks, he stays single and leads a life away from his immediate family. In 2012, he took another monumental struggle on his shoulder, agitation against KGS Aranmula International Airport. Currently, he is the Chief Patron of Aranmula Heritage Village Action Council which protests against the said Airport.^[6]

Ideology and public roles

Ayyappa Seva Samajam -Sabari saranasramam

He came into contact with the voluntary organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during his student days. In 1979, he became the district-secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and later was associated with many Hindu organisations in Kerala in various capacities.^[7]^[8]

In 1981, became State Joint-Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
In 1983, was appointed as General-Convener of Nilakkal Action Council, a joint committee of all Hindu organisations in Kerala.
In 1985, became General-Secretary of Hindu Munnani (Hindu Front)
In 1987, gave up his job from FCI to become Pracharak (Ascetic Volunteer) of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.
In 1987, he contested from Thiruvananthapuram constituency as Hindu Munnani candidate and has reached to second position in the election.
In 1988, was appointed as General-Secretary of Guruvayoor Temple Action Council and led agitation to take out Jacob Thampi from managing committee of Guruvayoor Temple.
In 1988 led agitations against Elavoor Thookkam and Palazhi untouchability
In 1989, was appointed as Editor of Janmabhumi daily, Kochi.
In 1992, was designated as General-Convenor of Hindu Aikya Vedi.
In 1996, was appointed as Organising-Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad
In 1998, was appointed as General-Convener of Sivagiri Samara Sahaya Samithi to assist the agitations led by Swami Prakashananda against the removal from presidency of Sivagiri Madom.
In 2003, lead a mass agitation against the Marad Hindu massacre.
In 2007, was designated as Managing Director of Janmabhumi daily.
In 2009, was selected as General-Secretary of Sabarimala Ayyappa Sewa Samajam.^[9]
In 2011, was appointed as Chairman, Janamabhumi daily.^[10]
In 2012, was appointed as Chief Patron (Mukhya Rakshadhikari) of Aranmula Heritage Village Action Council that leads a mass agitation against KGS Aranmula International Airport project
In 2015, was appointed as President, BJP Kerala State Unit from 18 December.

Nilakkal movement

On 24 March 1983, a church priest proclaimed that two members of his parish had unearthed a stone cross established by Jesus' apostle Saint Thomas in 57 CE from near the Mahadeva temple at Nilakkal, near Sabarimala. While the priest staked his claim, proposing to build a Christian church on the site. Hindus mounted a protest that lasted for six months and finally resulted in the relocation of the proposed church. These agitations against the temple land encroachment gave impetus to the Hindu uprisings in Kerala in the 1980s and 1990s. Kummanam Rajasekharan played a pivotal role in the agitation with the support of his organisation.^[11]

Marad massacre and Hindu protest

On the evening of 2 May 2003, a group of fishermen, some of whom had been accused of involvement in an earlier communal attack in the area, were sitting on the beach near a temple when suddenly, they were attacked by a mob of armed with swords. After a chaotic 10 minutes, nine people were massacred. Many were seriously wounded. The killers escaped into the local Juma Masjid, the Marad enquiry commission’s (Justice Thomas P Joseph) report notes the submission of then Kozhikode Police Commissioner T K Vinod Kumar that hundreds of local Muslim women converged into the mosque to prevent the police from entering it. After the mass protest carried out by various Hindu organisations under the banner of the Hindu Aikya Vedi, Kerala government decided to announce compensation for victims' families and a judicial inquiry to the incident. As the General-Secretary of Hindu Aikya Vedi, RSS, Kummanam Rajasekharan played a tremendous role in this movement.^[12]

References

↑ http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=17&SKIN=A
↑ http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=10630
↑ http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19981220/35450384.html
↑ Venu. "Ochre Echo". Retrieved 21 December 2015.
↑ Not Panicking Ltd (13 March 2010). "h2g2 - KUMMANAM RAJASEKHARAN - A NETA RARE!". Retrieved 21 December 2015.
↑ http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=16827
↑ "Kummanam Rajasekharan". Retrieved 21 December 2015.
↑ "India News, Latest Sports, Bollywood, World, Business & Politics News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
↑ "Sabarimala - Saranashramam". Sabarimala. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
↑ ജന്മഭൂമി. "About Janmabhumi Daily". ജന്മഭൂമി. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
↑ YouTube. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
↑ "The Hindu : Kerala News : Marad case: Kummanam refutes Antony's statement". Retrieved 21 December 2015.

External links

Sangh Parivar (RSS Family of Organisations)

Organisations	Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Bharatiya Janata Party Swadeshi Jagaran Manch Bharatiya Kisan Sangh Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh Bharatiya Vichara Kendra Vishva Hindu Parishad Muslim Rashtriya Manch Rashtriya Sikh Sangat Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram Hindu Vivek Kendra Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Bajrang Dal Durga Vahini Hindu Munnani Seva Bharati Vidya Bharati Balagokulam Vivekananda Kendra Rashtra Sevika Samiti Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad Ekal Vidyalaya

Sarsanghchalak	Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1925–1930 and 1931–1940) Laxman Vaman Paranjpe (1930–1931) Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar (1940–1973) Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras (1973–1994) Rajendra Singh (1994–2000) K. S. Sudarshan (2000–2009) Mohan Bhagwat (2009–present)

Other Major figures	Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Balkrishna Shivram Moonje Syama Prasad Mukherjee Deendayal Upadhyaya Prabhakar Balwant Dani Babasaheb Apte Dadasaheb Apte Moropant Pingley Madhukar Rao Bhagwat Eknath Ranade H. V. Sheshadri Dattopant Thengadi Atal Bihari Vajpayee Lal Krishna Advani Murli Manohar Joshi Jana Krishnamurthi Kushabhau Thakre Narendra Modi Arun Jaitley Bal Thackeray Swami Chinmayananda Ashok Singhal Giriraj Kishore Praveen Togadia Ramchandra Das Paramhans

Independent authors	Sita Ram Goel Ram Swarup Girilal Jain Dharampal Ram Gopal Rama Jois Harsh Narain Ramesh Nagaraj Rao Arun Shouri Koenraad Elst François Gautier

Philosophy	Hindutva Hindu nationalism Gandhian socialism Integral humanism Akhand Bharat Uniform civil code Indigenous Aryans

Hindu nationalism	Hindutva Bengali Hindu Homeland Movement Bangabhumi Hindu Rashtra Panun Kashmir Banga Sena

Topics	Persecution of Hindus Shuddhi Ram Janmabhoomi Shah Bano case Ghar Wapsi

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