Obituary: Noted economist M Kunhaman, 2nd Dalit postgraduate in Kerala after KR Narayanan, is no more

On one occasion, he quipped to his guide that Raj would have had little to no chance of passing the school final test if he had grown up as a poor, landless Dalit like him.

If Kunhaman had grown up like Raj, he might have been a Nobel laureate, he continued.

Related: Meet M Kunhaman, who refused award for his autobiography

A rebel to the core

The autobiography of Kunhaman in Malayalam.

Kunhaman is now seen as a distinguished economist whose extensive research on land distribution and agrarian relations across the nation may not be surpassed.

He also taught for several years at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) campus in Tuljapur and the Kerala University.

When Kottayam-DC Books released his semi-autobiographical memoir Ethir (loosely translated as “Oppose” or “Adversity”), it became a sensation.

Its remarkable depiction of the existence and survival difficulties of Dalits in Kerala — a state that takes pride in its progressive sociopolitical climate and Renaissance legacy — made the book the subject of sparkling debates.

Kunhaman, a rebel to the core and a Dalit economist who fought discrimination throughout his life, breathed his last on Sunday 3 December, under mysterious circumstances.

His close friend and economist KM Shajahan, who reached his Sreekaryam residence in Thiruvananthapuram in the morning on a courtesy visit, found him dead there. He was living all alone. The body was later sent for autopsy.

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A life of hardships

In his book, Kunhaman described his life to date as a never-ending struggle against poverty, fear, and an inferiority complex.

He was born in the Vadanamkurissi village in the Palakkad district to landless Dalit agricultural workers, Chorona and Ayyan. He claimed that timidity and a lack of confidence have been his lifelong companions.

The LDF in Kerala repeatedly deemed Kunhaman, a former member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), to be a qualified candidate for the position of vice-chancellor of Kerala University.

He was also given serious consideration several times to join the Kerala State Planning Board. However, people from the higher social classes virtually always held those jobs through procedural manipulation.

In the end, he had to leave Kerala to work at TISS, where he discovered prejudice was less common.

Kunhaman was a member of Kerala’s lowest-ranking Dalit community, the Panan. When he was younger, he had to forage for food scraps from nearby homes.

His thatched hut had a single kerosene lamp, and his mother would “steal” it from him to make rice gruel in the kitchen at night, when he was studying.

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Gold medal sold for groceries

Kunhaman with journalist K Kannan, who co-authored Ethir. (Supplied)

“Two top Kerala ministers were among the principal guests at a felicitation held in Palakkad following my first-place MA result. I got there using money borrowed from a neighbour to pay for the bus tickets,” he recounted in his book.

He also recalled that although a gold medal was given out on the occasion, it was sold three days later to pay for groceries and food for the family.

He had been placed first out of 32 applicants for a lectureship at Kerala University, but his bid to secure a position under the open merit quota was unsuccessful.

Kerala always takes pride in being an equitable society that upholds the highest standards of social justice. However, Kunhaman wrote in his book, which skillfully covers a variety of topics, that a Dalit must “take rebirth as a bug” if he hopes to hold the position of state chief minister.

Other topics covered in the book include the caste system in India, Kerala’s Renaissance legacy, capitalism, liberalism, Maoism, and the notable Marxist theorist and former chief minister of Kerala, EMS Namboodiripad.

Even as a third-standard student, Kunhaman began his battle against prejudice based on caste. He complained loudly and began skipping noon meals when the class teacher said that Dalit children had merely registered in the school to receive a free noon meal.

Throughout the rest of his school years, he was forced to go hungry every day. He once went to the local landlord’s house to get some rice gruel to help him fight off the hunger pangs. In accordance with the customs at the time, a hole was dug in the courtyard’s corner, and the rice gruel was placed within a folded plantain leaf.

When Kunhaman got halfway through eating it, the landlord from the higher caste let his ravenous dog out of the pit to share the gruel with Kunhaman. He depicted it as a contest between two ravenous hounds in the book.

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Called for Dalit involvement

“EMS Namboodiripad, while coming from a Brahmanic heritage, was willing to view Dalits as equals. He loved to visit our cottages and liked to sit on the cow-dung paste-covered floor. I had frequently attended meetings presided over by EMS and had voiced criticism of Marxist political theory. EMS has never displayed intolerance,” Kunhaman recalled in his book.

“He once told me that he liked criticism and that he was not a god to fear criticism,” said Kunhaman, praising him.

“I have been promised jobs in the state hierarchy to use my knowledge for the welfare of the impoverished and oppressed in the state multiple times by Kerala’s Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac and former chief minister VS Achuthanandan. But nothing materialised,” he recounted.

“A Dalit vice-chancellor may find it difficult to alter the university structure in a way that upholds social justice principles,” he said.

He also stated, “What we really need is widespread Dalit involvement and participation in all facets of administration and governance.”

Kunhaman always advocated for greater Dalit control over resources and finances in order to empower them. Dalits needed to put greater effort into accumulating and managing their riches, he said.

“Economic liberalisation has, in my view, benefited certain Dalits more than others. It has given rise to new Dalit capitalists,” he said.

A component of this freedom, he claimed, was the establishment of the Dalit Chamber of Commerce. More Dalits with extreme intelligence and strong academic credentials must exist, according to him.

It was completely pointless to try to find areas of agreement between Marx and Ambedkar. “They are polar opposites,” Kunhaman remarked.

Additionally, he believed that Kerala’s Dalits and tribal people had not benefited from the state’s much-publicised land reforms. The reforms had given rise to new oppressors, he believed. There was no gain for the working class, he added.

He claimed that only democratic discourse could aid in the weak’s empowerment. Kunhaman contended that rather than idolising Marx, a critical attitude is necessary.