Kallen Pokkudan – The Kandal Man – Says he was disillusioned with Marxists for 58 years.

Kallen Pokkudan, who’s name is synonymous to Mangroves or Kandal, in his Autobiography explains why he had to leave communist party in which he was active for almost 52 years. In scathing attack to Marxists, he exposes communists of their pseudo love towards the backwards , and he says a backward can never come up in Communist party. He says, “communist party never keeps lower cast people at the party’s higher levels.

Pokkudan was born on 1930 in Pulaya cast and untouchability was at its peak during those times. Due to poverty and cast discrimination he could not complete his basic education and was attracted to communist ideologies and disillusioned with it. Till 2008, for long 50+ years , he had been an ardent communist, a member of the Karshaka Thozhilali Sangham (the agricultural labourers’ union of CPM). He says the association strained when he raised his voice against caste discrimination in the CPM.

Ever since CPM lead society had started work on Pappinissery Mangrove park, he was opposing it tooth and nail since the development destroys mangroves around the area.  He has so far planted over 1,00,000 mangrove saplings in the wetlands of his region. As many as 22 species of mangroves that grow over a man’s height welcome you to his village in Kannur.At last Pokkudan realized that he has wasted his life by serving a party which wanted to retain the practice of untouchability of backward people in Marxist party posts.

There are many good people who are still disillusioned with communist parties. Only when some issues hits them they realize that and look back their years wasted in communist party.
Dear comrades, time to look back and correct your course path. You still have time to act. Kallen pokkudan did it when he was around 60, you can still do it.

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