Arikkad Varghese Biography 
Arikkad Varghese, popularly known as Naxal Varghese was a Naxal leader from Kerala known for his agitations against the exploitation of dalits (Adivasis) in Wyanad, Kerala. The exploitation of dalits was common in the 1960s when the tribal people led a very miserable life and they were exploited by feudal landlords as well as policemen. He was ginned down by police in a fake encounter in Thirunelli forest in1970 at the very young age of only 31. K. Ajitha and Grow Vasu were associated with him. Later C. K. Janu, a powerful dalit leader from Wyanad carried forward his ideologies and worked for Adivasis and fought for the redistribution of land to the landless tribal people in Kerala through the well-known tribal agitation - Muthanga incident in 2003.
Varghese was born on 14 June 1938 in Vellamunda of Malabar District, British India. Varghese’s fight against the bureaucrats and landlords began in the 1960s with the help of a few companions in Wyanad. It was the bloodiest chapter of the Naxalite movement in Kerala, when the Naxalite group killed many landlords and distributed their assets among the poor. However with the early 1970s, police was able to suppress the agitations to some extend with the help of power.
On February 17, 1970, while he sought shelter and food from Karimath Sivaraman Nair someone informed the police resulting in his arrest. Next day his body was found at Koomparakuni near to Thirunelli police station. The incident was then known to be an encounter by police. The church refused to bury him and later he was buried at his ancestral home in Vellamunda.
Years later, in 1998 a police constable named P. Ramachandran Nair publically admitted that he had shot Varghese on orders of Lakshmana, then a deputy superintendent of police. The news made big headlines then. He also stated that a gun was also planted in his body to make it appear as an encounter. In the historic judgment of 2010, Lakshmana was found guilty and was given a life sentence – 40 years after the murder of Arikkad Varghese. Varghese was also called 'Kerala Che Guevara’ and 2008 Malayalam film Thalappavu was based on his life, his role played by Prithviraj.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 18, 2016
