K.G. Kannabiran (1929-2010)

K.G. Kannabiran, one of the leading lights of the Indian human rights movement, breathed his last at his residence in Hyderabad on December 30, 2010

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August 17, 2022

K.G. Kannabiran, one of the leading lights of the Indian human rights movement, breathed his last at his residence in Hyderabad on December 30, 2010. Kannabiran, 81, is survived by wife Vasantha, two daughters Kalpana and Chitra and son Arvind.

Born in 1929, Kannabiran left behind a legacy of an unrelenting fight for the underprivileged. He led the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) for 25 years from 1985 as its national president. He was also one of the presidents of the AP Civil Liberties Council for a long time.

He was known for his aggressive campaign against the Emergency and for his fierce representations to both the Tarkunde Committee and the Bhargava Commission that were formed to look into the excesses of the dark period. When Gujarat was on the boil during the 1992 communal clashes, he was there as part of the People’s Tribunal that exposed several atrocities against minorities.

Hyderabad based Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee expressed its grief and sorrow on the demise of K.G. Kannabiran saying that he  was a stalwart in Civil Liberties Movement in India and his death is a great loss to civil liberties movement. People lost their advocate and human rights defender.

Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), an advocacy group dedicated to safeguard India’s pluralist and tolerant ethos, has mourned the passing away of renowned civil rights activist K.G. Kannabiran.

In a press statement on December 31, then IAMC president Rasheed Ahmed said, “Mr.  Kannabiran was one of the greatest pioneers in India’s Civil Liberties Movement. With his stalwart personality, he never hesitated to speak for India’s oppressed minorities.

“Throughout his remarkable and amazing life, Mr. Kannabiran used his excellent education, training, and dynamic skills for the protection of the weak, and exploited sections of the Indian populace. It is actually people like him who keep the idea of India alive.” said Mr. Ahmed.

Prominent nonresident Indians including Dr. Shaik Ubaid, the founding national coordinator of Coalition Against Genocide, expressed their condolences to the family of Mr. Kannabiran. “We need more people, especially young lawyers, to follow his and his wife’s example as the undermining of civil liberties of minority and poor segments in the name of national security is on the rise’, said Ubaid.

“He was known as a fearless champion of civil rights. Even during the emergency rule he kept fighting for fundamental rights and rule of law and refused to be intimidated. He was very generous, gentle and humble just like his wife Vasantha Aunty. We used to visit their house and had no idea that the affectionate father of our classmate and friend Kalpana was such a well-known and great man. Only after I myself got active in community affairs did I come to know of the extent of his role in the Indian civil rights movement,” said Sadia Seemi Ahmed, the co-chair of the New York chapter of Muslim Peace Coalition.