K. Ajitha
| K. Ajitha | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 1950 (age 66–67) Kerala State, India |
| Occupation | Social activist |
| Spouse(s) | Yakub |
| Children | Clint, Gargi |
| Parent(s) | Kunnikkal Narayanan Mandakini |
| Website | Anweshi |
Kunnikkal Ajitha (born 1950) is a former Indian naxalite who took active part in the naxalite movements in Kerala in the 1960s when the group conducted armed raids on Thalassery and Pulpally police stations and killed two policemen. Ajitha was subsequently arrested, tried and sentenced to 9 years in prison.
After her jail sentence, Ajitha parted ways with the armed struggle movement and is currently a human rights activist and social reformer with an active presence in Kerala's social milieu. Anweshi, the non-governmental organisation she founded in 1993 which now is a constituent of Kerala Sthree Vedhi (Kerala Women's Forum), works for the cause of women's rights in co-ordination with the National Mission for Empowerment of Women.
Ajitha is married to Yakoob, a former colleague and the couple has a son named Clint and a daughter named Gargi. She is a hard core atheist.
K. Ajitha was born in April 1950 in Kozhikode, Kerala, India to Kunnikkal Narayanan and Mandakini, both active supporters of naxalite movement. She had her early education in Kozhikode. By the time Ajitha reached college, she became disillusioned with the society and started associating with the naxal movement. She dropped out of college while doing Pre-degree course and became an active naxalite.
In the late 1960s, Ajitha got associated with Arikkad Varghese, a militant activist working against the atrocities meted out by the feudal lords and police to the tribal and villagers of Wyanad. They formed a group in 1968 and decided to take up arms. Ajitha was the only female member of the group.
On 22 November 1968, a group of about 300 armed guerrillas, under Ajitha's father Kunnikkal Narayanan, made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the Thalassery police station with the aim to steal arms.
48 hours later, on 24 November 1968, the group, under the leadership of Varghese and consisting of Thettamala Krishnankutty, Kurichiyan Kunjiraman, Kisan Thomman, Philip M. Prasad and Ajitha, targeted the Madras Special Police camp in Pulpally set up to deal with the 7000 farmers who were agitating against the eviction by Pulpally Dewaswom authorities. The armed attack left 2 policemen, a wireless operator and a sub inspector dead. Later, the group attacked the farms of two local landlords and distributed the food grains stocked there to the tribals.
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