JEDDAH, 19 December 2005 — Members of the Kerala community gathered here on Friday to mourn the death of veteran human rights activist and journalist Mukundan C. Menon. Representatives of various community organizations addressed the meeting, which was organized by the local bureau of the newly launched Kerala daily Thejas.
Menon was the secretary-general of the Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) and resident editor of Thejas. He died in Trivandrum on Dec. 12 following a heart attack. He was 57.
A leading human rights activist for over 35 years, Menon helped found a number of non-governmental and human rights organizations. Speakers at the memorial described Menon as a quiet but defiant fighter for the victims of abuses. They said he would be remembered for his relentless struggle against oppression and the articles he wrote exposing abuses by authorities. His scathing criticism of Hindutva fascism earned him the anger of the Sangh Parivar.
Menon’s death is a great loss to the human rights movement in Kerala where his work brought hope to thousands of people. Menon was an activist very much in touch with the ordinary people. His life will continue to inspire rights activists in the country, they said.
While working as a freelance journalist in Delhi in the 1970s, Menon teamed up with other social activists to form the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) and started an awareness campaign in New Delhi. The government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi jailed him during the emergency.
From 1994, Menon was the voice of human rights movements in Kerala. He was elected secretary of CHRO in 1997, an umbrella organization of human rights groups in the state. He had worked in close association with various international organizations including Human Rights Watch of the United States.
Community leaders and journalists who spoke offering condolences included Abdul Kabeer, P.M.A. Jaleel, K.T.A. Muneer, T.M.A. Rauf, Saju Joseph, Usman Irimpuzhi, Ahmed Kutty and Ibrahim Chemnad.
