CPM leader Baby John passes away

THRISSUR: Senior CPM leader Baby John passed away on Sunday. He was 74. He had served as a member of the CPM state secretariat, Thrissur district secretary and CITU Thrissur district secretary. He had contested the 2011 assembly election from Manalur.

Born in 1952 to Anthony and Mary of Chakramakkil family at Thaikkad in Manalur, Baby John became associated with the Left movement in 1969 and joined the CPM in 1971.

He served as Paluvai branch secretary, and Thaikkad and Chavakkad local committee secretary before becoming Chavakkad area secretary in 1984, a position he held until 1997. He became a member of the district committee in 1986 and joined the district secretariat in 1997.

Baby John had also served as KS(F) Chavakkad taluk president for around seven years. He held several positions in the trade union movement, including CITU district secretary.

He was also the state vice-president of the Kerala Beedi and Cigar Workers Federation, district secretary and state federation office-bearer of the Fishermen’s Union, president of the Chavakkad regional Toddy Workers’ Union and president of the Thrissur District Headload and General Workers’ Union.

Baby John was imprisoned for two-and-a-half months during the Emergency. He was assaulted by police while attempting to hoist a black flag on Independence Day in 1975 and was arrested twice under the Defence of India Rules during the Emergency.

Baby John began his career as a teacher at PVM Lower Primary School at Blangad in Thaikkad panchayat in 1971. He was suspended from service for one-and-a-half years following police action. He took voluntary retirement from government service in 1991 to become a full-time political worker.

When Chavakkad municipality was formed, he was elected as a councillor for the 1980-85 term and became its first standing committee chairman. He was elected to the municipal council again in 1988.