P Viswanathan, from the Paniya community of Kalpetta (Wayanad, Kerala), become’s first tribal municipal chairperson, rewriting history and inspiring a new generation.

“Though we are not beautiful, we are just…

Though our bodies are dark, our hearts are pure…

We are the ones who sowed the seeds… The ones who stood guard…

The ones who desired for just a handful of grain…”

Sitting on the veranda of his home at Edaguni (Kurunthan, Unnati), along Pinangode Road in the town here, P Viswanathan sings in an indigenous language. Unnoticed, his eyes well up. The song carries the bitterness of his community’s past, etched into every line he sings.

Viswanathan is also determined that this bitterness is not something the new generation in his community should taste, and rewrites history. He has become the first person from the Paniya community to become a municipal chairperson.

Viswanathan was elected as the Kalpetta municipal chairperson after winning from his own ward, Unnati, with a margin of 196 votes, by contesting in the general seat

The municipal chairperson post was reserved for Scheduled Tribes, and the LDF considered Viswanathan for the position. He also serves as the district president of the Adivasi Kshema Samithi (AKS).

Viswanathan is a CPM Kalpetta area committee member and a state committee member of AKS.