Who was Faizabad’s DM K K Nair?, Who was at odds with the former PM Nehru for Ram Mandir?
K K Nair alias Kandangalathil Karunakaran Nair‘s brave moves energized the Ayodhya Ram Mandir movement. The brave ICS (Indian Civil Service) officer, hailing from Kerala was the District Magistrate of Faizabad when idols were placed in Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir on the night of December 22-23, 1949. Though the Congress administration including Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru ordered for removal of the idols, Nair objected in files arguing that as idols were placed after pooja and hence couldn’t be removed easily. Nair wrote in files that no pujari is ready to remove the idols, which are conducted as per certain rituals.
Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao in his book – Ayodhya December 6, 1992 – wrote that by these objections in files, K K Nair stopped the removal, leading to people in large numbers coming to Ayodhya Ram Mandir, created inside the Babri Masjid.
As the District Magistrate, Nair entrusted his assistant Guru Datt Singh to file a ground report on the Ayodhya issue, after receiving a letter from the State Government for the removal of idols and crowd. In his report sent to Nair, Guru Datt Singh unambiguously recommended the construction of a grand Ram Mandir at the site.
“As per your orders, I went to the spot and inspected the site and enquired all about it in detail. The mosque and the temple both are situated side by side and both Hindus and Muslims perform their rites and religious ceremonies. The Hindu public has put in this application to erect a decent and vishal temple instead of the small one which exists at present. There is nothing on the way and permission can be given as the Hindu population is very keen to have a nice temple at the place where Bhagwan Ram Chandra Ji was born. The land where the temple is to be erected is of Nazul [Government land],” says Singh’s report to Nair.
On December 23, 1949, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Govind Vallabh Pant, at the behest of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, ordered to expel the Hindus from the temple of Ram Lalla. But Faizabad District Collector K K Nair, who was fondly called as Nair Sahib refused to implement the order, pointing out that the real stakeholders were performing Pooja there and the move would lead to riots and bloodshed. Following the incident, Govind Vallabh Pant suspended K K Nair from the service. Nair challenged the suspension order in the Courts and won. After rejoining the service, he decided not to continue in service.
In 1952, when the General election was announced, K K Nair joined Bharatiya Jana Sangh and became actively involved in the Ram Mandir movement. He also started practicing as an Advocate at Allahabad High Court. He and his wife Shakuntala Nair became Parliament Members. In 1952, his wife Shakuntala Nair contested on the Jana Sangh ticket and became a Member of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Later, in 1962, both K K Nair and his wife became members of the 4th Lok Sabha, winning Bahraich and Kaiserganj constituencies respectively.
Born on September 11, 1907, K K Nair began his life from Kuttanad, a small village in Alappuzha, Kerala. After completing his education in Kerala, he went to England for higher studies and won ICS at the age of 21. He joined as a civil servant in Uttar Pradesh in 1945 and became Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate of Faizabad on June 1, 1949. The couple was later arrested and jailed during the Emergency for protesting against the fascist regime of Indira Gandhi.
K K Nair passed away on September 7, 1977.
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