David Pandian (18 May 1932 – 26 February 2021) was an Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

elected from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

as an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

United Communist Party of India United Communist Party of India (UCPI), is a political party in India. It was formed in 1989 when Indian Communist Party led by Com. Mohit Sen along with Com Ramesh Sinha, M. Kalyanasundaram, K.Manickam, D. Pandian, and SU. Palanisamy; All I ...

(UCPI) candidate from North Chennai constituency in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

elections. He was the

State Secretary of the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

for three consecutive terms from 2005 to 2015, when he was succeeded by R. Mutharasan.

Early life

Pandian was born in Vellaimalaipatti, a village in

Usilampatti Usilampatti () is a town and a second grade municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is also a designated taluk and revenue division. Location Usilampatti town lies 37 km south west of Theni town and 32 km west of Madurai ...

Taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

, in modern day

Madurai district Madurai district is one of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 38 districts of the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India., National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Ag ...

on 23 September 1932. His father, David, and mother, Navamani, were teachers in a

Christian missionary A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

school aimed at children of the

Piramalai Kallar Piramalai Kallars is a sub caste of the Kallars and thus are part of the Mukkulathor community that also includes the Maravar and Agamudayar castes.They belong to Most backward class/Denotified class in Tamil nadu. History Copper plate inscr ...

community. He studied at the Kallar Reclamation School and later at the Usilampatti Board High School. He went on to complete to obtain a

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

degree in English from Alagappa college in

Karaikudi Karaikudi is a Greater municipality in Sivaganga district, Sivagangai district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 21st largest urban agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of t ...

. During this time, he also won the students' union elections as a member of the communist party's student wing. He held a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree. After completing his education, he served as a lecturer teaching English at the Alagappa Chettiar college in Karaikudi. He campaigned for the 1957 Tamil Nadu state assembly elections under a pseudonym. However, his name was published in some newspapers resulting in a demand for his resignation. However, the college's founder would encourage him further by presenting him with works of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Career

Before becoming a full-time member of the Communist Party of India, he was the first general secretary of the ''Tamil Nadu Kalai Ilakkiya Perumandram'' (Tamil Nadu Art and Literary Federation) launched by communist party leader,

P. Jeevanandam P. Jeevanandham (21 August 1907 – 18 January 1963) also called ''Jeeva'', was a social reformer, political leader, litterateur and one of the pioneers of the Communist and socialist movements in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He was not on ...

. He left the CPI to join the

(UCPI) led by

Mohit Sen Mohit Sen (born 24 March 1929, in Calcutta, and died in Hyderabad on 3 May 2003) was a communist intellectual. He was general secretary of the United Communist Party of India at the time of his death. Early life and education Sen was born into ...

and was elected to

from North Chennai. He returned to CPI and became its State secretary. He was the president of Indian Railway Labour Union. On 21 May 1991, Pandian was seriously injured while accompanying the then Indian Prime Minister,

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

, when the latter was assassinated in a suicide bomb attack. Pandian was scheduled to translate the prime minister's speech for the local audience. Though opposed to

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

, he was a critic of the Sri Lankan government's approach to the issue of

Sri Lankan Tamils Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pro ...

and called for peaceful political solutions. Speaking later about the incident he would say that he still carried pieces of shrapnel in his body. He was also amongst the first victims to call for the release of the convicts in the

Rajiv Gandhi assassination The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, occurred as a result of a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, India on 21 May 1991. At least 14 others, in addition to Rajiv Gandhi, were killed. It was carried ou ...

case, writing to the then Tamil Nadu Governor,

Banwarilal Purohit Banwarilal Purohit (born 16 April 1940) is an Indian politician who is the current and 29th Governor of Punjab, India and Administrator of Chandigarh as of 29 August 2021. He was the former Governor of Tamil Nadu from 2017 to 2021, and form ...

, asking for their release on humanitarian grounds. Pandian supported the construction of the

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (or Kudankulam NPP or KKNPP) is the largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction on the plant began on 31 Ma ...

. But his later statements indicated a change in his thinking and he has mentioned that exempting Russians from their liability was unacceptable. Some of the other causes advanced by Pandian during his career included speaking for social justice, eradication of superstitions, and promoting science education. He had also served as a trade union leader with the Railway and Port unions. As an author, he had written over 30 books in Tamil and English, spanning topics across economics, social justice, philosophy, and history. His most recent book, ''Medai Pechhu'' () was a retrospective on his political career and a narrative on the political history of Tamil Nadu. He was also the editor of '' Jana Sakthi'', a Tamil daily run by CPI. Pandian was a recipient of the Soviet Land Nehru Award.

Personal life

Pandian had two daughters and a son, David Jawahar. His wife Joyce Pandian died at the age of 76 in 2010. His son David Jawahar is a former registrar of the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

, Tamil Nadu, and was a professor at the

Bharathidasan Institute of Management Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli (known by its abbreviation BIM-Trichy) is an Indian business school established in 1984 in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India. The school offers AICTE approved full-time MBA program, doctoral programs ...

Tiruchi Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

. Pandian died from

sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

on 26 February 2021, at age 88.

Published works

* Tolstoy: Story of a Lorry Driver * State Monopoly and Economics * Devaluation and What Happened in Czechoslovakia * ''Medai Pechhu'' ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandian, D. 1932 births 2021 deaths India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 Communist Party of India politicians from Tamil Nadu Deaths from sepsis Indian communists Infectious disease deaths in India Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu People from Madurai district Politicians from Chennai Producers who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award Tamil Nadu politicians