Pazha Nedumaran ''Krishnan Pillai Pazhaniyappan'' ( ta, பழ. நெடுமாறன்/கிருஷ்ணன் பிள்ளை பழநியப்பன்) is a Tamil politician from the state of

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 ...

, India. He is an ex-national Congressman, a writer and Tamil nationalist, who has authored many books in

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, nativ ...

and English. Pazha Nedumaran was born in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

. He graduated from

The American College in Madurai The American College, often referred to as American College, is one of the oldest colleges in India, located in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded in 1881 by American Christian missionaries. The red-brick buildings, in the Saracenic style, ...

. He was a close associate of

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

, and had met Indira Gandhi a couple of times in the company of K. Kamaraj. He was reportedly disillusioned with the Congress after Kamaraj's demise. He is the editor-in-chief of the by-weekly Tamil magazin
''Then Seidi''
( ta, தென் செய்தி). He is the leader of the Tamil Nationalist Movement and the இலங்கைத் தமிழர் பாதுகாப்பு இயக்க ஒருங்கிணைப்பாளர். His son Palani Kumanan is a software engineer in

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

and shared the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

for 2015.

Socio-political activities

Political

* 1979, when the All India Congress President and former Prime Minister of India Mrs.

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

visited Tamil Nadu, she was attacked by goons affiliated to D.M.K., Mr.Nedumaran who accompanied her in an open top jeep, shielded her and bore the brutal attacks on his body and saved her life. After winning the Lok Sabha elections, Mrs Indira Gandhi invited him to Delhi where she expressed her gratitude by offering him Union Minister post. He politely declined. She called him her eldest son as he saved her life.

Human Rights

* When Kannada film actor

Dr. Rajkumar Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian ci ...

was abducted by the notorious dacoit Veerappan, there arose a tense situation in the adjoining states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The situation was such that at any time racial riots could break out resulting in arson and killings of thousands and thousands of innocent people. As such, on the requisition by the Chief Ministers of both states, a team of emissaries led by Nedumaran, went into the forests, met

Veerappan Koose Munisamy Veerappan (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004) was an Indian bandit turned domestic terrorist who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching o ...

and rescued Dr. Rajkumar. * 2007, he organised a campaign to collect food and medicines for the people starving in Jaffna, due to the economic blockade of the Sri Lankan Government. Aids worth Rs. 10 million were collected. He sought the help of the Indian Red Cross Society to send the aid to Jaffna. Indian Red Cross Society readily agreed and in turn sought the permission of the Indian Government to carry the aids. But the Indian Government did not respond for more than 10 months. Nedumaran demonstrated several agitations seeking the Indian Government to grant permission. As all were in vain, he announced that he and his comrades would carry the aids to Jaffna by boats from Rameshwaram and Nagapattinam, the coastal towns of Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu Police stopped him from doing so. Hence he undertook a fast-unto-death until a solution was attained for this issue. The fast lasted for 4 days and after the assurance from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu through Dr. Ramadoss, Convener, PMK, he completed the fast.

Tamil Eelam

* 1985, Nedumaran made a secret tour in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka, and video graphed the atrocities committed by the Sri Lanka army there; and documented the consequences of the atrocities. He then toured the world with this evidence, and brought global attention to the issue.

Socio-political activities

Political

Human Rights

Tamil Eelam

References

External links