The Insurgent Jurisprudent!

One of the pillars of the civil liberties movement in the subcontinent, K G Kannabiran, left us in the twilight of 2010. Kannabiran’s life as a civil liberties advocate, and a human rights lawyer is a constant inspiration for anyone who is ready to walk the unbeaten track.

Kannabiran initiated and paved the path of radical jurisprudence in India from the early 1980s when he worked as the President of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) and later as National President of PUCL. The early 1980s were also the days of high tide in the civil liberties movement throughout the subcontinent. Making hitherto unchartered ventures into the interpretation and practice of law, forcing a radical relook at the Indian Constitution, Kannabiran’s entreaties, in his own words, “embarrassed the most sensitive among the judges”. And for Kanna, mere interpretation of the law or the unfolding fascist nature of the State was not enough. He believed not in mere “interpret[ations] but to change things”.