Senior CPI(M) Leader and Teachers’ Movement Icon Dr. Kishor Thekkedath Passes Away in Mumbai

Mumbai: Senior CPI(M) leader, member of the Maharashtra State Secretariat and Mumbai District Secretariat, and a leader of the teachers’ movement in the state, Comrade Dr. Kishor Thekkedath (89), passed away in Mumbai on December 20. He was a noted Marxist thinker, writer, and academic. During the Emergency period of 1975–77, he spent 16 months in jail.

The funeral will be held today (December 21), and will be attended by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Dr. Ashok Dhawale, former State Secretariat member and teachers’ union leader Dr. Tapati Mukherji, State Secretariat members Dr. S. K. Rege, Shailendra Kamble, Prachi Hativalekar, State Control Commission Chairperson and senior teachers’ movement leader Madhu Paranjape, State Committee members Adv. Armaity Irani, Preeti Shekhar, Adv. Chandrakant Bhojgar, Ramchandra Mathre, along with several party leaders and representatives of the teachers’ movement.

Born on November 8, 1936, in Mumbai, Dr. Kishor Thekkedath hailed from a family with roots in Ernakulam district, Kerala. His father was a textile mill worker in Mumbai and his mother a homemaker. He completed his studies at Ruia College, earned MSc degrees in Mathematics and Physics, and later obtained a Doctorate. He served as a long-time faculty member at Wilson College, retiring voluntarily in 1994.

In 1966, he was elected the founding General Secretary of the Bombay University and College Teachers’ Union (BUCTU). He later became the founding General Secretary of the Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (MFUCTO) in 1975, and served as President of the All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (AIFUCTO) in 1987.

The CPI(M) Maharashtra State Committee and the Mumbai District Committee paid their final red salute to Comrade Dr. Kishor Thekkedath.