A saga of inner strength, hope, unyielding spirit, and transformation

As has been said by Prime Minister Modi in his post on Social  Media platform X, C Sadanandan Master, who has been nominated to Rajya Sabha by President Droupadi Murmu, is a model of unyielding spirit’ and his life, an example of courage and a spirit of not surrendering in the face of injustice.

Violence and intimidation couldn’t dampen the spirit of Sadanandan Master, who lost both his legs in the CPI-M attack at the young age of 30. His life is a story of strength, courage, hope, and transformation.

Advertisement

With his nomination, Sadanandan Master is entering national politics after surviving one of the most horrific political attacks in the tumultuous history of Kerala. His nomination to the upper house of Parliament is seen as a recognition of the sacrifice of the RSS cadre who remained steadfast to the ideology despite threats and violent attacks.

The BJP reckons  Master as a “living martyr” and believes that by recognizing his services, the party is honouring hundreds of  ‘Balidanis’ who lost their lives in the CPI-M attack in Kerala. Sadanandan Master is currently the BJP state vice president.

The saffron party considers Sadanandan Master a symbol of nationalist resistance to inhuman Communist ideology and violence. By this move, the BJP is intending to bring the violent politics of the CPI-M into the public domain at the national level.

His village of Perinchery near Mattannur in Kannur was a CPI-M  stronghold. Born in a Communist family, Sadanandan was active as a member of the CPI-M during his college days. Later, he was attracted to the RSS ideology and formed a  Sakaha (unit) of the RSS in Mattannur along with some friends inviting the wrath of CPI-M leaders.

His decision to join the  RSS provoked local CPI-M leaders and placed him in their crosshairs. On January 25, 1994, a gang attacked him at around 8.30 pm when he was walking towards his home after alighting from a bus at Uruvachal near Mattannur. At the time, he was serving as the RSS sahkaryavah in the Kannur district.

Recalling that incident, Sadanadan said, “A gang suddenly started hurling bombs to create a scare. People started running and shutting their shops. The gang approached me from behind me. They laid me down on the road, then hacked both my legs below the knee and threw them away. No one dared to come to help me until the police arrived and took me to the hospital.”

After a few months in the hospital, Sadanandan returned to his school struggling for want of enough students. In 1999, Sadanandan joined as a teacher in a school in Thrissur. Despite  losing  both his legs in the CPI-M attack, Sadanandan didn’t lose heart and continued his activities in a wheelchair, and later with the help of a prosthetic leg. This is what makes him different from others0. He contested the 2016 and 2021 assembly elections from the Koothuparamba constituency, but could not win.

Married to his college love, Vanitha Rani, who is also a teacher, Sadanandan has a daughter, Yamuna Bharati, a BTech student

From surviving a brutal attack to being nominated to the Rajya Sabha, Sadanandan Master’s a saga of inner strength, hope,  unyielding spirit, and  transformation. Prime Minister Modi rightly said in his post that his life is the epitome of courage and refusal to bow to injustice.

“Shri C Sadanandan Master’s life is the epitome of courage and refusal to bow to injustice… His efforts as a teacher and social worker are also commendable. He is extremely passionate towards youth empowerment. Congratulations to him for being nominated  to the Rajya Sabha  by Rashtrapatti ji . Best wishes for his role as MP ,” PM Modi wrote in the post

Responding to his nomination to the Rajya Sabha, Sadanandan Master said, “I accept the mission the party has bestowed in me with humility. I will strive hard to realise the dream of Viksit Bharat and Viksit Keralam upheld by the party.”