Published in The Hindu, 1 May 2026
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/when-the-courtroom-was-his-conscience-remembering-dijo-kappan/article70927705.ece/amp/
May Day is meant to honour those who fight for the ordinary person.
This May Day, Kerala lost one of the finest fighters it ever had.
Dijo Kappan was a passionate social activist, political observer, and — to those of us who knew him at Kerala University in the early 1980s — simply a remarkable human being who never stopped believing that the system could be held to account.
I remember him as a young man with a restless mind and a generous spirit. While many of us drifted toward the comfort of academic lives after university, Dijo walked straight toward the fire. He had already entered public life through the Kerala Students Congress, served as the functionary of Kerala University Union, Union Chairman of Pala St. Thomas College, and later as a member of the Kerala University Senate. But titles never defined his mission. The purpose of his activism did.
In 1988, he founded the Centre for Consumer Education — not a political platform, but a weapon of justice for the powerless. Farmers cheated by the system, consumers crushed by unfair tariffs, citizens suffocated by bureaucratic indifference — these were his constituents, and the courtroom was his constituency. He filed petitions against electricity rate hikes, took on the Brahmapuram waste plant scandal, challenged illegal advertisement boards cluttering public roads. He was, in the truest sense, a people’s lawyer without a fee.
What made Dijo extraordinary was how he fought — with consistency, without compromise, and without ever seeking the spotlight. In an age of celebrated activism and social media outrage, he silently appeared in courtrooms, filed documents, and pushed back. Again and again.
His death truly leaves a silence that is difficult to fill. Kerala has many politicians, many commentators, many voices on television. It has very few people willing to spend their lives standing between the state and the citizen with nothing but conviction as their armour.
With Kappn – 1981-83 MA (Politics) batch of Dept of Politics, University of Kerala
K.M. SEETHI is Director, Inter University Centre for Social Science Research and Extension, MG University. He was a Member of the Appellate Authority (Ombudsman), MGNREGS, Govt of Kerala during 2022-2026. He served as ICSSR Senior Fellow, Dean of Social Sciences and Senior Professor and Director of School of International Relations and Politics, Director of Research, and Coordinator KPS Menon Chair for Diplomatic Studies. Besides, he had officiated as Honorary Director, KN Raj Centre , Mahatma Gandhi University.
Seethi currently officiates as Editor, Journal of State and Society. He also served as the Editor of 'South Asian Journal of Diplomacy' and the 'Indian Journal of Politics and International Relations,' and 'Journal of Political Economy and Fiscal Federalism.' His books include, "Enduring Dilemma: Flashpoints in Kashmir and India-Pakistan Relations" (KW Publishers), "Endless Sorrows" (IUCSSRE/DPP), "Engaging Beyond Borders" (GSC), "The Arab World: Beyond and Beneath the Arab Spring" ( GSC), "Development Rebound: Challenges in Kerala's Development Scenario" (Raspberry), "State and Civil Society under Siege"(Sage), "Engaging with the World: Critical Reflections on India’s Foreign Policy"(Orient Longman/Orient Blackswan), "Economic Empowerment and Livelihood Security" (SIRP/ KPS Menon Chair), "Coastal Security: Needed A New Look" (SIRP/KPS Menon Chair) etc.He has also written more than 575 research articles/features/commentaries/reviews in journals such as Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies,' 'Economic and Political Weekly,' 'Millennium: Journal of International Affairs,' 'Indian Journal of Political Science,' 'Journal of Polity and Society,' 'South Asian Journal of Diplomacy', 'Indian Journal of Politics and International Relations,' 'South Asia Analysis Group,' 'Indian Journal of Secularism', 'Mainstream,' 'Radical Humanist,' 'The Times of India,' 'Indian Express,' 'The Hindu,' 'The Economic Times,' 'The New Indian Express,' 'Deccan Chronicle,' 'The Week,' 'Open,' Sri Lanka Guardian,' 'Eurasia Review,' Indian Defense Review,' and online journals such as the 'The Wire,' The Geopolitics,' 'Eurasia Review,' 'Global South Colloquy,' 'The Diplomat', 'Countercurrents', 'Global Research,' 'Madras Courier,' 'Policy Circle' 'Keralamonitor' et al.
