Comrade Sudheesh from the Cholanaikkan Tribe in North Kerala’s Malappuram district had won the local body elections. He was a candidate from the Left Democratic Front (LDF.)
He was elected from the Nilambur Block Panchayat in the Vazhikaddavu division.
This victory is a landmark because not only is he one of the youngest members to enter the electoral politics in the state, but he is also the first member of the Cholanaikkan Tribe to do so.
Some are not just victories, but history!
Com.Sudheesh(21) becomes the first elected representative from cholanaikkars, one of the most primitive tribes & last remaining hunter-gatherer group in the state. He got elected from Nilambur block panchayat Vazhikkadavu division Kerala pic.twitter.com/PgIzbGsT4i
— Suvarna Haridas (@Suvarna_haridas) December 17, 2020
2. The Cholanaikkan Tribe
The Cholanaikkan Tribe is considered one of the oldest tribes in Kerala, they are one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes of the region.
This hill tribe is also known as the ‘Cavemen of Kerala.’
According to researchers, members of this ethnic community had inhabited in ‘alakkal’ (caves) in deep forests as small groups till the 1970s and lived by hunting small animals and gathering honey and wild tubers. Later, they started living in hamlets like Alakkal and Punchakkolli in the Nilambur forest division.
There are around 400 Cholainakkans living in about 100 families in the Tribal Hamlets of Nilambur. There are 200 voters among them.
