As the new Ram Lalla idol was consecrated at the newly constructed temple in Ayodhya on Monday amid grand celebrations, many fondly remember Keralite ICS officer, Kandankalathil Karunakaran Nair (KK Nair), who has been described as the unsung hero of the Ram Mandir movement.

Alappuzha native KK Nair was serving as Faizabad District Magistrate in 1949 December when Ram Lalla idols were placed at the Babri Masjid. Even as the then Prime Minister Jawharlal Nehru gave instructions to remove the idols, Nair did not oblige citing the chances of communal tension.

He had tasked Guru Datt Singh, an official in the district administration, to investigate the Ayodhya issue and submit a report. Permission was granted to the Hindus to visit the structure and offer pujas based on his report. However, the issue took a dramatic turn on December 23, when an idol was installed there.

The then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister GB Pant and Nehru had directed the district administration to remove the idol from the premises forcibly. However, Nair refused to implement the order citing possibilities of a riot.

Though Nair was suspended from service, he was reinstated following a favourable court order. But he resigned from the job and started practising as a lawyer in the Allahabad High Court.

Taking the fight for Ram Mandir forward, KK Nair and his family joined the Jana Sangh. In 1952, his wife Sakunatala Nair contested on the Jana Sangh ticket and became a member of Uttar Pradesh Assembly.in 1962, both KK Nair and his wife became members of the 4th Lok Sabha, winning Bahraich and Kaiserganj constituencies respectively.

Born on September 11, 1907, KK Nair began his life from Kuttanad, a small village in Alappuzha, Kerala. After completing his education in Kerala, he went to England for higher studies and cleared the ICS exam at the age of 21. He joined as a civil servant in Uttar Pradesh in 1945 and became Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate of Faizabad on June 1, 1949. He died on September 7, 1977.

“As an archaeologist, I can’t say K K Nair did the right thing by supporting the Ram temple cause. But his decision to support the worship of Ram Lalla on the disputed structure premises was a turning point. I could understand his popularity during my visit to Ayodhya in 1977. People worshipped him like a saint and I found his picture on the walls of many houses. There is also a colony named after him there,” said archaeologist K K Muhammed. People in and around Faizabad fondly called him ‘Nair Saheb’.