CPM leader Mythili Sivaraman passes away

CHENNAI: Veteran CPM leader, former national vice president of the All India Democratic Women's Association, passed away in Chennai while undergoing treatment for COVID-19.

Along with Pappa Umanath, Mythili took the initiative to establish the All India Democratic Women's Association. Mythili was a leader who led the struggle for the rights of Dalits and homeless people. Her role was instrumental in bringing to light the horrors of the Keezhvenmani massacre of 1968, in which 44 members of the Dalit community, including women and children, were killed for leading a strike demanding higher wages. It was Mythili's writings that informed the world of that atrocity.

Mythili, who fought amid political pressure, had put the Annadurai government in crisis. As the leader of the Democratic Women's Association, she led several women's struggles in the country. She was also at the forefront of getting justice for the women who were gang-raped in Vachathi in Tamil Nadu. She also worked as a research assistant in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations.