KOTTAYAM: Dalit thinker, writer and social activist K K Kochu passed away. He was 76. He was suffering from cancer and was undergoing treatment at Kottayam Medical College Hospital. He was a fundamental thinker who constantly worked and wrote for the rights of Dalits.

He was born on February 2 in 1949 at Kallara in Kottayam. He had spent six months in hiding during Emergency. He led the formation of organizations such as the Communist Yuva Jana Vedi, Janakeeya Thozhilali Union and the Human Rights Committee. He was a central committee member of an organization called Cedian and the editor of Cedian weekly. He joined the KSRTC as a clerk in 1977 and retired as a senior assistant in 2001.

His autobiography Dalitan is his most notable work. His other works include Budhanilekkulla Dhooram, Deshiyathakkoru Charithrapadam, Keralacharithravum Samooharoopeekaranavum, Idathupakshammillatha Kalam, Dalit Padam and Kalapavum Samskaravum.