Board of Patrons

B R P Bhaskar is a veteran human rights activist and senior journalist. He had served as the editor in most of the leading newspapers and news agencies in India like The Hindu, The Statesman, Deccan Herald, Patriot, UNI etc. He also served as an advisor to the Focus India Fee, Bangalore provided news and features. During 1994-99, he was the Asianet editorial advisor for the program of the Media Watch.

Currently, he works as a columnist in Gulf Today and contributes to both English and Malayalam newspapers. In 2014 the Government of Kerala honoured him with Swadeshabhimani Kesari award.

Rajan Gurukkal, a leading Indian historian, professor and writer, currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council. Earlier he served as Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Sundararajan Visiting Professor at the Centre for Contemporary Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, a visiting faculty briefly at Humboldt University and lectured at several Universities in the country as well as abroad such as Humboldt, Leipzig, Berlin, Heidelberg, Tubingen and Ruhr (Germany) etc. He has several books and research articles to his credit.

P.K Michael Tharakan is Chairman, Kerala Council for Historical Research. He also served as Vice-Chancellor, Kannur University, Kannur, Director, Kerala Institute of local administration (KILA), Thrissur Sri Ramakrishna Hegde Chair Professor in Decentralization and Governance, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, Visiting Faculty, Centre for Socio-Economic & Environmental Studies (CSES), Kochi and Associate Fellow, Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram. He is the author of several books and research articles.

Dr. B Ekbal, a public health activist, a neurosurgeon, and an eminent academic in Kerala, is currently Chairman, State Level Expert Committee on COVID-19 Management, Government of Kerala. He also served as Vice-chancellor, University of Kerala and a member of the Kerala State Planning Board. He was also the chairman of Kerala State Pollution Control Board. He is also one of the joint convenors of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (Public Health Movement - India) and President of the Democratic Alliance for Knowledge Freedom, Kerala.

Sarah Joseph is an Indian novelist and short story writer in Malayalam. She won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the Vayalar Award for her novel Aalahayude Penmakkal She is a leader of the feminist movement in Kerala and is the founder of the activist organization Manushi

MN Karassery is an Indian writer and social activist in Kerala. He served as Professor and Head of the Department of Malayalam, University of Calicut. An academic for more than three decades, he has been a public speaker and socio-political commentator and contributed several books and articles.

Irfan Engineer is the Director of the Center For Study of Society and Secularism set up by Asghar Ali Engineer in Mumbai. Irfan is the author of several books and a well-known voice in the struggle for justice and secularism

Shajahan Madampat is a writer and cultural commentator, writing in Malayalam, English and occasionally in Arabic. He has to his credit many books and essays and articles published in leading journals and newspapers such as The Hindu, Huffington Post, Outlook, Gulf News, Khaleej Times, Bahrain Tribune, Biblio, Mainstream. He lives and works in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.

M. Mohammed Rafeek is a grand nephew of Vakkom Moulavi who served as a teacher for several decades. He has been associating with several cultural and educational endeavours in Chirayinkeezhu.

Dr. P A Muhammad Sayeed, by profession a surgeon, has a four-decades long career. Dr. Sayyed's engagements spread across a variety of fields including health care, culture, heritage preservation, and social service. He holds the position of the President of Mahal Committee of Cheraman Masjid, first mosque in the Indian subcontinent. Dr. Sayeed is also the member of Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Kerala in connection with the establishment of Islamic Heritage Museum.

Abdul Khadir Suhair is currently Chairman and Managing Trustee Vakkom Moulavi Foundation Trust, Thiruvananthapuram. He served as Electricity Planning Manager, Dubai World Central (DWC)/Dubai Aviation City Corporation, UAE. He also officiated as Chairman at IEEE Power & Energy Society Kerala Chapter.