Manakampat Kesavan Unni Nayar

Colonel Manakampat Kesavan Unni Nair was born on 22 April 1911 on Thiruvonam day of the Medham month at Manakampat house near Parli 7 miles from Palakkad (Palghat). Nehru (Prime Minister, India) Trygve Lie (Secretary General, United Nations) Syngman Rhee (President, Republic of Korea) as well as many army officers, ambassadors, journalists, etc., of various nations wrote of him, notably in his commemoration volume published on August 12, 1951 Exactly a year after his untimely death, and in various newspapers such as The Washington Post or The Times.

The following is an excerpt from the gazette of India Extraordinary Part I - Session 1

No.67, New Delhi, Sunday, August 13, 1950.

“Ministry of External, Affairs”

The Government of India have learnt, with deep regret, of the death of Colonel Unni Nayar, one of India’s alternate Delegates to the U.N. Commission in Korea. Colonel Nayar was killed by a mine explosion while out for observation. Colonel Nayar’s early promise in journalism reached destination during the Second World War in which he saw duty on many fronts. His work in reporting these campaigns was marked by vivid objectivity and great personal gallantry. He also served as an Observer during the operation in Kashmir. In 1948, he was posted to Washington as Public Relations Officer of the Indian Embassy, in which capacity he did valuable work. On the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, he volunteered for service there and the Government of India selected him to serve as an alternate Delegate on the U. N. Korean Commission. His dispatches from there proved invaluable to Government in forming an appreciation of the Korean situation. His early and tragic death in no less a loss to the Government of India than to his family, to whom Government extend their profound sympathy. G.S. Bajpai, Secretary General

Kesavan Unni Nayar was born in 1911. After an uneventful early education, he took his honours in Literature, from the Madras Christian College. His literary talents showed its first blooms here, in the College Magazine. After his College career, Unni Nayar started life, very modestly, on the staff of a humorous weekly, The Merry Magazine of Madras. But soon, he shifted to that of “The Mail”, a Madras daily. But he did not sever his connections with the Merry Magazine, and became a regular contributor to their columns. His intimate personal sketches, in a series, “The Story of My Life”, not only bubble with humour, but show out his love of detail, an inborn power of observation of both men and events, and an ability to put it across exactly and colourfully a rare combination!! He knew the risks he took. He was too intelligent, and too old a hand at the game not to know that. But still he took them. It was this that made him brave – and great. Men meet their death in different ways. But great men, heroes, go to theirs, calculatingly, knowing the risks they take. While ordinary men shrink and cower, heroes treat their own flesh and blood with almost butcherly disdain. This is what makes a hero ---- and all the world stand wondering why he did that; why he went to such an end, knowing the chances he took. This is what makes Unni Nayar great --- makes him a hero. He took that Risk calculatingly, knowing what he did. A man like that does not die: He Lives ! Beyond and above his well known stints in Washington, Singapore, Burma, Libya and various locations in Middle East and North Africa, he was one of the key figures instrumental in establishing peace between North and South Korea. A memorial dedicated to him placed in Waegwan on the border between both nations, and can still be visited today.

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Name	Nayar, Manakampat Kesavan Unni
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Date of birth	1911
Place of birth
Date of death	1950
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