C. K. Janu

C. K. Janu (born 1970) is an Indian social activist, tribal leader and rights fighter turned politician.

She is also the leader of Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha, a social movement that has been agitating since 2001 for redistribution of land to the landless tribal people in Kerala. The movement has positioned itself under the aegis of the Dalit-Adivasi Action Council. In 2016, she announced a new political party, Janathipathya Rashtriya Sabha, and contested the 2016 Kerala assembly polls in alliance with BJP, as a part of NDA from Sultanbathery unsuccessfully. The JRS left the NDA in 2025.

Biography Janu was born in , near Mananthavady, a tribal village, in Wayanad to poor tribal parents from the Adiya community one of the several tribal groups in Kerala who used to be indentured laborers. Adiya means slave and are mostly landless agricultural laborers. She did not have any formal education but learned to read and write through a literacy campaign that was conducted in Wayanad.

Janu started her career as a domestic servant at a local school teacher's house, at the age of seven, and spent five years there. By the age of 13, she started working as a labourer for a daily wage of ₹2 (3.5 US cents). Later, she learned tailoring and started a small shop, which had to be closed down due to financial constraints.

C. K. Janu was influenced by her uncle P. K. Kalan, a member of the CPI(M), and became a part of the left party. She became an activist through CPIM's Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU) in the 1970s, who led a tribal uprising in Tirunelly forest in Wayanad, and speaking out from personal experience soon became identified as the voice of tribal people. She worked as a campaigner for the union until 1987. She then embarked on a tribal tour to understand their problems and to mobilize them for struggle.

Kudil ketti samaram Janu's stint with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) helped her to gain experience in party politics. In 2001, Janu led a protest march through the state and held a kudil ketti samaram in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram to demand land for landless tribal people which lasted 48 days and resulted in convincing Kerala Government to distribute land to the tribal people. The occupation ended with massive police violence in which a policeman and a tribal were killed. It came to be known as the Muthanga incident and Janu had to undergo imprisonment and face 75 cases filed against her. and prompted noted author, Arundhati Roy, into writing You have blood on your hands. and holds status among notable women politicians in Kerala such as KR Gowriamma and Kunnikkal Ajitha. She is reported to be devoid of abstract political dogmas. She has often cooperated with national and international indigenous people's organisations but was always very wary of being funded by any organization. Most of the activities of the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha are funded entirely through the solidarity of poor tribal people and former untouchables.

Mother Forest: The Unfinished Story of CK Janu An autobiography, a small book consisting of only 56 pages, 'Janu: The Life Story of CK Janu, was published in Malayalam by DC Books in 2003. The book was later translated into English by N Ravi Shankar under the name, Mother Forest: The Unfinished Story of CK Janu.

Personal life C. K. Janu is a single mother. The tribal leader adopted a three-year-old daughter from Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and named her as C. K. Janaki. The mother and daughter stay at Panavally with Janu's mother and sister.