Krishnadas Sukumaran, a former police staff with Staffordshire Police, United Kingdom, who recently won NBPA’s (National Black Police Association) award for ‘Outstanding Dedication to Community Enlargement’ has a strong Tiruchi connection.
Mr.Krishnadas, who is currently pursuing teaching and post graduate academics in ‘Politics and International Relations’ at Keele University, completed his schooling and under graduation in Tiruchi during the eighties before pursuing Masters in Social Work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He is an alumnus of three institutions in Tiruchi: Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 where he studied up to 10 standard, R.S.K.Higher Secondary School (Higher Secondary), and St.Joseph’s College where he completed his B.A. in Economics in 1991.
A strong background in rehabilitation and urge for community help accrued from his involvement in various social activities in Gujarat, Kutch, Jabalpur and Latur. Mr. Krishnadas once stood against the State of Maharashtra in one of the landmark public interest litigations, and has been a part of several legal interventions. During the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, he made his service available for the Times Foundation.
After marrying fellow social worker Jane, he moved to the UK where he has been associating with Staffordshire police interacting with Malayalees in the area creating awareness on multiculturalism and racism, the burning issues in UK, and promoting community cohesion initiatives and inter-faith dialogues.
A native of Mannur village in Palghat district of Kerala, he has settled in Newcastle under Lyme since 2002. Mr. Krishnadas is incidentally the first Indian Malayalee to be bestowed the honour. Usually the NBPA is awarded to natives of UK.
A nationwide organisation of African American Police Associations, NBPA, which has several chartered organisations throughout the United States and associate members in Canada, Bermuda, is dedicated to the promotion of justice, fairness, and effectiveness in law enforcement.
Its principal concerns centre upon law enforcement and the effect of those issues upon the community.