M S Mani, former editor-in-chief of Kerala Kaumudi, a popular Malayalam daily published from Kerala and founder editor of Kala Kaumudi, the first Malayalam newspaper to be published outside Kerala, breathed his last early Tuesday morning at his residence in Thiruvananthapuram. He was 79 and is survived by wife Dr Kasturi, daughter Valsa Mani and son Mani Sukumaran.
Born as the eldest son of M Sukumaran, the founder editor of Kerala Kaumudi, Mani started his journalistic career at the young age of 20 as a parliament reporter and rose to new heights in journalism through sheer hard work. Mani is credited as the first investigative journalist in Kerala who brought to light the massive deforestation happening in the Western Ghats under political patronage.
Mani’s reports angered the then home minister of Kerala, K Karunakaran who initiated a series of legal actions against him and Kerala Kaumudi. True to the prophecy made by Mani and Kerala Kaumudi, the deforestation and chopping of tress from reserve forests in the State brought down the forest cover of the State from 35 per cent to 13 per cent.