THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the 82nd anniversary of the Neyyattinkara firing as part of the freedom struggle, a memorial was unveiled at Athazhamangalam, native village of Veeraraghavan, the leader and one of the martyrs of the protest that resulted in the massacre by the British army. A sculpture with a six-inch projection, which portrays the police firing that claimed eight lives, adorns the memorial, intended as a message for generations to come.
“A team of five people toiled hard for over a year to make this project a reality. The sculpture itself took 35 days of break-free work. This is a piece of our history which should remain with the children. The sculpture has been made in a land provided by the municipality. We also plan to organise history awareness classes here,” said Ajayan Aruvippuram, chairman of Neyyar Varamozhi, a group of artists working to preserve art and history on the banks of the Neyyar.
It was Varamozhi that played a major role in making the project a reality along with the help of Neyyattinkara Municipality. Apart from Ajayan, Sreekumar Amachal and Manikandan Varamozhi were also part of the team which brought the project to life. The firing in Neyyattinkara the British army took place on August 31, 1938 and claimed the lives of Athazhamangalam Raghavan (Veeraraghavan), Kalluvila Podiyan, Nadoorkolla Kuttan Pillai, Varuvilakom Muthan Pilla, Maruthur Vasudevan, Kanchampazhinji Kuttappan Nair and Varuvilakom Padmanabhan Pillai.
A homemaker named Kali was also killed. The group was protesting the arrest of local leaders by the police. The official inauguration of the memorial was done by Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Monday.