KOTTAYAM: K M Mathew, Chief Editor of Malayala Manorama, who passed away on Sunday morning, was given a tearful farewell by thousands of persons here on Monday evening. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of Puthenpalli in the family vault beside his wife Annamma who died a few years ago. A large number of persons from all walks of life attended the funeral which was conducted with full state honours. They included Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala and MPs and MLAs from Central Kerala. His body was brought to the Malayala Manorama head office here at 12.30 pm. The funeral services were led by Orthodox Church Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Didymos-I, with the assistance of Catholicos-designate Paulose Mar Milithios and other bishops. All the 30 Metropolitans of the Orthodox Church took part in the services.
A holiday was declared for all offices and schools in the Kottayam municipal town by the district administration from the afternoon as a mark of respect to the departed. Schools and colleges coming under the corporate management of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church also remained closed. Among those who paid homage to K M Mathew were ministers P K Sreemathi, P K Gurudasan, N K Premachandran, S Sarma and K P Rajendran, CITU state secretary M M Lawrence, NSS general secretary P K Narayana Panicker, SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan, Sukumar Azhikode, DGP Jacob Punnoose, ADGP Siby Mathews, IG B Sandhya, District Collector Mini Antony, K E Ismail MP, ex- MPs Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, K Suresh Kurup, K Chandran Pillai and Panyan Raveendran.
The New Indian Express Editorial Advisor TJS George and Malayalam Vaarika editor S Jayachandran Nair also paid their last respects to Mathew.
A condolence meeting was held in the evening on the police station ground here after the funeral. V N Vasavan MLA presided over the meet. Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala, MPs Jose K Mani and Anto Antony, MLAs K M Mani, Tiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and K C Joseph, among others, spoke. Municipal chairperson Bindu Santosh Kumar read out a condolence resolution on the occasion.