KOZHIKODE: Pushpan, a survivor of the Koothuparamba police firing that occurred in 1994, passed away at the age of 54. He had been admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Kozhikode for the past two months due to deteriorating health and was declared dead at 3.30pm on Saturday. Last month, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had visited Pushpan.
CPM district leadership informed that the funeral procession carrying Pushpan’s mortal remains will leave Kozhikode at 8am on Sunday. The body will be transported in a vehicle and people will be able to see it from both sides of the road.
The procession will reach Thalassery Town Hall at 10 am. After a public homage at Thalassery Town Hall from 10 to 11.30 am, the body will be taken to Chokli Ramavilasam School via Palloor. From 12 pm to 4.30 pm the party workers can see Pushpan for one last time at Chokli Ramavilasam Higher Secondary School and then Pushpan will be laid to rest at Chokli Menapram House premises.
Kannur CPM district secretary M V Jayarajan announced that CPM will observe a hartal in Koothuparamba and Thalassery assembly constituencies on Sunday as a mark of respect to Pushpan.
Vehicles will be exempted from hartal. Born in Chokli, Pushpan was active in SFI during his school days. Later he became an active member of DYFI.
Due to financial compulsion, Pushpan was forced to leave Kerala and work at a grocery shop in Bengaluru. During the Koothuparamba police firing, Pushpan had come to his native place on a brief leave.
Pushpan was critically injured during a protest in 1994, organised by the DYFI at Koothuparamba against then-minister M V Raghavan, opposing the setting up of self-financing educational institutions.
During police firing, a bullet struck Pushpan in the back of the neck, damaging his spinal cord and leaving him paralysed from neck down. He remained bedridden for the rest of his life.
For the CPM, Pushpan was a symbol of resistance. Pushpan was the “living martyr” of the party. From local leaders to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, CPM members regularly visited Pushpan and offered support throughout his life. DYFI built a house for Pushpan soon after the Koothuparamba firing.In a condolence note on Facebook, Pinarayi wrote that the heart of every communist, who was excited to hear the name Pushpan, is saddened at this moment. “Along with our comrade, another unforgettable chapter in the party’s history is burning within us like a fire,” Pinarayi wrote.