M K Sanoo
The name V S Achuthanandan brings to mind the pathetic lives of the farm workers of Kuttanad. They were kept as slaves and treated as animals by the landlords. The workers toiled hard in the paddy fields and were not even provided gruel to sustain their lives. The workers who sought wages were tied to trees and tortured brutally. They didn’t have the right to choose the name of their children. The children were given names like ‘Chathan’. There were some landlords who forced labourers to send newly wed women to sleep with them.
Groomed by leaders like P Krishna Pillai and T V Thomas, Achuthanandan stayed with the farm and coir workers and enlightened them about their rights, which prepared the ground for the Punnapra-Wayalar uprising of 1946. Though not a member of the Communist Party, I was a sympathiser and was closely associated with the leaders of the party.
Though my ancestral house was at Thumboly, I knew Achuthanandan from the age of 16 as he was a distant relative of my father.
Achuthanandan started his life as a tailor but joined the party at a young age after witnessing the pathetic lives of the workers of Alappuzha. He was a champion of the working class. He educated the workers and organised strikes in Kuttanad to make the landlords accept the workers’ demands.
It was former party general secretary E M S Namboothiripad who identified Achuthanandan and brought him to the state leadership. EMS insisted that the party should have a proletarian leadership in Kerala. For most of his life, Achuthanandan was at the helm of the party in Kerala. He was an ardent communist who insisted on party discipline and was unforgiving when it came to party values.
Though arrested and subjected to third degree torture, Achuthanandan remained unwavering and continued his fight for the underprivileged.
During my term as a member of the legislative assembly, I had the opportunity to associate with him and had noted his care for the working class. He will be remembered for his struggle for the rights of the workers, his adamant stand against corruption and his commitment to communist values.