ALAPPUZHA: Onward to a final resting place, to be in the company of martyrs and his comrades. After a six-year interval, former Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, for one last time, returned to the very land that once reverberated with revolutionary slogans and heart-wrenching tales of the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising.
A founding leader of the CPM, VS, who breathed his last on Monday, was cremated with full state honours, including a full gun salute, at Martyrs’ Column at Valiyachudukadu in Alappuzha on Wednesday. His son V A Arun Kumar lit the funeral pyre around 9.10pm, a good six hours after the scheduled time.
It was here in 2019 that VS had his final outing with the masses, the last time he addressed legions of adoring fans. Abiding by a long-held practice, he had come to attend the anniversary of the 1946 Punnapra-Vayalar uprising, when he suffered a stroke that left him incapacitated.
On Wednesday, he returned once again, accompanied by thousands who thronged the place from across the state, giving scant regard to the heavy rain, to catch one final glimpse of their beloved leader.
The tremendous love and affection the masses had for the stalwart was reflected in emotional chants of ‘Kanne Karale Veeyese’ echoing through the 150-km-long stretch from the state capital to his hometown.
It took the procession nearly 22 hours to cover the distance to reach Velikkakath house at 12.20pm on Wednesday.
Tens of thousands waited patiently along the way through the night to bid adieu to the leader they loved, adored and trusted with their lives. An ocean of emotions could be seen surging through the ever-burgeoning crowd. When it rained, it seemed as if even the skies had opened up to join the thousands of mourners.
Among the umpteen wailing faces, one could spot a child perched on the roof of an adjacent building. Clutching at her aunt’s hands, she too raised slogans with the others, with the same energy.
“He was our own comrade: a rose-petal in our lives. What more to say!” averred five-year-old Aira B Hamid, a Class 1 student of Puramattom Higher Secondary School in Pathanamthitta.
The mortal remains were kept for public homage at VS’ home, then the district committee office, and later at the Recreation Ground.
Emotions run high, slogans fill air
Emotions ran high when the funeral cortege entered the hall. Thousands raised slogans as one, filling the melancholic air with resounding declarations of their deep-rooted love for VS. Senior leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, CPM general secretary M A Baby and state secretary M V Govindan who had accompanied their senior comrade for the last 48 hours, also went visibly pale, as the crowd chanted ‘Vee...Ess’.
Hours later, it was time for VS to finally return to Valiyachudukadu, the final resting place of fellow comrades, from P Krishna Pillai to R Sugathan, P T Punnoose to T V Thomas and the one-and-only K R Gowri Amma.
Till 2019, VS visited the Punnapra-Vayalar Martyrs’ Column every October every year, on a day known to local comrades as ‘Thulam Ezhu’ in the Malayalam calendar. This year, however, he decided to wait till ‘Thulam Ezhu’ to come back.
12.20pm: After 22 hours on the road, funeral procession carrying VS’ mortal remains from Thiruvananthapuram reaches Velikkakath house, his ancestral home, at Paravoor in Alappuzha
3.20pm: The body is kept for public homage at CPM’s Alappuzha district committee office
5.50pm: Funeral procession reaches Recreation Ground near Alappuzha Beach where thousands pay respects
6.10pm: Police present Guard of Honour
9pm: Mortal remains brought to Valiyachudukadu
9.10pm: Full gun salute
9.15pm: VS’ son V A Arun Kumar lights funeral pyre