THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Perhaps, it was the first occasion when Sajeer Khan, the star announcer of the CPM, was lost without words. The 44-year-old who accompanied the funeral procession of Communist doyen V S Achuthanandan said it was the toughest moment in his 16-year-long announcement career. And it was his longest ever assignment too, for over 24 hours, from Achuthanandan’s Velikkakathu House in Thiruvananthapuram to the Velikkakathu House in Alappuzha.
Khan, a hardcore CPM worker, said he had great admiration for VS. “He was among the leaders who attracted lakhs of ordinary people like me to the party. Also, I had served as announcer and compere for numerous programmes attended by the VS in the past. On those occasions, my words announcing his arrival brought cheers to people’s faces. This time it was different. I could see grief-stricken and crying faces. It was a painful experience,” he said.
Initially, Khan was assigned to accompany the procession until the border of Thiruvananthapuram district. But his touching words that echoed the sentiments of numerous party workers, forced the organisers to extend the assignment till the last destination.
Khan, like most of the party workers who accompanied the procession from Thiruvananthapuram to Alappuzha, did not have food for 24 hours. “There were many like me, party workers, drivers, mic operators and many more who were part of the long journey. Neither was there time, nor we felt hungry. All we had during the 24 hours was water,” he said.
Khan said he had jotted some slogans for the procession. “But I did not feel like using that. What I said was from the bottom of my heart,” he said. 44-year-old Sajeer Khan, hailing from Karode in Thiruvananthapuram, is a hardcore worker of the CPM.
He started his announcing career in 1998, during a local body election. Previously he had held the positions of DYFI’s regional secretary and a member of the Karode local committee of the CPM. At present, he is a staffer at LSG Minister M B Rajesh’s office.