(As told to ‘Express’ correspondent)
Asan who could cast a spell on young and old alike with his endearing charm and stimulating ideas maintained a youthful vigour throughout his life. A man of few words, Asan often came up with out-of-the-box strategies to steer the Front as well as the party out of crisis. I would like to share an incident that bears testimony to his unique way of dealing with testing times.
Way back in the late 80s, when E K Nayanar-led LDF was in power, the Youth Congress, under the leadership of its president Ramesh Chennithala, took out a rally from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram demanding the ouster of the government. Shaken up by the development, All-India Youth Federation (AIYF), the student wing of the CPI, convened an emergency meeting of state committee to plan to counter the Opposition move.
The meeting brought a deluge of ideas but none seemed to be applicable. Instantly, Asan came up with a suggestion to conduct an all-women rally to highlight the indifferent attitude of the Congress-led Union Government towards the state’s call for development. Though some considered the idea as ludicrous, a majority gave thumbs-up to Asan’s ‘different’ proposal.
After a couple of days, the ‘yatra’, featuring 51 young women, started from Kasargod and surprisingly the women were accorded warm reception across the state. In Vadakara, a cinema hall had to halt the show for some time as the viewers went out of the hall to receive the rally.
Thousands of people gathered in various locations to express their solidarity with the lady brigade, making the rally a huge success.
Asan always supported the youth. At party meetings, he seconded their ideas even if they were unconventional or looked absurd. He believed that the old generation should give way to the young for the party and its principles to survive the test of time.
Asan’s occasional outburst never hurt any partyman as nobody doubted his integrity and commitment to the party. Moreover, those at the receiving end considered Asan’s outrage a recognition for he criticised only those whom he believed of having some merit.
His criticisms were rooted in his convictions and truth. He had nothing to fear as he always kept his hands clean. He always kept away from power politics, and maintained high moral and intellectual standards.
Asan burst out when he feared his partymen were moving away from basic ideologies.
Unlike many who left electoral politics after failures, Asan did so after two impressive wins to the Assembly, in 1957 and 60. Both the victories were special as his maiden victory came when the Communist party fought its first electoral battle, and the victory in 1960 was followed by the controversial ‘Liberation Struggle’.
When I was the state secretary of the AIYF, Asan was in-charge of the party’s youth wing. We used to travel together a lot, and for me and my colleagues those journeys were informative and educative. He talked anything under the sun in his perception. He always had a special place in his heart for socially and economically backward party workers in Chadayamangalam, Kadakkal, or Harippad. Asan used to tell us about their sufferings and was proud of their commitment to the party.
His deep knowledge in epics and puranas helped him see things in a wider perspective.
Another speciality of Asan was that he used to visit people when they were in distress or in need of help. He was a friend of people during their bad times.
Asan’s intelligence and influence played a big role in making Kollam a stronghold of the CPI. However, one of his biggest dreams, the unification of the Communist parties, remained unfulfilled. He used to say that the reasons for partition didn’t exist now.
“If we remain separated without any differences in policies, it is not for the public but for ourselves,” he once publicly stated. With his demise it is the sunset of an era of idealistic politics.
His simple but noble life would be a role model for any Communist who believes in humanity and the uplift of the poor and downtrodden. Red salute to my dearest comrade.