KOZHIKODE: Inter-religious marriages are not new in Kerala politics — the latest being the wedding of DYFI national president PA Mohammed Riyas and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena. Most of them have taken place among Left politicians. In the majority of cases, love bloomed in student days of their political activism and the couple tied the knot, but later the women gradually withdrew from active politics, barring a few.
K R Gowri Amma-T V Thomas is the most celebrated inter-religious political couple in the state. Gowri Amma, the stalwart of the CPI married another tall leader T V Thomas in 1957 and they are the single minister couple the state had till now. Both ministers in the 1967 government, Gowri Amma was allotted official residence at Xanadu and TV at Rose House, which is in the same courtyard separated by a wall.
“We literally destroyed the wall between the two houses and built a door to reach each other’s house. But the CPI shut that door, which came as a huge shock for me. That door separated us. I had a heart attack and was in the hospital for a month,” Gowri Amma reminisced about their separation in her autobiography. When the Communist party split in 1964, Gouri Amma went with CPM and TV stood in CPI. The marriage of Congress leaders Vayalar Ravi and Mercy Ravi too was celebrated. Their romance blossomed in 1960s at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam. The fiery young KSU leader belonging to Ezhava community, married Maria Francis Kattikaran from the affluent orthodox Christian family.
Dalit thinker Sunny M Kapikad says such inter-religions marriages happening in the privileged circles of politics or affluent cannot be taken as examples of social reformation. “Two Left leaders of different faiths should have abandoned religion long before their marriage. So, people do not see it in a reformation perspective,” he says. Social observer MN Karassery says that such inter-religious marriages are not rare.
Marked in political history
K R Gowri Amma (CPM) & TV Thomas (CPI)
Vayalar Ravi & Mercy Ravi (both Congress)
Annie Raja & D Raja (both CPI)
Geetha Nazeer & M Nazeer (both CPI)
P T Thomas MLA (Congress) & Uma
James Mathew (CPM), MLA & N Sukanya (AIDWA national leader)
C S Sujatha & G Baby (both CPM)
Binoy Viswam (CPI), MP & Sheila C George (AIYF former leader)
V Sasikumar & K Badarunnisa (both CPM)
M B Rajesh (CPM) & R Ninitha (former SFI central secretariat member)
P A Ajeer (CMP) & Sudharma
K K Ragesh (CPM), MP & Priya Vargheese
A A Rahim (DYFI state secretary) & Amrutha (SFI former state committee member)
V P Sanu (SFI national president) & Gadha M Das