THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘Orana Samaram’, a massive student protest organised by the Kerala Students Union in 1958, had propelled a batch of vibrant youngsters to the leadership of the state Congress. Political profiles of veteran leaders Vayalar Ravi, AK Antony and Oommen Chandy are value-added with fiery tales of their struggle against the first Communist government led by E M S Namboodiripad to restore the student concession of one anna (six paise) for boat travel.
Senior Congress leader G Balachandran has now challenged Antony’s role in ‘Orana Samaram’. In his autobiography ‘Innaleyude Theeram’ released last week, Balachandran — who was the vice-president of KSU when Antony was the president — says only Vayalar Ravi, Oommen Chandy and P K Kuriakose had participated in the protest that began in Alappuzha and later spread to other parts of the state.
“The fire for the protest was ignited by Vayalar Ravi and M A John. It was John who launched Oommen Chandy in Kottayam. Chandy boycotted school and courted arrest,” Balachandran recalls. The chapter on ‘Orana Samaram’, which a 14-year old Balachandran watched from close quarters, is silent on Antony’s role.
“I didn’t take part in the protest. I lived in a house opposite the Alappuzha boat jetty which was the centre of the protest. Schools remained closed because of the strike. I would look across the bank every day. Students would come in batches for the protest every morning. The police used to beat students brutally,” writes Balachandran. Balachandran told TNIE that the omission of the name of Antony was not accidental.
“He was not part of the protest,” he said.
‘Haven’t seen Antony in any student protest’
“Antony was studying in the government school in Cherthala and I was a student of the SDV School in Alappuzha. I had not seen him as a part of any of the student groups that took part in the protest. P K Kuriakose was the leader of the protest in Cherthala. He was subjected to brutal police torture,” he says.
In 2017, in an article written in a Malayalam daily on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Vayalar Ravi, Antony noted, “It was the Orana Samaram organised by KSU that attracted me to the organisation. I jumped into the protest.”
Recalling the course of the protest, Antony wrote, “The strike spread like wildfire in Kerala. The government had to surrender ultimately. The student concession became a reality. No future government dared to touch the concession issue.” The protest was against the EMS government’s move to increase the concession fare of one anna (six paise) to 10 paise for students travelling in public transport boats.
Elsewhere in the book, Balachandran gives a detailed appraisal of Antony’s role in the Congress. “He has a halo of idealism. He has followers who are willing to give up their lives for him. Those are his strengths,” he writes.