KOCHI: Dramatic scenes unfolded at the Ernakulam Town Hall when the mortal remains of veteran communist leader and former CPM central committee member M M Lawrence, 95, were kept for public homage on Monday.
A minor scuffle broke out after his daughter Asha, along with her son Milan, opposed the plan to hand over his body to the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) in Kalamassery.
The situation became tense when Asha and Milan arrived at the Town Hall by 3pm. As Asha broke down standing beside her father’s body, the scheduled transfer of the body to the medical college mortuary was delayed. Women activists began raising slogans in support of the CPM while Asha, hugging her father’s body, chanted ‘CPM Murdabad’ (down with CPM) several times, insisting that the body not be taken away.
As Milan too got involved in the tussle between Asha and the activists, a further confrontation ensued with volunteers present there. Amid a heated exchange, Asha fell, and attempts were made to manhandle Milan.
As the situation threatened to escalate, CPM members stepped back and other relatives, including Lawrence’s daughter Sujatha, intervened. Asha and Milan blocked the shifting of the body, but they were eventually removed by the police and the CPM workers. The other family members too helped manage the situation.
The body was later transferred to the MCH as per Lawrence’s wish.
Unfortunate that Asha is creating a controversy, says Lawrence’s son
Earlier in the day, Asha had visited the Town Hall when the body was laid for public homage. She returned to the hall after the High Court decided in favour of handing over the body to the medical college. She wished for her father to be buried at the St Francis Church in Kathrikadavu, Kaloor, where his wife, Baby, had been laid to rest. Asha accused the CPM of using her father for political gain and raised suspicions about the decision to donate his body to the MCH.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, she expressed her frustration, saying her father never instructed them to donate his body to the medical college. She pointed out that her grandfather, also an atheist, was buried at a church cemetery and that her father participated in Christian family events, including baptisms and weddings.
“My grandfather was a greater atheist than my father. He was buried at the Pottakuzhi Church Cemetery in Kaloor. All kinds of Christian rituals accompanied the burial. We four children got married in the church. Father had participated in all these functions. He also attended the baptism of grandchildren.
My mother was also laid to rest after rituals at the church. The current drama of handing over the body to medical college is to convince someone. The deception of the communists even at the end,” Asha said in her FB post.Earlier, Lawrence had strongly objected to Milan’s participation in a BJP event, a factor that may have contributed to a rift between Asha and the others.
Meanwhile, M L Sajeevan, Lawrence’s son, told TNIE that both he and Sujatha had filed an affidavit supporting the donation of their father’s body to the medical college.
“It is unfortunate that Asha is creating such a controversy and telling all sorts of lies regarding my father being a practising Christian. He never prevented us from going to church. But he never went to the church. He had expressed his desire to donate his body to the medical college, both to me and many of his acquaintances,” Sajeevan said.
