KOCHI: The controversy surrounding the decision to hand over the mortal remains of veteran CPM leader M M Lawrence to the Ernakulam Government Medical College for medical research may escalate, as his daughter Asha Lawrence will continue the legal battle if the college authorities do not reach a favourable decision on Wednesday. While Lawrence’s other children support donating the body for medical study, Asha opposes this and wishes to conduct burial rites according to the Christian tradition. She has received a notice to appear before a committee, set up by the college principal, to present her stance in the handing over of the body.
Speaking to TNIE, Asha confirmed her intention to make her position clear during the hearing, stating, “If the decision is not in my favour, I will appeal to the High Court.” Earlier, she had approached the court, which instructed the medical college principal to decide in this regard after considering the objection raised by Asha.
She said it was the family, not the CPM, that should decide, citing her late mother’s wish to have Lawrence buried in a church cemetery with Christian rites. She also said that one of her siblings, Sujatha Boban, who now opposes her, had previously agreed to this. A minor scuffle broke out on Monday at the Ernakulam Town Hall, where the body was kept for the public to pay their last respects after Asha objected to the plan to donate the remains to the medical college.
In her petition, Asha alleged that her siblings, M L Sajeevan and Sujatha, had informed the media of their decision to donate the body, allegedly in coordination with CPM’s Ernakulam district secretary C N Mohanan. According to Asha, while her father was a member of the CPM, he was not against religious traditions. Her siblings, however, claimed that Lawrence had verbally expressed his wish to donate his body to the medical college.
Meanwhile, Sajeevan said the HC had directed the medical college to form a panel of seven to 10 members to address Asha’s objections, with the decision expected on Wednesday.
