Thousands pay tribute to VS Achuthanandan at Durbar Hall
The mortal remains were brought in an ambulance accompanied by CPM general secretary M.A. Baby, state secretary M.V. Govindan, MLA Kadakampally Surendran, and other senior leaders. Upon arrival, the police presented a ceremonial guard of honour to the late leader.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, cabinet ministers, senior CPM leaders including Prakash Karat and several MLAs, and Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar were present at the venue to offer their tributes. 'We will be remembering him very fondly every time,' the governor said, reflecting on VS's contributions to Kerala's political and social landscape.
Businessman M.A. Yusuff Ali, who also paid his respects, said, 'He was a visionary who worked not just for Kerala but for the entire country. He even stood for the welfare of Gulf Malayalis.'
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The Hindu
22 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Punnapra-Vayalar — The blood-red uprising that shaped Kerala's Left
The story so far V.S. Achuthanandan, the communist icon who passed away at the age of 101, was one of the last living flagbearers of the historic Punnapra-Vayalar uprising of 1946 in Kerala. The movement, which played a critical role in shaping Kerala's political landscape, was the crucible that forged his lifelong commitment to justice and resistance. What was Punnapra-Vayalar uprising? The Punnapra-Vayalar uprising of 1946 was a mass revolt by workers and peasants against the autocratic Travancore monarchy and the autocratic rule of Diwan C.P. Ramaswami Iyer. Rooted in the coastal belt of Alappuzha, particularly in the villages of Punnapra and Vayalar, the movement was spearheaded by the nascent Communist Party of India, which mobilised coir workers, agricultural labourers and tenants who were bearing the brunt of feudal exploitation and starvation in the wake of World War Two. At the heart of the protest was rising discontent against the Diwan's proposal to keep Travancore an independent nation, separate from the Indian Union, an idea modelled on the American presidential system. The communists were objected to this 'American model', coining the slogan: 'Throw the American model into the Arabian Sea!' A revolt fuelled by suffering The economic hardship was acute. Food shortages, black market, inflation, unemployment and starvation plagued the people. Landlords, backed by the State, ruled with impunity. In the face of such cruelty, the coir workers' union and the communist party began building ward committees and organising local resistance in Cherthala and Ambalapuzha taluks. By 1945, a general strike was held across Alappuzha, Cherthala and Muhamma, demanding basic rights and rations. The response was swift and brutal in the form of martial law and police repression. The flashpoint On 25 October 1946, as Travancore prepared to declare independence with a U.S.-style constitution, unrest was already boiling over. The All Travancore Trade Union Congress had called for a general strike starting October 22. Thousands of workers took to the streets, marching toward the reserve police camp at Punnapra, demanding freedom. When the protesters reached the camp, the officer-in-charge gave the order to open fire. Several demonstrators were shot dead. The officer and five policemen were also killed in the clashes that followed. Outraged, over 1,000 communists in Vayalar retaliated with crude spears (varikuntham, as it is locally called) carved from arecanut tree stems and killed several police personnel. The Diwan responded by declaring martial law. By October 27, the Travancore army, with naval support, had surrounded Vayalar. Outgunned, the rebels resisted fiercely but were eventually crushed. The exact toll remains uncertain, but hundreds of communists lost their lives in the brutal crackdown. Achuthanandan's role Achuthanandan, then a 23-year-old coir worker and newly minted Communist, was deeply involved in organising workers ahead of the uprising. Though arrested before the final clashes, he played a crucial role in mobilising resistance. After the uprising, V.S. went underground. Escaping to Kottayam through the backwaters, he trekked 30 km to reach Poonjar as instructed by Travancore Communist Party acting secretary K.V. Pathrose. In Poonjar, he hid in the homes of sympathisers but was soon caught and subjected to intense torture. He was presumed dead and nearly dumped in the forest. But he survived and was treated in Pala hospital before being transferred to the Poojappura Central Jail in Thiruvananthapuram. Aftermath and legacy Though the uprising was violently suppressed, it dramatically shifted Travancore's political trajectory. It symbolised the awakening of class consciousness among the oppressed and laid the ideological foundation for the rise of Left politics in the State. Less than a year later, Diwan C.P. Ramaswami Iyer resigned and left the State after an attempt on his life. This struggle also led to the beginning of a process through which the two princely States of Travancore and Cochin were first made into what was known as the Travancore-Cochin State. Seven years later, they were merged with the Malabar district of the British-ruled Madras presidency to form the new, united linguistic State of Kerala. In 1957, following the first-ever elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the first democratically communist government came to power under the leadership of E.M.S. Namboodiripad. The communists regard Punnapra-Vayalar uprising as not isolated. It was part of a broader wave of militant actions across Kerala — Karivellur, Kavumbai and Thillankeri in Malabar saw similar uprisings. But the resistance in Alappuzha stood out for its intensity, sacrifice, and impact. The slogan 'the blood of Vayalar is our blood' became a rallying cry for generations of Left activists. A life lived in the spirit of resistance For Achuthanandan, the uprising was a turning point that charted the rest of his life. As a trade unionist, Leader of the Opposition, Chief Minister and elder statesman of the Left, he carried the spirit of Punnapra-Vayalar into every phase of his public life. With his passing, Kerala also looses a bridge to its revolutionary past. But the legacy set by V.S. has ensured that the fire lit in 1946 lives on in Kerala's politics, memory and conscience.
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Fare well VS Achuthanandan: The leader who never lost his soul
It's the day when Kerala is seeing the last farewell for the late VS Achuthanandan. The outpouring of love for the Communist stalwart, with 'Samaram aanu VS' booming all along the way, stands testimony to the fact that the 101-year-old will always live on in the hearts and minds of the millions who cherish their Comrade. Never an ideologue, the legendary leader was able to effectively fill the political vacuum left by EMS Namboodiripad's demise in Kerala politics. Till the end, he championed both the party's and the Leftist cause in Kerala and remained the quintessential people's leader. The election memories he left behind are many. In the state's first-ever bypoll in 1958, he brought in the one-and-only MGR to campaign for the Left. With MGR was a then unknown boy who would sing at campaign meetings. He later went on to be known as the legendary Ilayaraja. In 2015, he led the Left battle against KM Mani in the assembly. Even in the 2019 by-election—his final political outing—VS was in his element, unleashing a scathing attack on political opponents. Though a leader with limited formal education, he stood out from his peers for his political wisdom, which led him to take up a slew of people's issues—be it environmental issues like Pooyamkutty, or issues related to women's safety. People saw in him their saviour. Someone who was patient enough to lend an ear to their woes, a politician who was never reluctant to take up their causes, an Opposition within his own party, a leader of the masses. Patient listener who was open to new ideas His once close associates clearly remember how VS took up various causes like the free software movement at a time when such concepts were unheard of in Kerala. "In fact, I had met a couple of senior Left leaders at the time, and none of them were even ready to listen. That's when one of them—obviously to get rid of me—directed me to VS, who was then the Opposition Leader. I was given only five minutes to explain and was obviously worried as to how to explain in such a short period. VS was sitting in his office at Cantonment House. He gave me a patient hearing and kept jotting on a brown cover. Once I finished, he asked me to repeat everything slowly. I was sweating profusely. I repeated everything in the same order. "He kept on asking me whether I was exaggerating. He finally realised its immense significance, and could sense the politics behind it. He then asked me to come up with a statement. He told me, 'Only the truth must be told, but that doesn't necessarily mean a narration of mere facts'. This was a rare quality among politicians. It's surprising how he was able to grasp the politics of free software. At a time when even youngsters were unable to comprehend, VS immediately grasped its core concept," VK Sasidharan once told The New Indian Express. Later during his Chief Ministerial tenure too, VS actively took up the free software movement and even shared a dais with Richard Stallman, the world-renowned American free software movement activist. 'How will you profit, if you gain the world, but lose your soul?' How VS took on the late Kerala Congress supremo KM Mani in the assembly over the bar bribery scam is a lesson in itself for political aspirants. It was on March 10, 2015—just two days before the notorious Assembly bedlam—that VS tore into Mani in the Assembly, quoting from the Holy Bible: "Mr Mani, there will come a time when verses in the Bible will come true. I can't even imagine Mani rotting in hell's eternal fire, surrounded by deadly worms." He even had the audacity to read aloud from the Gospel of Matthew for Mani's benefit. Unleashing a barrage of vitriolic humour on the hapless minister, Achuthanandan solemnly quoted from the Holy Bible. "Aren't Mani, Oommen Chandy and PC George all believers? Aren't they well-versed with the Bible? Let me quote from the Gospel of Matthew: How will a man profit, if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? - Chapter 16: Verse 26", before staging a walkout. Mani couldn't be blamed for losing his cool and terming Achuthanandan 'Antichrist'. Soul-searching leader who was CPM's biggest crowd-puller Though VS chose to be the voice of dissent within the party, he simultaneously managed to remain its most reliable soldier. A scathing internal critic, he was yet its biggest crowd-puller. A soul-searching leader, who would put his party in a spot, he was yet the one who would also come to its rescue. No wonder Achuthanandan would be remembered as a study in contrast. A revolutionary Marxist. Having said that, it wouldn't be right if we forget to say that his party—the CPI(M)—never gave up on him. VS may have nurtured political ambitions, but never at the cost of his convictions—be it political or personal—a rare characteristic that made him a true-blood comrade! Undoubtedly one of the greatest mass leaders the state ever had, frenzied masses hung on to his every word, relishing his adept feints, pointed barbs and striking analogies—all rolled out in his quintessential colloquial style. The silence and emptiness he leaves behind is numbing.
India Today
3 hours ago
- India Today
VS Achuthanandan's funeral procession stretches to 20 hours as huge crowds gather
Kerala's Alappuzha district is packed with people as thousands gather to pay their last respects to veteran leader VS Achuthanandan. Despite heavy rain, women, children, and elderly waited through the night along the roads for a final glimpse of funeral procession started from Thiruvananthapuram more than 20 hours ago and is now nearing his residence in Alappuzha. Though some planned stops for public homage were skipped to save time, huge crowds continued to turn up. The procession was expected to arrive by 10 pm yesterday but got delayed.#WATCH | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala | Thousands of people gathered on the streets to bid a final farewell to Kerala's former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan. ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2025advertisementSuch was the turnout that in the first 4.5 hours, the procession could cover only 13 km as people thronged the streets to see him one last time. It took around eight hours to complete just 30 km. After the stop at his home, the body will be taken to the district collector's office and then to the Police Recreation Ground. The funeral, with full state honours, will be held at the Punnapra-Vayalar Martyrs' Memorial in Valiya Chudukkad at 3 have shortened the time for public homage to stick to the veteran leader passed away on Monday, July 21, at 3.20 pm in a mark of respect, the Kerala government observed a statewide holiday on July 22. All state government offices, educational institutions, including professional colleges, state public sector undertakings, statutory bodies, autonomous institutions, and all establishments under the Negotiable Instruments Act remained state also began three days of mourning from yesterday, with the national flag flown at half-mast on all government buildings.- Ends IN THIS STORY#Kerala
