Final Up to date:July 23, 2025, 23:45 IST
Veteran CPI(M) chief and former Kerala CM VS Achuthanandan’s funeral procession took 22 hours to succeed in his hometown of Alappuzha from the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram
A sea of individuals gathered to bid farewell to their “brave comrade” and veteran CPI(M) chief VS Achuthanandan, whose funeral procession took 22 hours to succeed in his hometown of Kerala’s Alappuzha from the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
The journey of 150 km, which usually takes 4 hours to cowl, was extended to 22 hours as an enormous crowd waited to pay their final respects and catch a ultimate glimpse of Achuthanandan.
Individuals needed to offer a salute to the previous Kerala chief minister, a person identified to be a crowd magnet who impressed revolutionary slogans wherever he went. Elders, youth, ladies, and kids had been seen on each side of the street – many had travelled from far-off districts – ready for hours and braving heavy rains late into the evening and early morning.
Many carried a rose of their hand with tears of their eyes, receiving him with plenty of slogans in addition to the trademark ‘Lal Salaam’ – ‘VS, you are our eyes and hearts’, ‘You are the rose in our hearts’, ‘The one who led us over the decades’, ‘You are not dead, you are living through us’, ‘You are living in the blood that flows through our veins’, and ‘The slogans that you raised, we will raise now’.
What the folks of Kerala harboured of their hearts for Achuthanandan was seen on the streets. Ever since his dying on July 21 (Monday), folks began surging outdoors the hospital and the AKG centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
His funeral procession began from Thiruvananthapuram at 2.15 pm on Tuesday (July 22) and reached his residence in Alappuzha on Wednesday afternoon. He was lastly laid to relaxation subsequent to his comrades in Alappuzha at about 9.30 pm.
A FIGHTER TO THE END
Achuthanandan, who was 101 years previous, had not even been lively for 5 years on account of poor well being. However that didn’t cease his followers.
There have been many children on the streets, those that had by no means even seen him in motion. They mentioned they had been there as a result of he was a person who fought for the folks. Ladies from all age teams had been out on the streets late into the evening, and these photos had been a testomony to his struggle for his or her rights. He was generally known as an anti-corruption icon, a crusader for ladies’s empowerment and environmental points.
The widespread sentiment amongst those that waited for him was that he was somebody who fought for the folks, the downtrodden, and they didn’t thoughts ready to see him one final time.
One of many founders of the CPI(M), the veteran chief at all times intervened in folks’s points, raised the voice of the unvoiced – a struggle that he began at a younger age by championing the reason for farmers and organising coir manufacturing facility employees.
It was not simply get together cadre or sympathisers, however many from different events additionally got here to pay their respects. It was a befitting tribute to a person whose life was stuffed with protests, struggles, and fights.
He began his wrestle even earlier than India gained independence. The Punnapra-Vayalar rebellion in 1946 was in opposition to the Travancore princely state and he was solely 23 on the time. He was captured by the police and tortured, and a bayonet was pierced into his foot. Cops even thought he was useless however he returned and lived to 101, a fighter until the tip.
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Alappuzha, India, India
Information politics 22 Hours, 150 Km, ‘Lal Salaam’: Kerala Bids Farewell To ‘Brave Comrade’ VS Achuthanandan
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