140 kilometres, 22 hours, a familiar destination – VS Achuthanandan's last journey
The body of VS, which was taken by road in a flower-decorated low-floor bus from the state capital on Tuesday afternoon, reached Alappuzha on Wednesday morning. It took 22 hours to cover a 140 km distance as a sea of humanity waited along the entire route to pay tribute to the Communist leader.
Although the cortege was scheduled to reach his house in Punnapra, Alappuzha, on Tuesday at 9 pm, the warmth of the people delayed the final journey. Those who had gathered showered flower petals in front of the bus carrying the body and raised slogans calling VS immortal. Many who came from far-flung regions waited for hours to give a final red salute to the leader, who lived for the ordinary people and their issues.
When the cortege reached Harippad in Alappuzha, local legislator and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala was waiting to pay homage. 'When the final journey of VS is passing through Harippad, I have to be here,' he said.
After reaching Alappuzha, the body was taken to his Velikkakathu house at Punnapra, where senior party leaders, including CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, state secretary M V Govindan and Indian Union Muslim League president Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, were present.
Later, in the afternoon, the body was taken to the Alappuzha district committee office of the CPI(M), which VS had turned into his second home during his early years of political life in the undivided Communist Party.
The burial ground, which is close to communist hearts, is the resting place of hundreds of martyrs of the 1946 Punnapra-Vayalar uprising and several early leaders of the Communist movement such as T V Thomas, K R Gouriyamma, P T Punoose, R Sugathan and P K Chandranadan.
The uprising, in which hundreds were martyred, had been a defining moment in the making of the organiser in VS. He was in charge of a camp to make sharpened lances out of arecanut tree planks to use against the weapons of the police force.
Every year, VS used to pay tributes to the martyrs on the commemoration of the event in October. The last time he visited Valiyachudukadu was in October 2019, before he was bedridden following a stroke.
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