kv surendraNath

Hundreds pay their last respects to the veteran Communist leader







TRIBUTES: Leaders pay homage to the body of K.V. Surendranath at the office of the State Committee of the CPI in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. Photo: S. Gopakumar


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Veteran Communist leader K.V. Surendranath is no more. The 81-year-old Surendranath, `Asan' to everyone who knew him, breathed his last at 4.30 a.m. on Friday.

The body was cremated at the Thycaud crematorium in the city after hundreds of persons from all walks of life paid homage to him at the home of his nephew where he spent his final days, at the C. Achutha Menon Centre that he founded almost single-handedly and at the M. N. Smarakam, the State headquarters of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Surendranath, who had been ailing for some time, developed breathing trouble around 4 a.m. and breathed his last while being taken to a nearby private hospital. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan were among the first to arrive at his home to pay their respects to the Communist veteran. The body was taken to the Achutha Menon Centre at 3 p. m. and later kept at the M. N. Smarakam for about an hour before being taken for cremation.

Surendranath, member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly for three consecutive terms beginning 1980, was an epitome of probity and a man with deep understanding of Indian philosophy and Marxism-Leninism besides an abiding interest in environmental issues. He entered politics while a student and had founded the Thiruvananthapuram Students Organisation (TSO). After his studies, he worked for a brief while as reporter for a newspaper of the time `Indian Thinker', but had to leave the job when it was revealed that he was a Communist sympathiser. He returned to journalism much later in life as editor of `Marxist Veekshanam', an ideological journal. `Lokathinte Mukalthattil', a travelogue written after a journey to Manasarovar, is a widely acclaimed work in its genre. Surendranath became a member of the Communist Party in 1945 and played a major role in building the party in Thiruvananthapuram district. Police repression forced him to go underground for a year during 1946-'47 and later during 1948-'52. Branded a `Chinese spy' along with hundreds of Communist leaders during the Indo-China war, he was in jail for six months during 1963. An efficient trade union leader, Surendranath was in the forefront of the efforts to organise transport workers and the moving spirit, along with T. V. Thomas, behind the 1954 transport workers' strike. He was also one of the first to organise workers of Travancore Titanium Products Limited, Travancore Rubber Works Limited and the Metropolitan Company. He was the Thiruvananthapuram district secretary of the CPI and member of the party State executive and national council. He was a bachelor.
(courtsy( the hindu)