‘The Boy With A Spark’- How P. Krishna Pillai Ignited A Revolutionary Flame News24 –

Women fought back tears as the vehicle carrying VS Achuthanandan, Kerala’s beloved revolutionary leader, made its final journey to his home. The streets echoed with grief and reverence for the fiery Marxist who passed at 101. He was Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011. The air was heavy with reverence for the man who, at 82, became Chief Minister, embodying the pulse of Kerala’s people with a legacy that will echo through generations.

Kerala witnessed an outpouring of grief as thousands thronged to pay tribute to VS Achuthanandan, the beloved people’s leader, throughout Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha. A similar wave of mourners had gathered years earlier for the funeral of another former Chief Minister, E.K. Nayanar, reflecting the deep reverence for these titans of the state.

An anti-corruption crusader, a mass puller, Common Man’s Voice breathed his last on Monday at the Sree Uthradom Thirunal Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He suffered a heart attack on June 23 and was admitted to the hospital.

Communist revolutionary P. Krishna Pillai ignited the spark in a young VS Achuthanandan. At just 16, VS emerged as a standout in the night classes led by communist leaders in Alappuzha, actively engaging and asking probing questions throughout his early political journey. Once, he said about VS- “He’s a spark that can ignite a fire.”

Mission Kuttanad

Seeing the fighting spirit of V.S., who was constantly asking questions in the night study classes, Krishna Pillai said again: “Your mission lies in Kuttanad, where poor agricultural workers face exploitation and women endure violence. Go there, rally them, and lead their fight.” Achuthanandan took up the mission. Later, chapters were written in history. Those chapters made the two letters V.S. the eyes and hearts of Kerala.

When a coir worker, questioning unpaid wages, was brutally beaten, V.S. couldn’t hold back. The assailant was an elder, but Achuthanandan fought back, covering his face with a cloth. By day, he toiled in the factory; by night, he immersed himself in the party’s study classes. P. Krishna Pillai, the class’s main speaker, noticed the spirited Achuthanandan and saw the spark within him.

In Kuttanad, agricultural workers and tenants toiled until dawn, often unpaid or beaten by landlords’ goons if they protested. When police sided with landlords, V.S. Achuthanandan and his comrades arrived from Alappuzha to organise a farmers’ strike. Despite goons sent to scatter them, V.S. stood firm. The strike at Sreemulam Lake, sparked after harvest when paddy lay piled in fields, halted landlords’ operations, marking its first victory. At 17, V.S. joined the Communist Party, rising as a notable young leader and forging a new chapter of resistance in Kerala’s history.

The Rise Of The Titan

Achuthanandan began his political odyssey at the age of 16. After taking the membership, he fought against the feudal landlords and colonial rule in Alappuzha. He began his journey as an activist by working with and organising poor farm workers and factory labourers in Kuttanad, including those from the Aspinwall factory. This is how he gained early experience in protests and workers’ movements.

VS’s Early Life

Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan was born on October 20, 1923, in Alappuzha’s Punnapra. He lost his mother at four, and his father at 11. He dropped out of school while in class 7. After this, he started taking odd jobs like tailoring and in coir factories. In 1940, the legendary Communist leader P. Krishna Pillai took note of him during VS’s childhood. Pillai sent him to Kuttanad to understand the problems of the farmers and work among them. He was a trade union leader then, and he mobilised the farmers and urged them to demand fair wages and fight for their rights.

In 1946, the popular Punnapra-Vayalar uprising, which was against the Travancore Diwan C.P. Ramaswami Iyer’s bid for self-rule, was the turning point in Achuthanandan’s political career. He took an active role in mobilising the farmers. He was arrested in Poonjar and was subjected to custodial torture. He faced brutal police beatings, narrowly escaping death when officers planned to kill him in a forest. Saved by comrades like Kovalan, who ensured he reached Pala Hospital, V.S. emerged unyielding, laying the foundation for his legacy as Kerala’s fearless advocate for the masses.

In 1964, Achuthanandan left the national council of the undivided Communist Party of India. He became one of the first leaders to help start the Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI(M), after it split from the original party. Later, during the Emergency period, the government put him in jail.