V. S. Achuthananthan - a fighter to the core

In the late 1920s early 1930s, at a time when Kerala was bound in the chains of a rigid caste 
system, a boy going to primary school at Kalarkode near here, was one day ridiculed and beaten up by some upper caste boys. 

The next day, on the advice of his father, the little boy carried a stick with him, and on being waylaid by his tormentors once again, let loose a flurry of quick blows at them. Pretty soon, all of them fled, leaving the boy with perhaps his first lesson in resisting oppression and injustice. 

Decades later, that young boy is due to be sworn in as the 20th Chief Minister of Kerala at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow. But, the years have not dimmed his fighting spirit and 82-year-old Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan continues to be as fiesty a fighter today as he was while lashing out at his boyhood bullies. 

''''My brother has always fought against social injustice, including corruption and mafia rule. He suffered several sorrows in his political career for this. He was brutally manhandled by police.

He still carries a scar from the time the police speared the bayonet of a gun into his foot,'''' recalls Ayikkutty, the only sister of Achuthanandan, who was a witness to his early political life. 

Living close to Achuthanandan’s residence at Punnapra, near here, Ayikkutty is happy that her ''annan'' (elder brother) has finally been rewarded for his life of sacrifice and struggle. 

Remarks another comrade-in-arms K R Swaminathan, who was with ''VS'' at the time of the famous Punnapra Vayalar Communist struggle against the Diwan''s rule and the formation of the Communist movement in Central Travancore: ''''He is an uncompromising comrade in the cause of ideology. He is always a fighter. He wished to be known as a fighter and a comrade simultaneously.'''' All his old comrades are very happy that ''VS'' is going to occupy the Chief Ministerial chair, even though it is at the grand old age of 82. ''''This is the first time that some one from a proletarian background is coming to power. He knows the sufferings of the working class. So the people have high expectations from him,'''' said another comrade A K Paraman. 

''VS'' was born on October 20, 1923, as the second son of Venthalathara Sankaran, who ran a small textile shop, and Karthyayani in Punnapra village of Alappuzha district. Smallpox claimed his mother''s life when ''VS'' was only four years'' old. He lost his father also when he was eleven.