TRIVANDRUM, 21 May 2004 — The body of veteran Kerala Marxist leader E.K. Nayanar, who died in New Delhi on Wednesday, will be cremated in Cannanore tonight.
As the caravan carrying the body of Kerala’s longest serving chief minister and one of its most popular leaders left for the northern town from the state capital Wednesday afternoon, tens of thousands of his followers chanted, “The comrade never dies” and “You will always be with us.”
Nayanar’s body will be displayed briefly in Calicut for the public to pay homage. There the revolutionary leader spent many years, mostly in hiding, and was the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) district secretary for 11 years.
Record crowds also thronged the streets of the state capital Trivandrum, comparable only to those greeting the death of Nayanar’s comrade E. M. S. Namboodripad five years ago.
Large numbers braved heavy showers at the airport when the body was flown in from Delhi on an Indian Air Force aircraft at 9.45 a.m. and later when it was kept at AKG Center, the party headquarters, and Durbar Hall of the state’s secretariat.
When at 2.30 p.m. the body left from the Durbar Hall to Cannanore in a specially designed open vehicle accompanied by his widow Sarada and four children, police had to disperse the long queue of mourners.
Among the crowd patiently waiting to pay homage were senior ministers and officials, writers including Sugatha Kumari and O.N.V. Kurup and film stars like Mammootty and Suresh Gopi.
The funeral will take place at 5 p.m. at Payambalam beach where his mentor A. K. Gopalan, the Nehru-era leader of opposition in Parliament, was cremated 26 years ago.
Eighty-six-year-old Nayanar died at New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMCC) at 5.05 p.m. on Wednesday after protracted illness.
Nayanar was admitted to the AIMCC on April 26 with diabetes and an ulcer on his foot but later suffered a massive heart attack kidney failure failed and was put on a respirator. He developed pneumonia and septicemia on Tuesday evening.
Nayanar’s death has virtually paralyzed the state, as leaders from all sides of the political spectrum joined mourners throughout the state. All government offices and educational institutions in Kerala were given a holiday and the state government has declared a week’s mourning.
