N Sankaraiah obit: A Marxist leader who was in a class of his own

A week before his demise, the Tamil Nadu government had wanted to award the centenarian with an honorary doctorate at Madurai Kamaraj University’s convocation. However, the move was stalled as governor RN Ravi refused to give his assent for the award.

The governor's act irked political leaders cutting across party lines. Some of the candidates, who were to receive their certificates at the university function, boycotted the convocation as an expression of solidarity with the Communist leader. In response to Ravi's move, the state's higher education minister K Ponmudy too boycotted the event.

However, the MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government has bestowed Sankaraiah with the 'Thagaisal Tamizhar' (Venerable Tamil) award in July 2021. However, he magnanimously donated the award money of ₹10 lakh to the state's COVID fund.

A lost degree

While the incident over governor Ravi's refusal to give him the honorary degree stirred up a big row in the state, it will not be the first time Sankaraiah is losing out in getting a degree.

Born as Prathapachandran on July 15, 1922 in Kovilpatti (now in Thoothukudi district, then in Tirunelveli), Sankaraiah was pursuing an under-graduate course in history at the American College in Madurai, when destiny intervened.

Many young people in the 1940s were actively involved in the Independence struggle and Sankaraiah was no different. Indoctrinated in the self-respect movement through his maternal grandfather Ramasamy and as joint secretary of his college's Student Literary Wing, he used to meet political stalwarts like C Rajagopalachari, Muthuramalingam Thevar, S Sathyamoorthy.

It was then the most natural thing for Sankaraiah to be drawn towards student politics.

In 1941, the arrest of six students at Annamalai University, which included women, by the British under the National Security Act, sparked off state-wide protests by the students. Sankaraiah too participated in a meeting organised by the Congress and delivered an address. After which, he wrote a handbill launching a scathing attack on the British that was secretly distributed among the students.

British officials came down strongly on student rebels after the handbill incident. Sankaraiah, who was expected to clear his BA examinations and to pursue law, was arrested by the police on February 28, just 15 days before his final examinations. With his arrest, his educational aspirations were crushed. He spent his first jail term, which was for 18 months in various prisons at different places, including Vellore and Rajahmundry.

A face-off

Though Sankaraiah was no longer a student, he did not stop associating with his fellow students from college. After his release from jail on June 26, 1942, he was elected as the general secretary of the Student Federation - Tamil Nadu, a part of the Communist Party of India (CPI), at a conference held in Salem.

As the chief of a student organisation, Sankaraiah continued to participate in the meetings organised by several college and university students. In August 1942, the Congress had started the 'Quit India Movement' and many of its leaders were arrested.

The enthusiasm over the Quit India movement was felt in Tamil Nadu too. It was at that time, Sankaraiah, who was visiting Tirunelveli as part of his job in the month of October, came in contact with students of St Xavier college and St John college. They were engaged in demonstrations over the arrest of the Congress leaders.

Sankaraiah who was entrusted with organising a non-violent students protest, rounded up the students to submit a representation to the collector. Sankaraiah was at the helm leading the students' rally to the collector’s office and when the rally reached the venue, he was beaten up by the police and arrested. His crime was that he had incited the students.

Young Kayyur martyrs

When he was arrested, Sankaraiah was taken to Vellore, where he was jailed along with Congressmen. But a warning missive from intelligence sources to Vellore jail officials led Sankaraiah to be shifted to Cannanore (now Kannur) jail in Kerala by the authorities.

The message had warned that if Communists were allowed to mix with Congressmen, there was a danger of Congressmen being converted to communism.

The jail that Sankaraiah was sent to also housed the convicts from the Kayyur incident. The Kayyur incident involved a series of protests held in today's Kasargod district, whereby a policeman was killed in a peaceful farmers’ protest on March 28, 1941.

The killing resulted in the arrest of four youngsters namely, Appu, AV Kunhambu, Chirukandan and Pallikkal Aboobacker. All four had been given capital punishment.

Sankaraiah and his jail mates were keen to meet these four young men known for their valour. The jail officials, however, denied them their request. On March 20, 1943, subsequently, the Kayyur convicts were hanged and became martyrs.

The popular Kannada writer penned the novel Chirasmarana (1955) based on this incident, which was later translated into Tamil as Ninaivugal Azhivathillai by PR Parameswaran.

In his biography N Sankaraiah - Vaazhkkaiyum Iyakkamum (N Sankaraiah - Life and Movement), penned by his younger brother N Ramakrishnan, Sanakaraiah reminisces about this incident in which he had tried to meet the Kayyur martyrs but in vain.

He was finally released in May, 1944. Later, he served in the CPI(M) in different capacities, became a three-time MLA and also contributed to the growth of Theekkathir, the party organ and Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association, the party's cultural arm.

As a legislator, he supported DMK’s stands on many issues such as anti-Hindi imposition, language policy, state autonomy, etc. During his visit to Damascus in Syria, he met the rebel leaders of the Palestinian movement.

Tamil Nadu mourns this freedom fighter who was in a class of his own.