Kerala - Kochi   

City pays homage to Kamala Suraiya

KOCHI: Thousands of Kochiites paid their final homage to Kamala Suraiya, noted writer, when her body was brought to the Ernakulam Town Hall on Monday.

Friends, relatives, political leaders, literary buffs, students, and several others from various walks of life turned up at the venue to pay their last respects to the writer, who bid goodbye to the city two years ago, to live in Pune.

Even though the official announcement was that the body will be brought to the Town Hall between 12 noon and 1 p.m., thousands thronged the Town Hall premises hours before the scheduled time. Braving the scorching heat, many lined up along the pathway leading to the entrance of the hall to get a glimpse of their favourite writer.

District Collector M. Beena; Vinson Paul, Inspector General, Ernakulam; and City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham were waiting at the entrance of the hall to receive the body that was brought from the Kerala Sahithya Akademi in Thrissur.

Hundreds converged on the narrow entrance of the hall when the hearse carrying the writer’s body reached the venue by 1.10 p.m. Police personnel had a tough time controlling the crowd that rushed to the ambulance carrying the body.

The main entrance to the hall was closed immediately after the body was taken inside the hall, where hundreds were waiting from the morning to pay homage to the writer. The body was kept in front of a huge flex which carried the photograph of Ms. Suraiya. Police personnel presented the official guard of honour before the door was opened for the public to pay homage.

Dr. Beena was the first among hundreds who placed wreaths on the body. The Collector placed the wreath on behalf of K.V. Thomas, Union Minister of State for Food and Agriculture.

Among others who offered their respects were Finance Minister Thomas Isaac; P. Rajeev, MP; MLAs K. Babu, V. D. Satheesan, A. M. Yousuf, Jose Thettayil; former MPs Sebastian Paul, Suresh Kurup, K. Chandran Pillai;former judges K. Sukumaran, P.K. Shamsuddin; chairman of People’s Democratic Party, Abdul Nasir Maudany; Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala Agricultural University, K. R. Vishwambharan; Fr. Varghese Chacko of the Orthodox Syrian Church; Sheikh Mohammed Karakunnam, State Assistant Amir of the Jama-at Islami; Vinayan, film director; G. Sureshkumar, president of the Film Producers Association; and noted writers including M. Leelavathi, Sethu, K. L. Mohanavarma, Balachandran Chullikad, Vijayalakshmi, M. Thomas Mathew, K. P. Sudheera, and Sreekumari Ramachandran.

The body was shifted to the ambulance at 1.45 p.m. It was later taken to the Alappuzha collectorate for the public to pay homage. Officials representing the government and representatives of the Kerala Sahithya Akademi accompanied the body.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Pre-admission guidance for students
Skilled labour in high demand: Minister
SmartCity planning more knowledge centres
Notice to corporations
High Court directive on road work
Protest against ‘delay’ in SmartCity project
Port employees to stage relay fast
City pays homage to Kamala Suraiya
Rain stays away in city as students return to school
Court puts corporation on notice
In Kochi Today

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu