Red salutes; Comrades bid farewell to Koothuparamba police firing victim Puthukkudi Pushpan

KANNUR: Puthukkudi Pushpan (53), native of Chokli Menapram, who fought for nearly 30 years as a bedridden victim of the Koothuparamba police firing, received the farewell the state. The body was cremated at 5.45 pm at the Menapram house premises after public viewing. Pushpan's body was kept for public viewing at Thalassery Town Hall and Chokli Ramavilasam School. Several leaders and activists, including senior CPM leaders AA Rahim MP, EP Jayarajan, P Jayarajan and MV Jayarajan, had come to pay their last respects to Pushpan. Pushpan was cremated in the presence of a huge crowd in the premises of his house.

Pushpan was shot and became bedridden when he was 24 years old. He breathed his last at the Baby Memorial Hospital in Kozhikode at 3.30 pm yesterday. The body was brought home from the hospital at 8 am today as a mourning procession.

Pushpan was admitted to the hospital in critical condition on the evening of August 2. He was later shifted to a ventilator after he suffered a heart attack but his life could not be saved. Pushpan was bedridden after his spinal cord was damaged in the police firing on the DYFI protest in Koothuparamba on November 25, 1994.

Pushpan was a member of the CPM North Menapram branch. He participated in left-wing activities through Balasangham. Pushpan studied up to 8th standard at Menapram LP School and Chokli Ramavilasam School and was an SFI activist. Due to difficulties at home, he dropped out of studies and worked in shops in Mysuru and Bengaluru.

He participated in the protest when he returned home from Bengaluru on leave. Pushpan was injured when police opened fire during the black flag protest against minister MV Raghavan against the corruption and education business of the UDF government. KK Rajeevan, KV Roshan, Shibulal, Babu and Madhu were killed on the spot.