Annamalai University in Chidambaram — a cradle of freedom movement and a nursery of communist and Dravidian leaders — witnessed a massive student uprising against British rule in 1941. Its impact was also felt in Madurai. Late communist leader A.K. Gopalan, who was hiding in Madurai, sent a message to N. Sankaraiah, a student of American College, to organise a protest in support of Annamalai University students. A massive public meeting was organised by the Madurai Congress Committee and he wrote a pamphlet in English which read, “Heads are broken. Bones are pulverised. Blood flows in Annamalai University.”
The police searched the hostel of American College and one of the student leaders, Narayanasamy, was arrested as type-written pamphlets were found in his room. Sankaraiah, who later emerged as one of the tallest leaders of the communist movement in Tamil Nadu, mobilised students on the football ground of the college against the arrest. He was also arrested on February 28 that year by police inspector Theechatti Govindan and lodged in prison. When his final examinations were 15 days away, Sankaraiah was shifted to the Vellore jail and he could not complete his degree. It shattered the hopes of his father S. Narasimhalu, who wanted his son to pursue legal studies after graduation.
Agonising moments
But these developments would have hardly bothered Mr. Sankaraiah, if one goes by the interview he gave a few years ago to Su. Venkatesan, Madurai Lok Sabha member, for Semmalar, the literary magazine of the CPI(M). “I went through agonising moments only when my mother visited me in the Madurai prison. But a man should have clarity and think beyond that. Otherwise, we would be stuck in the middle,” Mr. Sankaraiah says in the interview, reiterating that commitment and dedication to the cause overrides all other considerations.
In his interview, he likened the freedom movement to a flowing river. “If you want to know the depth of the river, you should take a plunge. You will not know it even after 1,000 years, if you stand on the banks and ask the passers-by for it. After 10 days in jail, I started reading Maxim Gorky’s novel Mother. I loved the short stories of Pudumaipitham and they left a huge impact on me,” recalls Mr. Sankaraiah, who later served as the State secretary of the CPI(M).
Mr. Sankaraiah had spent eight years in jail during the independence movement and after the country became free. His first prison term when he was a student had extended up to 18 months.
As he and other students, wedded to communism, actively participated in political causes, the jail authorities shifted them from Vellore to Rajahmundry in present day Andhra Pradesh. Even though others were released after a few months, Mr. Sankaraiah was detained in a separate cell after Gopalan broke out of the Vellore jail.
Kamaraj’s plea
He was later shifted to Vellore after Congress leader Kamaraj wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary of Madras Presidency against his detention in a separate cell. He immediately plunged headlong into political activities and was elected the State secretary of the students’ union in Salem. When Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for the Quit India Movement in 1942, Mr. Sankaraiah was in Tirunelveli and participated in the procession by the students of St. John College, St. Xavier College, and MDT Hindu College. When the procession was nearing the Collector’s bungalow, the police lathi-charged the students. Mr. Sankaraiah was also severely beaten up.
He became a subject of concern for the British government, which decided to arrest him under the Defence of India Act. He was detained in the Vellore prison despite a representation by communist leader and barrister Mohan Kumaramangalam to the Chief Secretary. Subsequently, he was shifted to the Kannur prison as a police note warned against keeping “Communists and Congressmen together as they [the Communists] are capable of converting Congressmen into Communists”. Mr. Sankaraiah was in the Kannur prison when four communists from Kaiyur were hanged. He observed a fast that day.
His untiring political and trade union activities continued. His next jail term was in connection with the Madurai Conspiracy Case in 1946. P. Ramamurti and Mr. Sankaraiah were the first and second accused respectively. After his release, he married Navamani, a Christian and member of a family of communists. In 1965, when the Congress government unleashed repressive measures against communists, Mr. Sankaraiah was imprisoned for 16 months. He became the editor of Theekathir, the official organ of the CPI(M), after his release.
His political career included his election to the Assembly thrice. He was elected from Madurai West in 1967, when the DMK captured power in Tamil Nadu. He was the deputy leader of the CPI(M) in the House. Mr. Sankaraiah was again elected to the Assembly, from Madurai East, in 1977 and 1980 and functioned as the CPI(M) Legislature Party leader.
Liking for Kannadasan
A voracious reader, Mr. Sankaraiah considered national poet Bharathi as one of the greatest poets of the 20th Century and dismissed as “absurd” the view that he was a Brahmin poet. In his interview to Mr. Venkatesan, he also expressed his special liking for lyricist Kannadasan and admired his knowledge of ancient Tamil literature that influenced his film songs. “Our creativity will dry up if we do not read Sangam literature,” he noted.
At 102, Mr. Sankariah continues to lead a quiet life in Chennai. He donated the ₹10 lakh cash prize he received as part of the Thagaisal Thamizhar award in 2021 to the government for COVID-19 relief. Given that his collegiate education was disrupted by his participation in the freedom struggle, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced that an honorary doctorate would be conferred on Mr. Sankaraiah. Though Madurai Kamaraj University decided to award the honoris causa, Governor R.N. Ravi, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the university, refused to grant assent to the proposal.
