His wife Mariyamma and son Chandy Oommen informed authorities that it was one of his last wishes, and that they would prefer to respect it.
File photo of Oommen Chandy. (pinarayivijayan/Twitter)
The mortal remains of former Kerala chief minister and senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy, who strode the state like a colossus despite being unsophisticated and humble, will be laid to rest at a cemetery of his local parish in Puthuppally in the Kottayam district on Thursday, July 20, without any state honours.
The ruling LDF government had insisted that the two-time chief minister be accorded full state honours during his cremation.
Mortal remains of Chandy being taken to Kottayam. Photo: Supplied
However, his family gracefully rejected the proposal saying that the statesman — known for his simplicity and frugal living — wanted a common person’s funeral.
His wife Mariyamma and son Chandy Oommen informed authorities that it was one of his last wishes, and the family would prefer to respect that.
Oommen Chandy passed away in Bengaluru in the early hours of Tuesday, 18 July.
The 79-year-old leader was under treatment for cancer at a hospital in Bengaluru since February this year after he was airlifted from Kerala.
The body of Oommen Chandy will be laid to rest as per Orthodox Christian practice at the church cemetery on Thursday afternoon.
The church authorities are now hurriedly building a special tomb for Chandy, and the funeral is expected to be held there without the state honours that are the norm for former chief ministers, which include a gun salute and many ceremonial customs by armed and uniformed police personnel.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala told South First that Chandy was keen to avoid any official colour being given to his cremation, and always preferred a cremation that deserves a common person.
“He wished for a common person’s burial for him. His family is fulfilling that wish,” Chennithala told reporters.
People throng the vehicle to pay respects to Chandy. Photo: Supplied
Earlier, the state Cabinet sought responses from the party and family in accordance with state funerals for Chandy, who represented Puthuppally in the state Assembly for 53 consecutive years.
When the chief secretary informed the family about the government’s keenness to accord state honours, the family — his wife, son, and two daughters — decided against it. They gave their decision in writing as well.
“Chandy sir’s wish and his family conveyed it to the government. The party also has no say on this matter as it was our late leader’s wish,” Congress MLA KC Vishnunath told reporters.
Every Malayali on this planet is mourning Oommen Chandy ji's departure.
This is an irreparable loss, he leaves behind a void we will never be able to fill.
This outpouring does not happen for an ordinary leader, it is for a great hero who changed the course of history. pic.twitter.com/uHG0a6dKfB
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) July 19, 2023
At the Puthuppally church, preparations are in full swing for the funeral, and a special tomb is being built in the exclusive burial area for priests inside the cemetery.
So far, his family members have been laid to rest in the common family vault in the cemetery.
Authorities of St George Orthodox Church at Puthuppally said they decided to create a special tomb for Chandy as a mark of respect for him.
In doing so, they are changing a decades-old practice of burying deceased non-priest church members in the cemetery or their family vaults.
“The decision was influenced by his virtues and his decades-old contribution to safeguarding the interests of the church,” said Church vicar Father V Varghese when contacted by South First.
People pay respects to Chandy. Photo: Supplied
According to him, the tomb would be a permanent memorial for him on the church premises.
Recalling Chandy’s contributions to the parish, Varghese said the former chief minister had contributed the most to its modernisation and development.
Since his younger days, Chandy was very active in the youth movement, Sunday School activities, and prayer meetings in the church.
The vicar added that it paved the way for his growth as a public activist, MLA, minister, and eventually the chief minister of the state.
In the meantime, the police and district administration started making elaborate arrangements to handle the possible flow of multitudes to witness the funeral on Thursday.
Massive efforts are on to ensure elaborate security, crowd management and traffic handling.
According to officials, as many as 2,000 police officers will be deployed on crowd management duties at the Thirunakkara ground in Kottayam Town and at Puthuppally, where the mortal remains of the late leader will be on public display in the morning.
A queue system will reportedly be implemented for the public to pay their tributes to the leader, and no person would be permitted to spend time within the ground beyond a particular limit.
The District Congress Committee is making arrangements at the main venue at Thirunakkara Maidan in association with the police and the Kottayam district administration.
On Wednesday, the funeral procession carrying the leader’s coffin was accorded receptions at several locations along the Main Central Road throughout the day in the journey that began from the capital Thiruvananthapuram.
The journey lagged far behind the expected schedule as people waited in thousands on both sides of the road to glimpse their favourite leader.
The funeral procession reached Kottayam only past midnight. Braving rain and adverse climate conditions, thousands thronged the streets and shouted slogans “Long live Oommen Chandy”.
In southern Kerala towns like Venjaramood, Ayirur, Adoor, Pandalam, Chengannur, Thiruvalla, and Changanassery, the sea of humanity was visible to pay last respects to the departed leader.
On Thursday, after the public display at Thirunakkara maidan, the mortal remains will be brought to his partially-built home on a one-acre property at Puthuppally after being kept for some time at his ancestral house.
Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, supreme head of the Orthodox Church, will lead the funeral services, while all metropolitans under the church will be present.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, along with other senior leaders of the party, will be attending the funeral at Puthuppally.
Because of the traffic regulations imposed to facilitate the funeral, Kottayam District Collector has announced a holiday for schools in the district on Thursday.
The 79-year-old passed away at 4.25 am in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Chandy’s remains were brought to Thiruvananthapuram aboard a special flight from Bengaluru at 2.30 pm.
Born and brought up in the traditional Christian heartland of Puthuppally near Kottayam, Chandy gained popularity in the state after he became the state president of the KSU with the blessings of senior leaders AK Antony and Vayaar Ravi.
During a period of strong infighting in the Congress state unit, Chandy was seen as a trusted lieutenant of Antony, the undisputed leader of the anti-Karunakaran faction in the state.
Chandy played a critical role in unseating K Karunakaran as chief minister in 1995, which paved the way for Antony’s return to the post for the second time.
In 2011, when Chandy became the chief minister, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had only a wafer-thin majority. However, a sharp politician with exceptional execution skills, Chandy carried on with all the constituents of the UDF, and his government completed the tenure.
Chandy’s six-decade-long political career has been inextricably linked to the ups and downs of his party in Kerala’s bipartisan political ecosystem.
Chandy faced his severest challenge towards the end of his tenure as chief minister when the solar scam surfaced.
School childrenn waiting near the road to pay respects to Oommen Chandy. Photo: Supplied
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the opposition made an issue out of the scandal by launching an unsparing campaign that paved the way for the UDF’s defeat in the 2016 Assembly polls.
He was later given a clean chit in the case by the CBI.
After Chandy’s demise on Tuesday, social media overflowed with condolence messages from people from all walks of life, including film personalities and religious leaders.
The passing of their leader also brought a cloud of gloom over his constituency as hundreds gathered at his residence.
The home of their “Kunjoonju” — as people of Puthuppally affectionately called Chandy — was particularly familiar to those around because its doors were always open, and locals recalled how they could walk in to discuss matters with him any time of the day.
(With PTI inputs)
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