KANNUR: The CPM citadel here is now witnessing a different act of demolition. The demolition of the ancient house of the legendary Communist leader A K Gopalan at Peralassery.This time, the demolition was almost complete even before anybody could stop it. The process of bringing down the old structure was a silent affair with no one raising even a feeble voice of protest.The first attempt to demolish the house was made by its present owner, who is also a nephew of AKG, more than a year ago. The attempt was foiled in the wake of a hue and cry over the issue. Former Chief Minister and CPM leader V S Achuthanandan himself had come up with a declaration that the house would be taken over by the government. The announcement concerning the government decision to take over the house and preserve it as a monument was reiterated by another CPM leader and former Minister for Culture M A Baby after visiting the house. He was accompanied by former Devaswom Minister and Congress(S) leader Kadannappally Ramachandran. Taking a step further the then Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had said that the house would be preserved as a cultural heritage.The assurances of the CPM heavyweights on preserving ‘Gopala Vilasam’ turned out to be hollow as the demolition squad employed by its owner began their job on Wednesday. Even as the five-member squad of workers brought down the structure, there weren’t many to shed tears over the disappearance of yet another monument of peasant struggles and Communist movement in Kerala. That the CPM is out of power when the axe fell on the ‘AKG house’ could be another irony in the history of Communist politics.
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