KOCHI Back in 1976, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was far from the ‘diplomatic’ leader with an affable disposition that earned him admirers across political affiliations in the last decade of his life when he was the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Polit Bureau member and State secretary.
As the State secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI) while studying at University College in Thiruvananthapuram, he was one of the political detenus of the Emergency. Once freed, he was given a rousing reception at Nirmalagiri College in Koothuparamba, where he gave a fiery speech slamming the repressive government at the Centre.
“It contained everything that was regressive about that dark period -- the Turkman Gate demolition and firing, the five-point programme of Sanjay Gandhi, the custodial torture and killing of engineering student Rajan and the like. It was a revelation of sorts for us, pre-degree students, who until then had thought of the Emergency as having brought in a certain order and discipline in society. The speech took me to the SFI,” recalled a senior leader of the CPI(M) from Kannur.
