Red Salute to Com A Nallasivan as We Enter the Centenary Year of his Birth

COMRADE A Nallasivan, widely and affectionately known among comrades and friends as AN, was among the most important leaders of the communist movement in Tamil Nadu. Com AN was born on February 22, 1922. Starting with a floral tribute to him on February 22, 2021 at the state office in Chennai, the CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state committee will be observing the centenary year of the birth of Com AN in a befitting manner.

Comrade AN, born into a rural household of modest means in Tirunelveli district in southern Tamil Nadu, was known as a brilliant student in his school days, having secured the third rank in the entire state in the SSLC examinations and won a scholarship to go to college. As he entered teen age, AN was drawn to politics and the freedom movement, becoming an ardent follower of Gandhiji. When he was 18 years of age, AN embraced Marxism. He joined the then illegal Communist Party in 1940. He became a full-time worker soon thereafter. 57 years later, Com AN, the dedicated communist, passed away on July 20, 1997 after bravely battling a long and severe illness.

For over two decades from 1940 to the beginning of the 1960s, Com AN worked as a trade union organiSer and as a leader of the Communist Party in Tirunelveli district, honing his theoretical knowledge and practical skills as a political activist, first as a communist freedom fighter against British rule, and after independence, as one of the leaders of the communist movement, against the ruling class state. He was regarded by both the colonial rulers and their successors, the Congress rulers, as a dangerous opponent. He had many cases foisted on him during his long political life and spent five years and nine months in prison. He also went underground to evade arrest while skillfully continuing his political activity for a total of three years and six months. Neither the colonial regime nor successive ruling class governments in independent India could subdue him or stop his steadfast pursuit of the ideals of the communist movement.

Comrade AN was elected to the state council of the undivided CPI in 1959, having already been a member of the Tirunelveli district secretariat of the Party for a number of years. When the CPI(M) came into existence in 1964, Comrade AN became a member of the Tamil Nadu state committee of the Party. He was elected to the state secretariat of the Party in 1968. Following the formation of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in 1970, Com AN served as secretary of the Tamil Nadu state committee of CITU functioning from the state centre as well as a member of its all India working committee. His primary focus was on organisational work in the TU front. This rich experience of his proved very valuable for the Party when, in 1981, following the death of Com A Balasubramanian, the then secretary of the Tamil Nadu state committee of the CPI(M), Com AN became the secretary of the Tamil Nadu state committee. Com AN was subsequently elected as state secretary in the state conferences of the CPI(M) in 1982, 1985, 1988 and 1991. Com AN relinquished this responsibility in 1994 on account of poor health.

Com AN discharged with distinction the responsibilities entrusted to him by the Party at the national level as well. He was first elected to the Central Committee of the CPI(M) at the Tenth Congress held in 1978. He was first elected to the Polit Bureau at the 13th Party Congress. He was elected to the PB again in the 14th and 15th Congresses held in 1992 and 1995.

The period of Com AN’s tenure as the secretary of the Tamil Nadu state committee of the CPI(M) saw significant expansion of both Party membership and the memberships of class and mass organisations led by the Party in the state. This expansion was grounded primarily in the objective conditions of the period, and emerged as a consequence of overall political and economic developments in the country and the implementation of the political-tactical line adopted by the Party at the all-India and state levels. It would be fair to say that the specific stress given by the state leadership in general and Com AN in particular to political-organisational tasks of the Party and the mass and class organisations led by it also played a role in the overall expansion. Com AN is widely recognised within the Party in Tamil Nadu as a leading comrade who paid special attention to organisational issues and tasks in both the Party and the organisations guided by it. His role as a fine political educator and organiser in expanding and strengthening Party and mass/class organisations and raising the levels of class consciousness of their members is universally admired.

Com AN served as a member of the legislative council of Tamil Nadu from 1978 to 1984. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1989, and served as a member of parliament from 1989 to 1995. He used these legislative fora to forcefully uphold the interests of the exploited and oppressed sections of the people, and to fight for the rights of states. A noteworthy achievement was his stellar role in bringing justice to the tribal women and men of the village of Vachchaththi. Another was his work in enabling telegrams to be sent in Tamil.

There is a great deal for our Party cadre to learn from Com AN. As a comrade who had the privilege of working in several Party committees which Com AN guided, I still marvel, decades later, at his impartial approach combining the strictest commitment to Party discipline and organisational correctness with a warm and humane attitude to every individual comrade. He was unrivalled in the art of conducting discussions in Party committees in a most democratic manner, listening patiently and very carefully to all the comrades and then summing up the discussions in a fair and succinct way. Com AN always insisted that inner party discussions should focus on issues and not persons. When pointing out to comrades their errors, his approach was always such as to make them realise the fairness of his criticism and to develop the comrades in political-ideological terms. Another aspect that stands out in the guidance he provided was the way he taught comrades the need for “revolutionary patience” when working in mass and class organisations. As Com N Sankaraiah, our highly respected veteran comrade, pointed out in his moving tribute to Com AN in 1997, Com AN was unbending in his commitment to the basic line of the Party at all times while being flexible in the tactics to be adopted in relation to issues that did not impinge on fundamentals. Another aspect of Com AN’s practice worthy of emulation was his voracious reading. Even when he had to travel constantly on Party and parliamentary/legislative work, he would carry books and reading materials with him all the time and snatch every moment of spare time to read up.

Com AN commanded great respect not only among the leaders and activists of CPI(M) but in the wider political arena as well as the general public. His personal qualities were widely admired. He was a man who led a simple – even austere – life throughout his long political career, regardless of the leadership and public office/responsibilities he was discharging. He was seen as a remarkable leader in political and intellectual circles, both within the Left and more widely. He was also respected by his political opponents.

Red Salute to Com Nallasivan in the centenary year of his birth!