Memoirs of a Socialist

Attingal Gopala Pillai

An autobiography with a difference, Shri Attingal Gopala Pillai’s

Memoirs of a Socialist makes us realise, in more ways than one, the
inscrutable intrigues of politics today. It is quite natural that in this political
age, politicians, especially the scheming and crooked, rule the roost.
And the humane, sincere and genuinely dedicated to the cause of the
weak and the miserable, often find themselves high and dry. True, in an
age which puts a premium on dishonesty, opportunism and defection,
sincere and honest ones find themselves deftly sidelined.
Shri Attingal Gopala Pillai’s name has been a byword in the
homes of all in the southern districts of Kerala ie. in the erstwhile native
states of Travancore and Cochin. Once a member of the Kerala
Legislative Assembly (1970-76), he has been a committed socialist
ever since the days of PSP and late Pattom Thanu Pillai. A well-known
Trivandrum-based lawyer and a seasoned trade-unionist, he has had
an impressive and commendable track record. His crisp and pointed
reminiscences of events in his personal life as well as those in our State’s
political history take us down the memory lane: reading of Memoirs of
a Socialist is quite enlightening and rewarding. What emerges through
them is Shri Attingal Gopala Pillai’s unique personality; loving and
lovable, committed yet transparent, and ever service-minded and self-
effacing.

Prof. G.N. Panikkar

Price Rs. 100/-

Sahrudaya Books,
Trivandrum - 695 575
 for their foreword and Prologue respectively to this book. I would also
like to place my gratitude on record towards the owner and staff
members of Akshara Offset Press, Trivandrum for executing the printing
of this book neatly. I also owe my gratitude to Prof. G.N. Panikkar
who has consented to examine this book and bless this book with his
appreciation. I also thank Mr. A.N. Balan and his son Mr. B. Anand
(Corpus DTP Centre, Bakery Jn, Trivandrum) for doing the typesetting
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and making this book ready for printing.

For no less than half a century, I had been in the socio-political I was happy when I entered politics as a young idealist
realm of the State. I could also serve my brethren as a member of the disregarding my father’s (Late Adv. Thampanoor Narayana Pillai)
State Legislative Assembly from 1970 to 1976. warning. But retired from politics as an old, desperate and disconsolate
man. Politics today has become a refugee camp.
A devout socialist as I am, I worked as the Chairman of the
Praja Socialist Party (PSP) for a few years. I have never bartered the
political principles for any kind of personal gains. Bitter to the core had
been my political experiences. I had been sidelined by the carpet-
baggers, opportunists, power-brokers and the fortune-seekers who Thiruvananthapuram Attingal Gopala Pillai
came to dominate the party. I quit electoral politics after issuing a Nov. 2009 ‘Mahesh’, Sasthamangalam,
statement that senior leaders should quit electoral politics. But none Thiruvananthapuram - 10
followed suit.
My friends and well-wishers organised and celebrated my
Sathabhishekam in 2005 and brought out a souvenir to which
prominent people from many walks of life contributed articles which
bore testimony to the love and esteem they held for me. The idea of
writing an autobiography by me was mooted in that meeting. Accordingly
I started writing and the same was brought out in two parts under the
title Memoirs of a Socialist. This book is an English version thereof.
Among those who extended full support and lent maximum
help, the names of late Poojanilayam Sasi and his wife Smt. Poovachal
Usha, now the Managing Editor of Arthek Bi-monthly deserve special
mention here. I am very greatful to both of them. I also offer my thanks
and regards to Justice K.S. Paripoornan and Thottam Rajasekharan
 MEMOIRS
OF
A SOCIALIST

ATTING AL GOP
TTINGAL ALA PILLAI
GOPALA
 FOREWORD
Justice K.S.Paripoornan
(Former Judge, S.C of India)

Attingal Sri.N.Gopala Pilla, Advocate and Politician is a well

known figure in Kerala. I had occasion to go through a good portion of
English
MEMOIRS OF A SOCIALIST
the draft manuscript of his autobiography. It makes interesting reading.
(Autobiography of Attingal Gopala Pillai) It reflects to some extent the social, political and economic condition of
First published in Sept. 2009 the State in general for over a period of 75 years.
Copy right : Mr.Pillai was born in 1094 M.E at Attingal . He is the son of
Attingal Gopala Pillai Mr. Narayana Pilai a leader in Attingal Bar, in those days. He had his
Published by early education at Government School, Attingal and thereafter at
the Author Maharaja’s College, Trivandrum and St. Xaviers College at
Typesetting
Palayamcottai. He studied law at Law College, Belgaum. As a student,
Anand Corpus, Trivandrum-14
he was very much interested in sports.
Printed at
Akshara Offset, Trivandrum His class-mates occupied high position in later life. To mention
Price Rs. 100/- a few of them, Sri. G.Bhaskaran Nair, Chief Secretary to Government,
Sri. Narayanan Nair, retired Secretary to Government, Sri.Neelakantan
Nair, Managing Director of a Government Company, Sri. T.P.K Nair,
son of late veteran politician Sri. Pattom Thanu Pillai and Mr.S Easwara
Iyer who became a Member of Paliament and a doyen of the Bar etc.
etc.

3
 Mr.Pillai enrolled as an Advocate in the T.C.High Court in 1950.
He practiced at Trivandrum, Attingal etc. He was attracted by Dr. Ram
Manohar Lohia’s speeches, the veteran socialitst. Thereafter he began
to take active part in politics and developed a passion to serve the
country and the people. This resulted in Mr.Pillai taking more interest in
Trade Union activities and he began to handle cases connected with
Trade Union etc.
In letter and spirit, he became a Socialist and rubbed shoulders
with veteran politicians like late Pattom Thanu Pillai, late Sri.C.Achutha
Menon and others. He became the Chairman of the newly formed Praja
Socialist Party. The events so turned out that Mr. Pillai became an
ardent crusader against corruption and injustice.
It will be interesting to note that in the Legislative Assembly he
moved a private anti-corruption bill when late Sri.C.Achutha Menon
was the Chief Minister. It was perhaps the first of its kind in India.
He entered politics by about 1951 and contested the assembly
elections in 1952, 1957, 1965 and 1967. He was elected to the
Legislative Assembly from Trivandrum East constituency in 1970. Mr.
Pillai took the initiative in setting up the Trivandrum Railway Division
and also was an active participant in the agitation to establish a Bench
of the High Court at Trivandrum.
He was an able legislator, active politician and a crusader
against injustice and corruption. Mr. Pillai makes good friends and a
gentleman to the tips of his fingers. He has friends and well-wishers in
all walks of life.
A mere perusal of his autobiography would show, to some
extent, the currents and cross-currents that prevailed in this State at the
time he was in politics. The social upheavals and the extent to which a
party can play in the polity is vividly given.
4 5
It is true that the autobiography to a great extent deals with his
life from birth, his family, his studies, his career and his pursuits in
politics.But, at the same time, it brings out a reasonable measure the
tone and temper of those times, which reflected us every major event
that took place in the State.
The autobiography makes interesting reading and will be
cherished by persons who love and appreciate the honest and corrupt
free political life and atmosphere. I have no doubt that the various aspects
and incidents dealt with by Mr. Pillai will go a long way in appreciating
and understanding the difficulties of a honest and straight forward
politician.
In spite of his honest, sincere and devoted work as a politician,
one wonders why Mr.Pillai did not achieve or get a top position in
governance, which he richly deserved. It may be his fate. But, can it be
surmised in such a simple fashion? It is for the people to ponder over.
Probably, it is a riddle or enigma in a political career.
I wish Mr. Pillai a fullfledged happy and healthy life and success
in his endeavour.
K.S.PARIPOORNAN.

Prologue
ATTINGAL GOPALAPILLAI,
AN INDEFATIGABLE SOCIALIST
Thottam Rajasekharan
It is now more than six decades since India became
Independent. Our student community now belongs to the fourth
generation of the Independent India and as such they do not know very
much about the struggles, sacrifices, the massacres etc. that marked
the protracted freedom movement. The figure of Gandhi is familiar to
them since his picture is printed in currency notes and his name and role
have not been completely removed from the history text books. For
preparing projects which form part of the curriculum some students
look for books Nehru had written of which the magnum opus being the
Discovery of India. It is still a pity that we do not have a comprehensive
history of our struggle for Indepedence. What we have today is the
history which is not yet free from the controversy of being biased and
apocryphal.
It is still more pathetic when we turn to Kerala. The history of
struggle for independence in Kerala is the story of lives of a bevy of
courageous idealists, adventurous and educated individuals and their
resistance against the administration of Travancore and Cochin, the
two of the three kingdoms that existed before the formation of Kerala
6 7
state. The other kingdom was Malabar where there were some sporadic
and isolated movement which arguably belonged to the freedom
movement. A host of individuals sacrificed their lives and properties for
the movement. They are now little known to the present generation.
Our present generation only rarely remember those great souls whose
dream was to make freedom, democracy, secularism, equality etc. the
indispensable part of Indian ethos and way of life. It was also the result
of their sacrifice that socialism was enshrined in the constitution of India
as our ultimate goal.
Though the socialist movement was the off-shoot of the freedom
movement, it gained momentum and grew into a parallel movement
along with the mainstream freedom movement. Nehru, educated under
the tutelage of such great social democratic thinkers as Harold Lasky
et.al., of London School of Economics had enshrined the principles of
socialism in the agenda of freedom movement. This apart those who
propogated the gospel of socialism included the stalwarts like
Jayaprakash Narayan, Asok Mehta, Achut Patwardhan, Aruna Asifali,
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia et.al. Among them Jayaprakash and his ilk
were liberal in attitude while Lohia and his friends who received western
education and experience had taken the extreme line. As such they
could influence and bring to their fold the student community and the
intelligentia of that time. They had their followers in Kerala also. The
prominent socialists in the Malabar region were Dr. K.B. Menon, R.M.
Manakkalath, Arangil Sreedharan, M.B. Menon and Mathai and John
Manjuran. Their counterparts in Travancore area were mainly Ponnara
Sreedhar, Attingal Gopalapillai, N. Sreekantan Nair, K. Balakrishnan,
K. Sadanandan and D. Vivekanandan. As there were many splinter
groups such as ISP, PSP, SSP, KSP, RSP etc. they could not bring the
people under a single umbrella of socialist movement. Aspirations for
position in parliament, trade unions and created internal dissenssion
and as a result this movement fragmented into small pieces and ulimately
disintegrated. The entry of Pattom Thanu Pillai into the PSP dragged
the party into the field of nasty power politics. He did not have the
hereditary instinct by birth to lead a party on socialist path. Weathering In this book he is sharing with us the story of his untainted
all storms and with dexterity and courage Ponnara Sreedhar and Attingal political life. Readers may find beautiful pearls in this to adorn their
Gopalapillai stood with PSP which had since become a sinking ship. showcases. In this book you will surely meet a person who is the epitome
Among the socialists the life of Attingal Gopala Pillai is notable of courage and virtue, embodiment of greatness and an apotheosis of
for many reasons. Born and brought up in a Nair conservative family uncomprimising principles. Really a role model worthy of emulation.
when a dynastic royal dispensation was in vogue in the country he was I, with profound pride and privilege present to you this story of
also not free from a feudal mindset. As such he was motivated by the a man who loved and served the people with a sense of sacrifice and
rule of Law, judiciary, educational system etc. that existed under the renunciation.
British rule. A brilliant student, an accomplished sportsman, a staunch
crusader against corruption and injustice, a vocal critic of the Thiruvananthapuram
malfeasance as he was, Attingal Gopala Pillai was denied the high rightful
position in governmental administration which he richly deserved. He 01-08-2009
was unequivocal and forthright in his opinion. He has no fear to air his
opinions which he thought were corrupt. He had as a result of this, so
many detractors in his own party. He never harboured hypocrisy in his
mind. He always stood for probity and rectitude in public life. While
studying for Law in the Belgaum Law College, he came under the
charismatic influence of the socialist idealogues like Ram Manohar Lohia
and Nath Pai. He realized that socialism was the only remedy and the
path for the liberation of the people of the country. He decided from
then on to stand firmly on to the socialist path notwithstanding the hurdles
and financial difficulties he had to undergo. He fruitfully and meaningfully
completed 84 years of his eventful life and this book is a nosegay of his
variegated experiences in social life.
Though in this book Sri Gopala Pillai had narrated the different
phases in his life it is not an autobiography in the ordinary sense. He
always held aloft a real sportsmanspirit throughout his life perhaps since
he was a good athlete himself. He had no personal axe to grind in
politics. There were several occasions when he missed between lip
and cup his due share because of the manoeuvrings of the schemy and
wily friends in his own party. Politicians are power hungry but Gopala
Pillai was an exception to this. Corruption is considered a virtue in
politics. But he always revolted against corruption.

8 9

Former Travancore Kingdom
Extract from Travancore State Manual written by Sadasya
Thilakan T.K. Velupillai, B.A., B.L., Historian, gifted Orator and part
time Lecturer in the Law College, Trivandrum.
Travancore occupies a prominent place among the first ranking
among the Indian states. There are states with larger area, larger revenue
and larger military forces. But no political unit in India presents a picture
of such continuous history and cultural tradition of substantial
achievement and steady progress in the moral and material welfare of
the people of this ancient state.
The name Travancore is the anglicised form of Thiruvithamcode,
the abode of prosperity also known as Srivilavancode. Venad is a
corruption of Vanavenad, the land of the celestials. As the state has
been in existence from remote antiquity it has come to be known by
several other names each of which emphasise a particular fact of history
or aspect of several intent. Thus Vanchidesam means the kingdom ruled
over by the descendants of the ancient Chera kings who had their capital
at Thiruvanchukulam. Dharmarajyam denotes the land of good laws,
piety, truth and charity.
Travancore is richly endowed by nature with practically unlimited
resources and has evolved a typical civilisation during the period of
over 2000 years of recorded history. Indian poets of eminence have
sung its praises describing the beauty of its forests and rivers, the
fragrance of its sandal, the abundance of pepper and its cardamoms
10
and the wealth of its cococunt. The martial glory of its men and the
refinement and charm of its women have evoked numberless tributes.
The writings of foreign travellers are full of appreciation of the country
and its people. Here nature has spent upon the land her richest bounties;
the sun fails not by day, the rain falls in dew season and an eternal
summer gilds the scene. Where the land is capable of cultivation there
is no denser population. Where it is occupied by jungle or backwater
or lagoon there is no more fairy landscape (Lord Curson of Keddlestons,
speech at Trivandrum, 1900 Courtesy Travancore State Manual).
Lord Connemara, another Governor of Madras compared it
to Italy and called it a fairy land. Here nature is clad in her brightest and
most inviting robes. The scenery is magnificent. The field and gardens
speak of plenty, and dwellings of the people are substantial and
comfortable.
The area of the state falls within three natural divisions. The flat
coast strip or lowlands, the mountainous region on the east or the
highlands and the intervening belt of hills and valleys or the midlands.
Trees grow in abundance in all parts of the state.
The coconut palm, the Kalpavriksha of Kerala gives the people
a perennial crop and they are able to earn their livelihood with minimum
of labour.
There are many towns with modern facilities and comforts of
life. Trivandrum is the capital city of the state and was the seat of the
ruling family. The temple of Sree Padmanabhaswamy and the palaces
of the maharaja particularly Kowdiar Palace and a large number of
public buildings add to the beauty. Travancore is rich in natural resources
and has immense wealth in the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms.
There are many varieties of timber trees and plants. Teak and
blackwood are most important among valuable trees while sandalwood
and ebony are also found in certain places. Reeds like bamboo are
used for manufacture of paper, cardboard and artificial silk. The coconut
tree provides the raw material for many kinds of manufactured goods
11
which are used for export as well as for local consumption. Copra and
coir occupy a prominent place in the world market.
The hills produce tea and rubber in large quantities. The first
plantation in Travancore was opened in 1899 by His Highness Maharaja
Srimulam Thirunal. A considerable amount of rubber, tea, pepper, ginger,
turmeric and cardamom are exported annually. Among fruits the most
common are plantain banana, jack, mango, pineapple and cashew.
Fisheries are also of considerable importance.
The mineral wealth of Travancore is of wide variety. Kaolin
deposits are being used in ceramic manufacture. Graphite, mica and
magnetite occur in certain places. Others of commercial value are
monacite, illminite zircon and cinemanite.
The Government of His Highness Maharaja Sri Chithira Thirunal
started the construction of hydroelectric works on a very large scale.
There are many rivers in Travancore with adequate supply of water
and sufficient plunge.
The Hydroelectric scheme resulted in building up of various
industrial projects like bleaching, paper and rubber factories and a
number of textile and other industries. The people are of many races
and creeds. Hindus, christians and muslims live and work together in all
matters of general public interest despite differences in caste and faith.
The Maharaja of Travancore venerated their own religion and
adhered strictly to the principles of hinduism. But they were equally
tolerant towards other forms of faith and therefore the spread of
christianity in Travancore was facilitated by the generous attitude of the
ruling family.
It has been said of Maharaja Srimulam Thirunal that no indian
ruler dedicated more energy and attention to public affairs and sanctioned
more funds for nation building activities, education, public health,
improvement of communications, irrigation and industries. He had great
appreciation for the British system of Government and established the
legislative council popular assembly and a large number of municipal
councils.
12
A large proportion of public revenue was spent by the
government in providing educational facilities like schools and colleges
and as a result led to a high degree of literacy. It was during the reign of
the last maharaja His Highness Sri Chithira Thirunal that the temple
entry proclamation was issued by which entry into the hindu temples
was opened to all hindus irrespective of birth, caste or community and
no restrictions were placed on hindus entering and worshiping at
temples. This proclamation was hailed throughout India and the civilised
world as a great charter of liberty.
From the earliest times the King was the head of the state. The
system of government which was in vogue in several states of Kerala
enabled the rulers to lead the management of villages and districts to
the prominent citizens of each locality.
The kings were contented with the protection of the kingdom
from external enemies and maintenance of law and order. The affairs of
each locality were looked after by the representatives of the people,
the smallest organisation being the Thara and a number of Tharas formed
groups called Nads. The kingdom was divided into a certain number of
Nads in each of which there was a Naduvazhi or chief. The duty of the
Naduvazhy was to contribute the prescribed number of soldiers when
requisition was made by the king.
The civil Government of particular locality was entrusted to
another class of officers called Desavazhis. The king seldom interfered
in details of local administration. Consequently the Naduvazhis and
Desavazhis wielded considerable influence.
So did the devaswoms which were more or less independent
enclaves within the state enjoying a very large measure of autonomous
government.
If the king was strong, things went on smoothly. A feeble reign
on the other hand gave abundant opportunities for misgovernance,
oppression and strife. The government of the king was personal in its
13
nature and the success or failure of the administration depended on the
ability and integrity of the ruler from whom emanated whole authority.
Many departments and institutions came into being in the latter
part of the reign of maharaja Srimulam Thirunal. Many departments
and institutions are described in the light of the modern standards.
The growth of legislature activity in the state and the reforms
introduced by His Highness Srimulam Thirunal and His Highness
Srichithra Thirunal in the administration and powers of the legislature Contents
show the history of progress in legislation in considerable detail.

Chapter

1. About my parents
2. My educactional pursuits
3. My stint as Advocate, a Social and Trade Union activist.
4. Married life
5. I am still a socialist
6. Conclusion
7. Anexures : Speaking Letters and Correspondences.
8. Eulogies
9. Ram Manohar Lohia - the sagacious socialist

14
 Chapter One
ABOUT MY PARENTS

I was born in the Pooram Star of Medam of Vernacular

Calendar ( corresponding to April- May according to Christian
Calendar) of M. E. 1094. My date of birth coincides with the Trissur
Pooram the famous temple carnival festival jointly celebrated by the
Vadakkumnatha and Paramekkavu Temples. It is a spectacular show
conducted in the presence of more than forty caparisoned panchyderms
and in the presence of a throng of lakhs of devotees who come to
witness the festival from far off places. Known as Trissur Pooram, this
is one of the highlights of Trissur which is considered as the cultural
capital of the State of Kerala. I was the second son of my parents, my
elder borther being Balakirshna Pillai and two younger sisters Sarada
and Sarojini.
My father was Thampanoor Narayana Pillai. He married
Lekshmy Pillai Ponnamma Pillai who belonged to Valiaveedu, an ancient
family in Chiranyinkil. My father had his higher secondary education at
the Fort High School, Thiruvananthapurm,one of the premier educational
institutions in the city. He had among his class mates and who later rose
to prominent positions in public life late Mr. G. Parameswaran Pillai,
High Court Judge and later adorned the position of Chief Secretary to
the Government of Travancore. Another class mate was none other
than Mr. P. Parameswaran Pillai , the District Peshkar.

17
 My father was a good and brilliant student. It was his ambition
to become an advocate though his financial position was so precarious.
Some affluent persons came forward to sponsor his education seeing
in him a talented prospective son-in-law. But highly honest as he was,
he spurned all those fortunes proffered to him and decided to do the
one-year pleadership which he passed with distinction. This enabled
him to pursue legal practice upto the District Court. Neelakanta Pillai,
alias Potti Ammavan who was well versed in English was working in
the police headquarters of Travancore was living in Thampanoor. He
knew my father very well. Lakshmy Pillai Ponnamma Pillai who later
became my mother was the niece of Neelakanta Pillai. It was he who
played an instrumental role in my father’s marriage with Leksmy Pillai
Ponnamma Pillai. They were ideal couples with both of them serving
each other for building up a happy and successful family which should
sow the seeds for a good generation and lineage. My father started
practice in Attingal under Valiachan Kochu Krishnan Pillai as his junior.
After a few years my father launched his independent practice and he
had a long stint of successful legal practice . He became a prominent
Vakil and earned fame and influence among his clients and public as
well. He stood as a candidate for Attingal Municipal Council election in
which he was elected unopposed as President. In those days, the head
of the political office was designated as Municipal President which is
now Municipal Chairman. The election rules prevalent at that time
stipulated that anybody from outside can be elected as President by
the members. Thus my father was fielded by the members and made
him President of the Municipality. He assumed the Office of the president.
He studied the rules and procedures of the Municipality and he in the
course found that there was a provision for Rs.25 as Car Allowance
for the president per month. Taking the benefit from this provision he
bought a car for the first time and drew the monthly allowance of Rs.25/-.
The car allowance episode is an ample proof of my father’s sagacity
and resourcefulness.
18
My father laid good foundation for a strong family when he
purchased 70 cents of land and constructed a house in the traditional
architecture with a Naalukettu and as many as 15 rooms. He also had
his share of family problems.
My brother had just appeared for the interview for admission
to the Science College. One day he came home at night fully drenched
in the heavy rain that lashed the town. He caught fever and was laid up
with high temperature and severe body pain. Dr.Samuel who examined
him found that he had pneumonia. Accompanying this, he developed a
condition wherein he had his both legs oozing with pus. Due to this he
had to give up his studies in the Science College. His bizarre disease
was diagnosed as due to the presence of deadbone and surgery was
the only remedy. Dr.Kesavan Nair son of Dr. Raman Thampi who had
just returned from abroad after completing his FRCS treated him. My
brother recovered from the illness. He later joined a one-year dairy
diploma course in Bangalore. On completing it, he was appointed as
Puliyara Farm Manager by the then Agricultural Secretary. The farm
was at Chenkottai which was then a part of the erstwhile Travancore.
Now this place is in Tamil Nadu. At Chenkottai he stayed with an
Agricultural Inspector who was a graduate in agriculture. After the State
reorganization, Chenkottai was annexed to Tamil Nadu and
consequently my brother had the option to join the veterinary department
of the Kerala State. He later became the Director of Dairy Department
of the State in 1962.
In his period itself, all the district head quarters opened dairy
project units. For that purpose, he used to visit the village assistants
also forgetting possession of the land. In 1954, when Pattom Thanu
Pillai minstry was ruling, Sri. P.S. Nataraja Pillai was in charge of the
diary development projects and he selected my brother for higher studies
in New Zealand. When my brother was in New Zealand, my father
passed away and I was in jail in connection with the agitation for
establishment of a High Court bench in Trivandrum.
My brother’s marriage took place before he left for New
Zealand. He married Smt. Parukutty Amma of Govinda Mangalam,
19
Puthenchanthai, Trivandrum. They had only one daughter named Lalitha.
She was married to Sunderasan, son of Sri. Attoor Parameswara Kurup
of Aikara House, Kanyakumari Dist. Sunderasan was an Executive
Engineer in Matsyafed, Trivandrum. They had only one daughter named
Aiswarya. While she was still in school, her mother Lalitha passed away.
She is now an Engineer employed at Texas Instruments, Bangalore.
She married Vijayanand, a software manager employed at Rasa Micro
Electronics (India) Inc. They have a daugther named Vineetha who is
six years old. After the death of Aiswarya’s mother, Sunderasan married
Remani of Neyyoor and they have a son Aravind Sunderasan.
I have two sisters who are younger to me namely Sarada and
Sarojini. Sarada was married to Chief Engineer, Travancore Titanium
Products Ltd. He was Director of India Government Small Scale
Industries, Advisor to the Tanzanian Govt. in Africa. He was there till
his retirement and thereafter returned to Attingal. Sarada and G.P. Nair
are now no more. They had five children. Two girls Vijayakumari and
Santhakumari, of which the latter is married to Muralidharan Nair of
Nagaroor. Of the boys, Gopalakrishnan is no more. Mohan Kumar is
married to Sudha. They have a son named Abhilash who is a student.
Jayakumar was working in Tanzania and is now back in Attingal. He is
still a bachelor.
My second sister Sarojini was married to T.N. Gopalan Nair.
He belonged to an ancient family of Palkulangara (Aiyampuram House).
He was exployed at the Bhilai Steel Plant. They are both no more now.
They had two daughters, Indu and Thara. Indu is married to Mohana
Chandran, Son of Thottavaram Puthenveetil Madhavan Pillai, a freedom
fighter. Mohanachandran is running his own business in Hyderabad.
They have only one son Vijesh, engineer who is helping his father in the
business. Thara is married to Sadanandan, son of Kollomkode K.K.S.
Menon, Customs Superintendent, Hyderabad. They have only one son
Arjun who is a student. Presently they are living in USA since
Sadanandan is employed there.
My father’s elder brother T.K. Velupillai was a Govt. servant
and Retd. Sub-Registrar. He was settled at Kandala near Kattakada
which lies 20 miles east of Thiruvananthapuram. He had two sons and
20
two daughters. Chandrasekharan Nair, the eldest son was a good actor
even during his college days and he donned the female roles in dramas
and he thus earned a sobriquet of Savitri Chandrasekharan. His wife
was Sarada, daughter of R. Vasavan Pillai, a famous vakil and freedom
fighter and had been the President of the State Congress. Vasudevan
Pillai’s brother Krishna Pillai was the Diwan of Travancore.
Ramachandran Nair was the second son of my Valiachan (father’s elder
brother) who died only recently. His wife Anandavally lives at
Thampanoor. The other two daughters ie. my cousin sisters Madhavi
Amma and Kamalamma are no more now. Madhavi Amma was married
to Krishna Pillai their eldest son Gopinathan Nair was Chief Engineer
who married Sreekumari the daughter of his maternal uncle
Chandrasekharan Nair. Among my close relatives I like Sreekumari
very much and she is the most beloved women of all my relatives on my
father’s side. She showered abundance of affection on me as well as
my father. She lives with her loving and affectionate husband Gopinathan
Nair at Poojappura. Her daughter is Renu whose husband Sasidharan
Nair, the Chief Engineer in Titanium Ltd. Renu-Sasidharan Nair couple
lives in Koustubham near Medical College, Trivandrum. Renjith their
son lives in Delhi with his wife Deepa and son Sambhu. Sreekumari’s
elder brothers are no more. One of her brothers Ramachandran Nair
was Professor in NSS College, Dhanuvachapuram. His widow Sarada
and daughter Kavya and Kavya’s husband Advocate Ratheesh are
living at Mettukada. Ravindranath the second son of Krishna Pillai-
Madhavi Amma couple was the manager in the Syndicate bank. He
had two daughters. Ganga, Yamuna. All are living a happy married life.
Lalitha is living at Pandalam with her daughter Dr. Rekha. Sarojini’s
husband Ramachandran Nair was Professor in the Veterinary College.
IG Chandrasekharan is the son-in-law of Ramachandran.
I wish to make a special mention about my cheriamma (my
mother’s younger sister). Kamalakshmi Amma was married to Krishna
Pillai of Chirayinkeezhu. He was in the medical service of Penag Govt.
Now after retirement they came back from Penag and settled at
Chirayinkeezhu. Now they are no more. They had four sons. The third
21
son Dr. K.S. Nair married Radha, uncle’s daughter. He was in
Singapore’s Veterinary service. He came back from Singapore after
retirement and is now living at Peroorkada Indira Nagar. Of their two
dauthers the elder daughter Uma is married to Sasikumar, manager in
Vijaya Bank. Younger daugher Dr. Kamala is Associate Professor in
the Agricultural Univeristy. Dr. Sankaran Nair is her husband. Her son
Nandagopal is a software engineer working in Banglore.
Chapter Two
MY EDUCATIONAL PURSUIT

My first alma mater is the Government Malayalam School at

Attingal where I studied upto IV Standard. From there I moved to the
Government High School, Attingal. In those days, most of the teachers
were Brahmins who had acquired high educational qualifications from
Madras University. There was one under graduate teacher. He was
Govinda Swamy Iyer. The quality and standard of education at that
time was such that I still vividly remember the classes and what I was
taught by those teachers. Govinda Swamy’s son was a class mate of
mine. His name was Shivaraman. I came to know that later he took
IFS. I have heard the sad news that he was killed in a plane crash in
which the great Atomic Scientist Homi Bhaba was also among those
killed. Among my classmates who rose to prominence were Bhaskaran
Nair, Easwara Iyer, M.P. Neelakandan Nair who was Managing
Director, Forest Industries and Swaraj Mani, Chairman of Corporation.
Another person whose name I do not recollect now was Conservator
of Forest of Rajastan.
My father cherished high dreams about my future. After I have
passed my school final, my father wanted me to take the Ist group in
the college. He even promised me to send me to England for higher
studies provided that I passed with a first class. In those days, the
college hours were from 8 am to 1 pm. Iwas put up in the Nair Union
Hostel. He took me to the hostel warden’s house at Rishimangalam.

22 23
He was a retired police commissioner and known for strict discipline.
My father took me to the warden to show that he had personal concern
for his son’s disciplined college life and to complete my studies properly.
In those days, the students had for breakfast kanji( gruel) and
the warden had insisted that before serving the meals, a small sample of
each item should be taken to him for approval. This was a procedure
for avoiding complaints regarding the quality of the food served to the
students at the hostel. He knew very well that the discipline can not be
enforced unless the interests and welfare of the students are also taken
care of. He wanted to remove any kind of discontentment among the
students. He was such an honest man and well meaning as well. He
was a friend of my father besides being one of his clients in some litigation.
In the morning it was a regular sight of the Travancore State
Force’s march to the Court maidan at Pazhavangadi. I used to watch
this and I had even to cut my classes to do so. About this time I happened
to see an advertisement for selecting cadets to the State force and I
applied for it. My attention was completely diverted and made much
efforts to get a selection to the force. I have not only not been selected
to the force, but also lost two year of studies. How loving my father
had been, he took me to Palayamcotta and secured an admission to
the St. Zavier’s college there. The Principal of the college was a French
Priest. Father Bonacar, our Chemistry Porfessor was a German. English
professor was one Mr. Stephen from Kottayam. Malayalam professors
were Messrs George and Mr. Devassy..Mr. Arul swamy was the vice
principal and also the hostel warden. After watching me playing Football
and Ball badminton one day, he called me to his room and told me to
form a football team with boys brought from Trivandrum. He also
promised that such boys will be exempted from paying fees. There was
a best hockey team in the college. So he wanted to have a similarly
best football team also for the college. When I reached home, I found
that a letter sent by Mr. Arul Swamy to my father had already reached
there. Therein he had said that my father need not have any anxiety
about me and that I would pass with distinction. But required by him I
24
could not enrol boys for the football team and I went back empty
handed. In the meantime our Principal Bonchav had retired and Arul
swamy was elevated as the Principal of the college. Prior to the
Christmas holidays a badmintor tournament was announced. I was the
team captain and Arul swamy asked me to submit a list of the members
of the team which I did. The principal then asked me to delete the
name of Mr. Venkitakrishnan’s name from the list and substitute it with
the name of one Mr. Soundararaj. I knew very well about
Venkitakrishnan’s calibre. Sounderaraj was not upto the bench mark.
So I flatly refused the principal’s proposal. As the team captain my
decision was to prevail.In the tournament our team won the game. But
I was to lose something costlier. My action of refusing the principal’s
suggestion was construed as disobedience and on this charge I was
expelled from the hostel. The principal was thus wreaking vengeance
on me. I was also detained from appearing for examination.
I could not leave the thread there. I had to pick up and seek
alternatives. At that time there was a Hindu College at Tirunelveli. Then
another problem arose. The T.C from the previous college was required.
I approached St.Xavier’s college for my T.C. The principal refused to
give my T.C. Thus my admission in the Hindu college stood stalled.
Destiny’s ways are inscrutable. A classmate of mine Mr. Krishnan Nair
came up with a suggestion, “ What about our applying for a job in the
Southern Railways? He asked. I readily agreed. We sent the application.
After a few days memos came to us posting me to the Provident Fund
Section and Mr Bhaskaran to the Golden Rock. We also got free
tickets for traveling from Thiruvananthapuram to Trichy. There I got a
convenient room for stay. I took the opportunity to prepare for
examination. I went to Palayamcottai for examination for part.I and II.
For Part III examination the centre was Madurai American College.
Bhaskaran told me that Mr. Balakrishnan the fire brand son of former
Chief Minister C.Kesavan was a student there and staying nearby.
Bhaskaran advised me to stay with Balakrishnan. Apart from
Balakrishnan, Janardhana kurup who later became a noted and
25
successful lawyer in Kerala was also staying there. Two other Christian
boys were also with them. I joined them as advised by Bhaskaran.
I joined the Law college at Belgaum in 1947. The college and
the hostel were situated in the picturesque place called Thaalakwadi.
The period of two years at Belgaum which I spent for studying is etched
vividly in my memory. In fact these two years laid the foundation for my
future life. There I could interact with students who had come from
different places and speaking different languages. I was staying there in
the Linga Day Hostel which was very near to the college. The known
socialists Sheraf was in the compound adjacent to my hostel compound.
For the I st year batch of LLB students the first period was taken by
the Principal himself. When he called the names students should stand
up. The Principal asked me from which part of India I was coming. I
immediately replied that I came from the southern most part of India.
Suddenly came his comments. “ Your Ramaswamy has been promising
to visit this college. He has not come so far. So I would keep you here
till he comes”. Ramaswamy was none other than C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer,
the Diwan of Travancore who was the redoubtable administrator
Travancore never had seen before or after. Our principal had considered
not only Ramasway as his co-worker but also many other stalwarts
and luminaries in the field of law. Our principal was a great motivator
who said winding up the classes,” I want every one of you to play your
full part for the independence of the country”. My salutations to our
Principal. All the students in the college were accomplished lawyers.
Among them V.A Naik, Sreekanta Iyer et al became High Court Judges
later. I hereby place on record my appreciation for Renganatha Rao
our full-time professor. I remember a young charming youth who lived
in our hostel. His name was M.R.Ranikar. He took BA (hons) and
LLB with first class. I felt a special regard for him. I have made friendship
with all my classmates who had come from Hyderabad where there
was no Law College. Most of them were sons of Lawyers. Gangadhara
Rao hailed from Nellur. He had good proficiency in English and Telugu
and he was also a good orator. Ramachandran holder of BA with Frist
26
Class was an expert in Ping Pong and caroms. I cannot forget Sharma
of Thindivanam and Jayaraman of Ananthapur. We are only three
Malayalees. Myself, Ramadas and N.R.Menon. Both of them were
sons of lawyers. N.R.Krishan and Vaikom Narayana Pillai respectively.
Then hostel boy Raman was like a Man-Friday to us ready to render
any kind of help to us. The moment we entered the college, the first
thing we would do was to read the Notice Board to see whether there
was any announcement for football tournament or to see the names of
winners exhibited on the board. I gave my name for both football and
badminton. I had also mentioned that I had participated earlier in Inter
School Football tournaments. In the forthcoming tournament I decided
to participate and I reached the venue early in time. I had consulted
about the position of each participant. The Law College Team won the
tournament. I notched three personal goals in the match. This catapulted
me to fame in Thalakwad. I remember a few of my team members like
Lakshmana Reddy, Forward Sathya Narayana, Jawaji and
Venkitaramayya. After I st year examination I came home for vacation.
I received intimation from college saying that I had passed.
College was opened for the II year. Kelkar had since retired
as the Principal and Prof Bhat had come to occupy the principal’s chair.
Ootty Ramachandra passed in the first class. The girl students
Mangamba and Bissie had also passed. Bissie was the daughter of a
mililary officer, and she was a sociable and personable girl.
M.J. Mathen, the son of famous rationalist M.C.Joseph
Irijalakuda joined for the 2nd year LLB. He did his first year in Bombay.
Mathen came to the college with his nose in the air and in full splendour
with cigar in his lips,European hat and with modern outfit.
It was during the 2nd year that I came to be familiar with Dr.
Lohia. Lohia stayed in Sheraf’s residence.
Since good vegetarian food was not available I had experienced
difficulties in the first year. By the second year Udippi Brahmis had
opened a hotel near the college. Most of the students became its regular
customers. The food we got from there was homely and satisfactory.
Our favourite sambar ( a mixed vegetable curry) was available with the
27
daily dish. In Brahmins hotels sambar is a very common variety and it is
a very tasty curry for rice , iddlies or dosa.
In the college I was one of the three Secreataries elected winning
more votes than my opponents. Principal Bhat asked me how could I
muster more votes when there were only three malayalees in the college.
Then I proudly said that I had three personal goals to my credit in the
football tournament and Ramachandra who passed in first class had
written a poem lauding my achievement and it was put up on the notice Chapter Three
board. This led me to gain some edge over my rivals. This also helped MY STINT AS ADVOCATE , SOCIAL AND
me to gain good influence for me among the students. That was exactly
the reason why I could poll more votes in the election to the post of TRADE UNION ACTIVIST
secretary. Thus I had an enviable position in the college as the sports
secretary for one year.
The year 1949was an annus mirabilis as far as the malayalees
are concerned. It was in 1949 that the two kingdoms of Travancore
and Kochi were merged to form a new State called Travancore-Cochin
State.The Indian consititution came into force and Kerala came under
one dispensation. Thiruvananthapuram was the capital of Kerala. But
the High court was shifted to Ernakulam which lies in almost the centre
of Kerala. For enrolling as an advocate one was required to pass two
selection tests of the Bar Council. After enrolment I started practice in
Thiruvananthapuram. I took on rent the building which belonged to the
famous Thoppil Tharavad of Vanchiyoor and made it both my office
and dwelling place. The Trivandrum District Court was the district level
apex court under which came the Trivandrum, Neyyatinkara,
Nedumangad and Attingal Munsiff Courts.. Almost all cases relating to
plantation disputes came to me.Mr. P.P. Wilson was the leader of the
Planatation Workers’ Union. Cases related to Dock workers also were
entrusted to me . Ramalingam Iyer was the leading advocate at that
time. He always appeared for the employers’ and other owners of the
plantations. I made use of the law books available in his office library
as reference books. Since my father dealt with only civil cases books
relating to labour acts and the like were not with him. Ramalingam

28 29
Ayyar invited me as his junior but I did not accept his offer. His reaction
was only in the form of an appreciation rather than an opprobrium. He
said, “ I know you, boy. Your are the son of the renowned Thampannnor
Narayana Pillai. It was your father who made K.S.Govinda Pillai very
famous by passing over to him all the appeal petitions that came his
way”
I could earn the friendship and kinship of a host of successful
lawyers at that time. Among them are T.K.Divakaran, M.P.Menon,
T.O.Cheruvathur et al. One day Cheruvathur came tomy office and
introduced Krishnan, Editor of Express Daily of which Cheruvathur
was the Trivandrum reporter. He told me that Krishnan had come from
Trissur to file an affidavit in respect of a defamation suit filed by
M.N.Govindan Nair agaianstr some derogatory reference to him
appeared in the column of the daily. I agreed to take up the case though
I was a civil lawyer. The case belonged to criminal category. With the
help of the famous criminal lawyer M.G.Kesava Pillai I filed the Vakalat
against the defamation petition of M.N.Govindan Nair I also told
Krishnan I would not charge any fees in this case which related to
News Paper having a socialist leaning because I was also a socialist.
Krishnan took bail. The cases lasted three years. Panampilly Govinda
Menon was also heard as a witness in favour of M.N.Govindan Nar.
His statement was also crucial. Finally the parties reached a compromise
and the case was settled. Similarly another case against the Editor of
Thaniniram Daily with an yellow image in journalism came to me. In this
case also vakalat was filed by me. Senior criminal lawyer appeared for
Thaniniram Krishnan Nair. In the case Krishnan Nair was finally
acquitted. All criminal cases relating to the Trade Unions led by
Communist Party leaders like Hareendran nair and Benjamin were
entrusted to me.
One day morning three persons came to my office. They
introduced themselves as Prabhakaran son of the celebrated poet
Kumaranasan, Nanthancode Bhaskaran and S.M. Noohu.
Nedumangad by-election was going to be held. Then they told me that
30
they came to meet me only because I was a known socialist. They
knew me as a staunch socialist. So they wanted to field me as a socialist
candidate. I politely refused the offer since I have just commenced my
professional practice. Nanthancode Bhaskaran was finally tipped as
the candidate. If I remember correctly, congress had no candidate in
the fray. In that by-election the candidate N.N.Pandarathil, fielded by
the Hindu Mandalam was declared elected. Pandarathil was one of my
classmates and he later contested on one of two occasions as CPI
candidates and got elected from Nedumangad Assembly Constituency.
In the notorious 100-rupee counterfeit note case, one Velappan
was the first accused. I used to see this young fellow along with a gang
of other youths under a mango tree in the football ground before the
Maharaja Science College near the Spencer’s Junction. Velappan
belonged to a financially well off family. His accomplices were the 3rd
accused Mony Rao, an ex-employee of the Nasik Press where
currency notes are printed. The accused N.S.Nair was a photographer.
The fourth and fifth accused Sosamma and Mariamma were sisters
and were Secretarat Staff.For first accused K.G. Kunjukrishna Pillai
and G.Balagangadharan appeared in the court. Since the second accused
had no advocate, S.Padmanabhan was appointed to plead his case.
The famous criminal lawyer in Thiruvananthapuram one day called me
to his office and asked me to sign vakalat for Sosamma and Mariamma.
The case prolonged for a couple of months. Finally Sosamma and
Mariamma were acquitted. The other three were sentenced for
imprisonment. It was thus proved that I was able to handle criminal
cases too. This earned me much name and fame.
I had functioned as Secretary of Titanium Staff Union, President
of the Govt.Press Staff Union, President of Hotel Workers Union,
President of Retail Ration Shops Association, Kissan Panchayat
Preisident and Secretary of District Committee of PSP.
I had participated in the agitation for High Court Bench in
Thiruvananthapuram and courted arrest in connection with that agitation.
I was lodged in the Poojappura and Attakulangara Jails. Ponnara
Sreedhar was also there with me in the jail.
31
 In the 1952 election to the Thirukochi, I was proposed as a
PSP candidate by K.P.Neelakanta Pillai at the Parliamentary Board
meeting held for this purpose. Thus my candidature from Varkala was
approved by the Party Chairman Pattom Thanu Pillai. My name had
become synonymous with the place Attingal and I came to be known
as Attingal Gopala Pillai with a place name attached to my personal
name. My father Thampanoor Narayana Pillai was at that time the
President of Attingal Municipality. I was projected as the son of that
Narayana Pillai. This was an added advantage to me. The letter
proposing me as the candidate was handed over to me by the office
secretary captain Joseph.
The next day I went to Attingal to seek the blessings of my
father. What my father said spontaneously was thus,” It is a thankless
job. Make a name in the profession first, then there will be people to
follow you”. I took this as an advice. It was not a fiat from my father. I
saw my father quickly scribbling something on a sheet of paper in
Malayalam and handing over it to his clerk for taking it to the Press for
immediate printing. When the printed paper came it was found to be a
personal appeal of my father to the voters of the Varkala constituency,
because he was held in high esteem by the people of that locality. It
read somewhat like this, “ The candidate contesting from the Varkala
Constituency as the P.S.P candidate , Mr. Attingal Gopala Pillai is my
son. And what followed was an impassioned appeal to win the hearts
of the voters of Varkala. Thus I got not only the blessings of my father
but also his solid valuable support. That was more than enough for me.
The next day he took me to each and every corner of Varkala and
introduced personally to every voter. My candidature became the talk
of the town. Snow began to melt. A freedom fighter and recipient of
Thambrapathra Sri. Puthenveetil Madhava Pillai quit the congress and
joined P.S.P Another congress man who followed suit was C.D.Nair.
K.P.Neelakanta Pillai took me to all parts of the constituency. An
unfortunate thing happened. Some unknown hoodlums probably the
henchmen of Sir.C.P attacked Neelakanta Pillai and wounded him
32
grievously while he was alone going to his home in the evening. They
broke his legs and hands and left the scene. He was immediately removed
to the hospital. He recovered from the wounds soon. Undaunted, he
traveled with in the constituency even thereafter. This gave me the
occasion to see directly how the voters revered him and held him in
high regard. A meeting was arranged in which Sri.Jayaprakash
Narayanan was to address. People thronged to see Jayaprakash. But
unfortunatey Jayaprakash did not turn up. Those who had worked
tirelessly for me were Adv.G.Damodaran (uncle of Varkala
Radhakrishnan Ex.M.P), Thottavaram Mdadhavan Pillai, C.D.Nair,
Adv Kailasam Rajamma, S.M. Noohu, Fernandez et al. There was a
gang of young people who had campaigned for me. In the election my
rival candidate T.A. Majeed won. I was pushed to the second position.
The margin was very slender. The congress party candidate was left
trailing third. It became clear that a slight push could have ensured my
victory. Failure of Jayaprakash Narayanan to attend the meeting eroded
the enthusiasm of the followers created by the campaign. The tempo
was further dampened by the fact that the star campaigner and crowd
puller Pattom Thanu Pillai could not address any of the election meetings.
Sreekantan Nair stole the show by his whirl wind campaigning for T.A.
Majeed. He had just come out of the gaol as a political prisoner. He
could overwhelm the voters and make a good impact. This led Majeed
to victory albeit on a slender majority. But I was not disheartened.
Thereafter I resumed my practice with the same amount of vigour and
optimism.
I started a hunger strike to press the charter of demands of the
Devaswom Board employees Union. Pattom Thanu Pillai was the
President of the Union and Adv K.P.Sankaran its vice president. I was
the district committee president and Palkulangara Thankappan Nair
was the General Secretary. Adv.Kailasam Rajamma, Aranmula
Kesavan, Thiruvalla V.P.Namboodiri MLA, Vazhoor Narayana Kurup
MLA were the members. P.Neelakantan was the Treasurer. The charter
of demands of the employees was submitted to the Devaswom President
33
P.G.N.Unnithan but no reply came from him. This led to a sathyagraha
agitation. The employees pulled on with the agitation for 35 days with
no let up. Ultimately the union decided to intensify the agitation by
declaring hunger strike by me. The hunger strike continued for 20 days.
The agitation was called off on the 20th day. The then labour minister
P.K.Kunju spoke to the Devaswom President and brokered an
agreement. I was removed to a hotel for recuperation. There I was
visited by N.S.S.President Govinda Menon and Kocheeckal
Balakrishnan Thampi . After taking rest for a few days I went to Attingal
where I was accorded a rousing reception. Socialist leader
R.M.Nanakaleth was one of the speakers in the reception meeting.
In the 1954 by-election P.S.P in alliance with the United parties
contested the election. The National Committee held in Madras resolved
to ask Pattom Thanu Pillai to form the ministry. Pattom headed the
ministry in which he inducted P.S.Nataraja Pillai, A Achuthan and
P.K.Kunju as ministers. On March,16,1954 Pattom ministry was sworn
in.
In the State Committee meeting of the PSP held in Trissur , All
India Chairman N.G.Gore and Karnataka Opposition Leader Sivappa
had attended. After a lot of manoeuvring I was elected Chairman of
the party. They wanted a man who would not sell the party for money.
Some aspirants for the post of Chairman finally backed out. This was
the victory of probity and rectitude that should be the hallmarks of
public men and politicians.
1957 General Election to the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
The 1957 General Election was the first election to the Kerala
Legislative Assembly after its formation merging the three kingdoms of
Travancore, Cochin and Malabar.
The communist party formed the first government creating a
history of sorts. The communist party came to power through ballot
paper for the first time. It was a world record. The ministry was headed
by EMS Namboodiripad. Five of the independent candidates contested
were elected. They were Ramakrishna Pillai from Chenganoor, A.R.
34
Menon from Trichur, Prof. Joseph Mundassery from Manalur, K.V.
Koruth from Guruvayoor and V.R. Krishna Iyer from Tellissery. The
governor D. Ramakrishna Rao called the independents to his office
and cautioned about the danger if the communist party forms the
government.
Mr. K.V. Koruth then bluntly and in a rustic tone told the
governor, “Mr. Governor, I have only one father”.
Though the governor received this as a slap on his cheek he
continued his efforts to prevent the communist party from forming a
government. His plans however did not succeed. On 5th April 1957 a
government headed by EMS assumes office. His council of ministers
included K.R. Gowri, Joseph Mundassery, T.A. Majeed, A.R. Menon,
V.R. Krishna Iyer, K.P. Gopalan, T.V. Thomas, C. Achuthamenon,
K.C. George and Chathan Master.
The communist ministry before long had to face a political storm
in the form of a mass struggle against it. It was called the liberation
struggle. Women protestors were arrested in great number.
Chief Minister EMS invited Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
to Kerala. The Indian Express had published a photograph which
showed Nehru standing in the middle flanked by the Kerala ministers.
Shri. R. Sankar was at the helm of the congress party and he apprised
Nehru of the political situation prevailing in Kerala at that time. When
Nehru visited Kerala he was also accompanied by his daughter Smt.
Indira Gandhi. When Nehru did not respond to the briefings Indira
Gandhi intervened and pleaded with Nehru to say something and suggest
a solution. It was an impassioned appeal. This is how she said. “Daddy,
please do suggest a solution”. The liberation struggle was raging violently.
In 1959, the Central Govt. though relectantly dismissed the two year
old communist government invoking the constitutional provision under
Sec 256. As the District Secretary of the party I did my best to intensify
the agitation. In 1957 election, I was fielded as a PSP candidate. In the
contest R. Prakasam was elected. I was pushed to the second position.
Congress party was left trailing third.
35
 One day while my colleagues and I were sitting in our office,
ex. minister Kunjiraman called over phone and wanted to speak to
Appu. The man who took up the received did not know that Appu was
none other than me. I attended the call and I was told that Kunjiraman
was coming to my office to speak something important. I told him that
he should not take the trouble of coming into my office and that I would
pay a visit to him while on my way to Attingal. I reached his home. He
told me that the UN Day Bar Congress President was contesting from
Attingal and that I should withdraw from the fray. Because it would be
a disgrace to be routed by me in the fight.
I again met him on my way back from Attingal. I presented
before him the details of votes polled in the 1957 election. I showed
him that the total votes polled by me and Vasukutty together exceeded
the votes polled by R. Prakasam. Thus the victory was sure shot. In
US Day Bar Congress election Kunjiraman defeated his rival candidate
by 200 votes.
Parayil Shamsudeen who defeated T.A. Majeed was living in
Room No. 15 of the MLA quarters. As he was a close friend of mine I
used to stay with him whenever I came to Trivandrum.
1970 election
With a view to forming a stable government in Kerala PSP was
also invited as an alley. I was the Chairman of the PSP at that time. An
understanding was reached with the ruling congress party. Bharath
Tourist Home was the venue of the meeting. Hectic discussions were
going on. The names of M.N. Govindan Nair and T.V. Thomas from
CPI, Baby John and T.K. Divakaran from RSP, myself and another
person from PSP, Syed Ummer Bafithangal, Cheriya Mammukoya and
C.H. Muhammed Koya from Muslim League came up during the
discussion. After the preliminary discussion we entered into the seat
sharing session. Congress party was invited for leading the discussion.
The congress representatives were K.K. Viswanathan and C.M.
Stephen. We started with Kasargod seat. When discussions reached
Ernakulam, I demanded Palluruthy for PSP. Then K.K. Viswanathan
36
said that he knew who the PSP candidate for Palluruthy was. And that
PSP would fail in the seat. Then I wanted to know who then the congress
candidate was for Palluruthy. I declared that though PSP was a small
party it is a force to be reckoned with and that it can easily ensure the
defeat of any candidate. K.K. Viswanathan did not raise any further
argument. PSP was allotted the Palluruthy seat and I was persuaded to
stand there.
When Pattom Thanu Pillai was the Chairman of PSP, P.
Viswambharan and M.A. Sarojini were committee members. Later
Chandrasekharan became the Chairman, P. Viswambharan was made
Secretary. Thus M.A. Sarojini was again sidelined. Now I supported
her and she became the candidate for Palluruthy. M.A. Sarojini was an
advocate. Janaki Amma and Sarojini enrolled the same day. Janaki
Amma started practice under Panampally Govindan Menon. She was
later elevated as High Court judge. Sarojini was defeated in the
Palluruthy constituency. I here do not wish to go into the circumstances
that led to her defeat. She is no more now.
The seat sharing session was over. Congress furnished a list of
winning seats and fighting seats.
In the election the coalition headed by Congress gained majority.
A state committee of PSP was held under my chairmanship. We decided
to fill the vacancies in the Parliamentary board with C.K. Sreedharan
as suggested by N.K. Balakrishnan. It was also decided to convene a
parliamentary board at Bharath Tourist Home, Ernakulam. It is the duty
of the state committee to elect the parliamentary board. Adv. Krishnan
Kutty, Mannanthala Velayudhan and myself went to Ernakulam. In the
meeting, myself and N.K. Balakrishnan were proposed. At this juncture,
P. Viswanathan helplessly said “you are the chairman, so what shall I
do”. Then I retorted. “You can go ahead with the election and you can
defeat me”. Mannanthala Velayudhan and Adv. Krishnan Kutty suggested
the simple method of raising the hands of members. But P. Viswambharan
ruled out the suggestion and proposed a secret voting. The result was
in favour of Balakrishnan. He became the leader of the party in the
37
assembly. I then took the stance and said, “I take it as want of confidence
in me as chairman of the party, I am resigning my chairmanship”. The
same day we returned. Adv. Krishnankutty issued a pamphlet stating
that it was P. Viswambharan and P. Madhavan Nair who defeated me.
The next day the PSP central committee vice-chairman Mulkako
Govinda Reddy made a lightning visit to Trivandrum. He asked me to
withdraw resignation. That day when I reached MLA hostel I had a
telephone call from Nath Pai in which he wanted to have a report on
what happened in the party. He wanted to sort out the matters.
Finally I had to revoke my decision. Adv. Krishnan Kutty
prepared the report and flew to Delhi and presented the report to Nath
Pai. After reading the report he remarked, “the central parliamentary
board can reverse the decision. But Balakrishnan will leave the party.
Assure Gopala Pillai that he will be well looked after.” My friendship
with Nath Pai and Ram Manohar Lohya started when I was a Law
student at Belgaum. Pai belonged to Talakwadi. He was also a Law
student there. From there he went to England after completing Bar at
Law. He came back to India and entered into active politics. He became
member of parliament. Within a short period he could rock the parliament
and attract the attention of even Nehru. Nath Pai’s untimely death was
an irreparable loss to the socialist party in particular and the country in
general.
The C.Achuthamenon government came into being on 04-10-
1970. P.S. Sreenivasan, N.E. Balaram and P.K. Raghavan from CPI
and N.K. Balakrishnan from PSP were inducted as ministers.
The next day Kerala Kaumudi the malayalam daily published
from Trivandrum carried a report that it was Gopalapillai who
accompanied Balakrishnan to the Raj Bhavan for the swearing in
ceremony. M.N. Govindan Nair and T.V. Thomas did not attend the
swearing in function.
Another report that came in Kerala Kaumudi said that
somebody tried to commit suicide in protest against my not being a
minister in the government. However I could not find who the man was
38
sofar. After two years the two CPI ministers resigned and M.N. and
T.V. joined the ministry. The congress party also decided to join the
government.
The PSP state committee convened at Ernakulam and passed
a resolution withdrawing N.K. Balakrishnan from the ministry and
proposing my name as minister in his place. A letter to this effect was
also handed over to the Chief Minister. But C.M. did not take any
action on this letter. He simply sat on it.
When P.R. Kurup was the chairman of PSP, the PSP
representative in the ministry was N.K. Seshan. The chairman asked
the minister to resign. But he did not oblige. Instead he went to Kovalam
and sat hiding there. Achuthamenon even sent the police to bring him.
The CM made Seshan sign the papers. Is it not intriguing that in my
case Achuthamenon did not take a similar measure? Achuthamenon
ministry was expanded with Karunakaran, K.G. Adiyodi, Vellai
Eacharan, K.T. George and Vakkom Purushothaman from Congress
party, C.H. Muhammed Koya from Muslim League and Baby John
and T.K. Divakaran from RSP. In the assembly I sought permission to
present three following bills.
1. Kerala Publicmen Enquiries Bill, 1972.
2. Kerala Advocates Welfare Fund Bill
3. The bill (Protection of Marginal farmers who suffered as a result
of implementation of Land Reforms Act.)
Achuthamenon refused permission to introduce the bill in the
assembly. This led me to a rethinking as to why PSP should continue in
the coalition.
Notice was issued for convening a joint parliamentary party.
The joint parliamentary party consisted of congress, CPI, PSP, RSP
and Muslim league. In the meeting M.K. Raghavan criticised me for
the speech I made. I shot back by saying that in the whip there was no
mention as to what a member should speak. In my speech I opposed
the non-confidence motion moved by John Manjuran. But the beginning
part of my speech I strongly criticised the government. That was exactly
39
what prompted Raghavan to point the gun against me. An uproar
followed and the meeting was dispersed.
During 1970-76, I was a member of the Assembly. I was proud
to be so. I am still proud to belong to the assembly in which the most
seasoned Achuthamenon, M.N. Govindan Nair who was dubbed as
Indian Kruchev, T.V.Thomas, Baby John, T.K.Divakaran, the erudite
and eloquent C.H. Muhammed Koya etc. were members on the ruling
side and EMS, C.B.C. Warrier, M.V. Raghavan, Purushothaman Pillai,
John Manjuran, Wellington, Sivarama Bharathy etc. on the opposition
side.
I was elected from the Trivandrum Ist constituency to the fourth
Kerala legislature while I was Chairman of the party with a comfortable
majority. Previously Sri. Pattom Thanu Pillai was elected from the
constituency many times. I must divulge some truth as this is the duty of
a representative of a constituency. Those were the days when the
Kanakakunnu Palace was used to be let out on rent for marriage
function. One day I happened to attend such a function. A man who sat
beside me introduce himself to me as S. Padmakumar IAS and that he
was the Chairman and Managing Director of Titanium ltd. I used to
promise the job in the company to those who have passed the written
test and selected for interview. One day two boys approached me
when they received the interview cards. They came to my house and
requested me to use my good offices for getting them the job. I took
down the details and promised them to do my best. The residence of
Padmakumar was very near to my house. I telephoned him and gave
the names and details of the boys. He agreed to do the needful and that
I need not bother about it. Unfortunately the boys were not selected
for the job for reasons still not known to me.
N.E. Balaram and P.S. Sreenivasan resigned as ministers. T.V.
Thomas and M.N. Govindan Nair joined the ministry. T.V. Thomas got
Padmakumar to discharge from the company for officials. They
approached the court for redressal. They met Easwara Iyer and sought
advice. He advised them to file OP against the order of dismissal. The
High Court after hearing directed the company to reinstate the dismissed
personnel. Of the four only one person rejoined the company.
40
One day I received a missive from the cabinet secretary
informing me that I was appointed a member of the PAC for a period
of two years. It was a nine member body. In the 1975-76 period there
was a vacancy caused by the appointment of Pankajakshan as minister
from April 1976. The committee was to discuss instances of regularities
and financial mismanagement and profligacy in government companies
pointed out in the CAG’s audit report. Almost all government companies
were declared sick units due to the accummulated losses which more
often than not exceeded the paid up capital of the companies. When
the committee takes up the business it is a rule that the MD of the
company should also be present. The chairman would pull up the MD’s
of the companies for their acts of omission and commission when they
are not able to give appropriate answers to the questions raised by the
committee.
Some National Political facts
Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru sent a letter to
Jayaprakash Narayan offering him the Deputy Prime Minister’s post
and ministership for a few socialist leaders. The offer contained in the
letter was discussed at length in the party. Then it was decided to set
some conditions before accepting the offer. The leaders had surmised
that it was a ruse to woo the socialist leaders especially Ram Manohar
Lohya to congress side.
The sharp-witted Lohia placed three conditions before congress.
1. The congress president and the prime minister should not be the
same person.
2. The working committee members of the Congress should not be
appointed as ministers.
3. The congress members should have the freedom to criticise the
party for its faults.
Nehru flatly turned down these conditions.
Later in 1953, Jayaprakash Narayan presented a 14 point
programme before Nehru suggesting sweeping changes in the
administration and function of government. Had these suggestions been
adopted in toto the condition of India would not have been what it is
today.
41
 rice after the harvest from our paddy field, another car hit on the back
of my car. In the car the Muslim League M.L.A was sitting. He said
sorry for the damage and agreed to spend the whole expenses for the
repair. Two sons were born to us in our wedlock. The elder son Manoj
is an electronics engineer who is employed in Doha, Qatar. His wife
Dr. Jyothilakshmi is a dental surgeon. He has two daughters, Keerthana
and Sanjna who are both schooling in Doha. My younger son Mahesh
Chapter four was an engineer (mechanical) and also a software executive. He was
MY MARRIED LIFE employed in USA. While staying there, he developed a brain tumour
and after prolonged treatment passed away at the age of 31. He was a
bachelor at the time of his death which took place in Trivandrum.
The bride seeing ceremony was over. Somebody told me that Needless to say that it was a great shock to us. I am now residing at
the girl wanted to talk to me. I agreed. The first question she put to me my Sasthamangalam house Mahesh named in memory of my deceased
son Mahesh.
was “Why did you remain unmarried so long”. I quipped, “ Because I
didn’t find you”. She was Indira, then studying for ML after her Barrister
examination in England. She was the third daughter of Dr.A.N.N
Panikkar. Her younger sister, Kamala was already married off. One
day I along with Parayil Shamshudeen went to Indira’s home. She
brought tea for us. Kamala was there. She wanted to attend her sister’s
marriage before she returned to England. I understood her intention
against any further postponement of the marriage. And I gave her the
assurance of an early marriage. It would take place soon. I insisted that
the marriage should be a simple function. Only a dozen people would
be invited. There will be no invitation card. The marriage should be
solemnized before the sanctum sanctorium of the Shanghumukkam
temple. Indira would also invite a few of her classmates. The marriage
was thus held in a simple and unobtrusive manner. After the marriage
we both went to Attingal and spent a couple of days there. After that
we came back to Thiruvananthapuram and settled for a peaceful family
life. Indira is also called Baby at home. At the instance of Indira we
bought a second hand Hindustan New Look car. The car was bought
in her name. One day when I was returning from Attingal with some

42 43
 Chapter five
I AM STILL A SOCIALIST
I am still a socialist even after retirement from active politics
and even when I am at the edge of my life.Socialism is a light that still
leads me in my thoughts. Socialism is in my thoughts now not in action.
What was used to be done in darkness is today done in broad
day light with impunity. Can you blame the sun, the great source of
light, for this. God is evenhanded and that is why Lord Krishna gave his
whole army to Duryodhana and stood alone without any arms with
Dharmaputhra. God provides a level playing field for both good and
evil forces. God proved that virtue alone triumphs in the end. I take
always the side of Dharma or virtue. So why should I worry if victory is
assured for Dharma.
44
Chapter six
CONCLUSION
I do not wish to say more because I am not able to narrate all
my experiences coherently. It is now too late to rearrange my shuffled
memories. To put everything in a proper order is difficult now.
I am a humanist to the core and a Socialist to my finger tip. I
am sure that I have lived a fruitful life though I could not fulfil my
aspirations as a socialist. I see with agony that the party comrades have
changed a lost and deviated from the right path to reach our aims and
goals. Politicians have lost uprightness and the hunger for power and
position drove them away from the cherished ethics. They have been
overwhelmed by selfishness and narrowmindedness. To gain power,
they have no qualms to resort to any skullduggery and machinations.
They pull the carpet from under the feet of their friends. Self
aggrandizement has become the prime motive of the political leaders
today.
45
 No.78.EB.700/I Minister of Railways India,
New Delhi- 110001,
July 21, 1978.

Dear Shri.Pillai,
Minister of Railways India
New Delhi-110001, Please refer to my interim reply dated 20th June, 1978 with
June 20, 1978 reference to your letter dated 7th June, 1978 regarding my commitment
on formation of a Railway Division at Trivandrum. I stand by my
commitment, which was also reiterated in my Budget Speech for 1978-
Dear Shri Pillai, 79. It was because of difference, cutting across party lines amongst the
people of the various areas in Kerala that I have not been able to fulfil
this commitment immediately. A Railway Division must have a reasonable
I am in receipt of your letter dated 7.6.1978 regarding a railway minimum route kilometrage to be operationally viable. As a result of
division at Trivandrum. various pulls and counter pulls in the Kerala region, we have not been
able to secure agreement on a scheme that will bring under Trivandrum
With regards, Division a route kilometrage of 600 to 700 , all in Broad Gauge, as
required by operational considerations. To make a beginning however,
I had suggested setting up of a Transportation Division covering Shoranur
Yours sincerely Trivandrum section,which could later be developed into a full-fledged
Sd/ Division by adding to it more route kilometrage. As this scheme has not
Madhu Dendavate. apparently found favor with the people of Kerala, I have written to the
Chief Minister of Kerala requesting him to have a discussion with all
To the concerned interests with a view to evolving an agreed alternative.
Shri. Attingal Gopala Pillai, Further action in the matter will be taken immediately after we hear
Advocate , Trivandrum. from the Chief Minister of Kerala.
With regards,
Yours sincerely
Sd/-
Madhu Dendavate

Attingal Gopala Pillai,

Advocate, Trivandrum (Kerala)

46 47
 Raj Bhavan, Raj Bhavan,
Itanaga- 791111, Itanagar – 791111,
September 28, 1991. Janurary, 9,1992.
My dear Gopala Pillai,
My dear Gopala Pillai,
Your letter of November 5 reached me today. There was postal
I do not know who is to blame. We have no contact with each strike. All letters were delayed.
other for several years now. I am sorry that you made an effort to meet me at Coimbatore
You know perhaps, I have become the Governor of Arunachal but failed.That is none of my fault. I have hoped that the treatment
Pradesh since March last. Chandra Sekhar, as Prime Minister, wanted would continue for about 4 weeks, but after examining me and seeing
to show respect to an old colleague and almost forced me to take up my medical report they thought that intensive oil treatment would not
this office. So I am here. The place is very nice and the climate suits be suitable for me. They gave me only oil applications for 10 days. So
me. I had to come back to Arunachal Pradesh earlier than scheduled. I also
I write this letter for a purpose. The bearer of this letter, lost a chance of meeting you after many years.
E.Subramonaiam, is the caretaker in my Raj Bhavan. He looks after It is far way off, from extreme south to north-east. The expenses
me very well. I am all alone and I need company. But he is compelled would be too much. There is a train from Trivandrum to Guwahati.
to go home on leave and I do not know how I shall manage. That may take 3 nights./ It is a long way. I do not know whether it is
He needs leave to go home because his younger brother at possible to undertake a journey for such a long trip, but if you decide to
Trivandrum is involved in various troubles including harassment by his come and let me know the train in which you would be travelling and its
own father-in-law, who is in a vatage position as he works with the possible date and time of arrival at Guwahati, I may make arrangements
IGP. He has to face legal battles. to bring you here to Itanagar, which is to be covered by road from
I do not know how you are placed. But I will be happy if Guwahati. I assure you, your stay will be very comfortable and you
through you he gets proper advice and assistance to get over his would be visiting a very beautiful part of our country.
difficulties.
With my greetings, With my good wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Yours sincerely Sd/
Sd/ ( Surendranath Dwivedy)
(Surendranath Dwivedy)
Attingal Gopala Pillai,
Shri. Attingal Gopala Pillai, Advocate,
Advocate, 9/2558 , Sasthamangalam,
Sasthamangalam, Trivandrum, Kerala State.
Trivandrum, Kerala State.
48 49
 Janatha Party,
Sardar Patel Bhavan,
7,Jantar Mantar Road, P.B.No.709,
New Delhi- 110001
3 South Avenue Lane, New Delhi 11,
September, 12, 1978.
My dear Shanti Bhushan,
Enclosed please find a Memorandum received from the
members of the Trivandrum Bar Association.
I shall thank you to consider their request for constitution of a
bench of the High Court of Kerala at Trivandrum.
I am glad to learn that you are celebrating the 84th birth
Anniversary of Attingal Gopala Pillai, Advocate on 11th May 2003 at
Thiruvananthapuram. Due to old age, I am not able to attend the function.
I knew Sri. Gopala Pillai since my Law College days in Belgaum
in 1945-47. He is an affectionate friend and always jovial. He had a
wide circle of friends because of his sociable nature. He always keeps
track of his old friends. It is a remarkable quality. He is very optimistic
and has a positive attitude to life. He was politically active and led
many campaigns.
I am happy , he is till healthy and active and young even at 84.
I wish him a long healthy and happy life and hope he will hit the century.
I wish the function all success.
With regards,

Yours sincerely,
Yours sincerely,
Sd/ Sd/
Chandra Sekhar (A Gangadhara Rao),
To Former Judge ,
Shanthi Bhushan, 28th April, 2003. High Court of Andhra Pradesh
Minister of Law, New Delhi

Copy to
Sri. Attingal Gopala Pillai, MLA,
Advocate, Trivandrum

50 51
 Justice S Padmanabhan, memories of our association. I wish that we will have the pleasant privilege
Forder Judge, High Court of Madras, of celebrating the centenary of Gopala Pillai.
Sankara Vilas, New No.4. I am herewith enclosing a cheque for Rs.1001/- towards
celebration.

I am delighted to note that Sri Gopi and you have constituted a With regards,
committee to celebrate our friend affectionately called Attingal.
Attingal Gopala Pillai became close to me in the early 50s just Yours sincerely,
like Sri. Gopi and yourself. I remember having advised him to go and Sd/
practice at Attingal under his father late lamented Mr. Narayana Pillai. S.Padmanabhan
However, he had come to the conclusion that he was tailored to be a
politician. He then began to take active part in politics. He joined the
Praja Socialist Party under late Mr. Pattom Thanu Pillai. He then became
a member of the Legislative Assembly and thereafter Chairman of the
Praja Socialist Party. In fact, there was an occasion when there were
only two members of the party eligible to be nominated to the ministry
and one of whom was Attingal.
Sri. Gopala Pillai has been and continues to be a good friend
for all, particularly towards me he has a lot of affection. Just like you,
he too would telephone me from Trivandrum and be in touch with me.
Whenever, he passed through Madras, he used to call on me. He is a
soft-spoken friend.
I recall those happy days when we used to play Tennis in the
District Court. Gopala Pillai and Gopi were good Tennis players. At
that time Mr. Mathew, who was the Additional District Judge liked to
play only singles and I had to keep ready Gopi, Gopala Pillai and late
Kesavan Nair ( for the purpose of identification, I may be permitted to
add the word iodine).
District Munsif Kovoor Eipe and you, used to be spectactors
entertaining everybody with jokes. These were the days when all of us
had a very good time at Trivandrum Bar Association. That was a
wonderful time which will not again return. Even though it is nearly 45
years since I left Trivandrum Bar, I have always treasured pleasant

52 53
 Major General (Retd) SANKARAN NAIR
Chairman Dr. M. Thangvelu, M.D,
& SARASWATHY NAIR Former Principal, Medical College, Trivandrum
Erswhile Senior Reader Maitreyi College and former Regional Director of WHO for South East Asia
Delhi University Founder Member & Manager
On this pleasant occasion, it is indeed a delight to remember
Our Appu Chettan, the selfless dedication of this remarkable social leader, Attingal Gopala
Pilllai, setting on record as a selfless social leader, a doyen amongst our
Loads of good wishes on your attaining Satabdi and the related leaders, a selfless contributor towards Development of any social welfare
celebrations. Appu Chettan to all of us relations (he is my father’s dear activity of the depressed and disadvantaged.
sister’s son), hence my first cousin) deserves what he has achieved and While conveying great appreciation of his leadership I join with
accolades that his friends, well-wishers and relations have showered thousands of his admirers in praying for his continued leadership in the
on him. A selfless well meaning person, who cares for other people, ensuing century. Pray to almighty to grant this wish of many of his
Attngal Gopala Pillai led a clean public life. No part of his culture and relatives and friends.
value system to be cunning or scheming. We all love him, continue to
love him. M.Thangavelu.
One thing I remember of his younger days was that he was a
good sportsman. A sports person has certain distinct qualities. Appu
Chettan possesses those qualities and many of them manifested in his
public life. He has been a well-wisher of ours and always encouraged
me and Saraswathy ( my wife) to doing well in our respective careers
and life.
It is a pity that we could not be present for the celebrations.
Though belated, here are all our sincere and affectionate good wishes
for a continued long, healthy and propserous life.

Yours affectionately,

Sankaran & Saraswathy.

22 November, 2003.

54 55

M.R.RAYAKAR
1153, Gajlatha Arcade,
Sykes, Extension, Kolhapur
COMMON CIVIL CODE
These days we hear a lot about Common Civil Code applicable
to all Indians. This is particularly pronounced prior to elections because
the candidates are concerned with gaining votes under any circumstances.
The Common Civil Code is an idea which looks nice on paper but it is
very difficult to implement.
Apparently, the politicians are guided by the facts that in India
we have a common Criminal Code, which involves the Indian Penal
Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. But this criminal activity relates
only to those people who have committed an offence and such people
are less than one in two thousands. But the Civil code will be applicable
to all the Indians and therefore the results of applying Civil Code will
have to be considered very critically.
Amongst the Hindus, we have now a legislation. But previously
there was no written legislation. The right to property and succession
to property, either for consideration or by death in the family, is as per
the Hindu Code, where most of the property goes to the male side and
a very little goes to female side. Further more, according to Hindus,
where living tradition is a very easy process, which is not so anywhere
in the country and in Hindu code there is also a matriarchal system in
Kerala and in South North Karnataka, where property descends from
mother to daughter and then to grand daughter and son on. In other
words the property belongs to female population and not to male
population. This was so even in old Travancore State, when the Maharaja
dies, the person who took his place was not his own son, but his sister’s
son.
56
As against this you have a special muslim code and the Muslim
Act. In fact, after Indonesia, the second largest population of Muslims
is in India and not in Pakistan. Their Civil rights are controlled by the
provision of Kuran and therefore, they will not accept anything which is
against Kuran. Therefore, if the civil code is brought in, there will be lot
of objection from Muslim religious people. Then as far as other
population is concerned, they are governed by the Indian Succession
Act and they are Christians, Parsis etc. Their reaction to common civil
code is also doubtful.
Ours is a country with fifteen languages and dover tow
thousands dialects. Therefor, civil life of people in villages and the
common right which they at present represent, may not certainly be
parallel to common civil code. Therefore, there is going to be a definite
objection from this group also.
On the whole, common civil code is going to create more
problems than the politicians think of and it will lead to a lot of litigation.
We have more than two crores of cases pending in various courts in
India. Promulgation of common civil cases will certainly increase this
amount by a very large percentage. So, it is my suggestion that the idea
of Common Civil Code should not be implemented. I am sure if others
read what I have written, they may also come to the same conclusion.
As an ancillary subject, I would recommend that the
Government pass a bill to reduce the cases in the court of law. eg.if a
civil case is pending for more than 10 years in the court, the government
should bring the law saying that a case more than ten years old will be
reviewed by the judges on the papers available at their office and given
decision, against which there will not be appeal permitted. If such a
step is taken, then we will reduce court cases in our country and improve
litigation in the court of law. This is only the suggestion which I am sure
many people will not agree to, but not what I am writing to you.
We are following a British Code of legal conduct, where it is
said that in criminal cases, it is better that 9 criminals escape rather than
one non-criminal is sent to jail. This is not so in the continent of Europe.
57
In other words, the burden of proof mainly lies on the accused in criminal
cases. This has nothing to do with Indian Code. I am recording this to
show that laws of various countries are different and we must see that
we have our own law to reduce court cases.
And in the end, I congratulate the people of Trivandrum for
bringing out a Souvenir in the honour of Mr. Pillai.
Thanking you very much.
Yours sincerely,
Sd/-
(M.R.Rayakar)
58
SRI. ATTINGAL GOPALA PILLAI IN A VIEW
FROM THE FAR
M.R. Muraleedharan Nair, Advocate, Attingal.
Early Nineteeen Sixtees. An elegantly dressed young debonair
with twirling moustache and side-whiskers walked briskly into the
wedding hall. Everyone sitting there felt the grease and rose to greet
him, murmering Thampanoor’s son. He sat down to talk, he became a
cynosure of all eyes.
That was the first time I set eyes on “Thampanoor’sson” who
later came to be called “Attingal Gopala Pillai. I have seen him since a
thousand times in his house, office, court, here there and everywhere.
He was the worthy son of a great and worthy father, Sri.
Thampanoor Narayana Pillai who was the doyen among civil practioners
of the Trivandrum District and particularly of Attingal. By sheer dint of
hardwork instilled from much burning of midnight oil, Thampanoor
Narayana Pillai rose to dizzy height, ascending spirals of success. He
was probably the first lawyer in the area to win the much coveted sleek
automobile which was a rare phenomenon in those days.
Brought up in such milieu, and with his residence at the palatial
“Jaya Vilasom” under the sheltering care of such a great father, he Attingal
Gopala Pillai, could perceive the whole world at his feet. Young Gopala
Pillai soon found himself under the spell of Jayaprakash Narayanan,
who with his socialist instincts, was the rising star in the political firmament
of the day. Thereafter he went to Trivandrum and then to Belgaum to
complete his graduation in law as in Politics. He returned for good and
befriended well known socialitst of the day, here and elsewhere. In the
National scene, his comrades included redoutable veterans like Dr.Ram
Manohar Lohia, Madhu Dendavate, Nathpai, Madhu Limaye and
George Fernandez, the rage of the time and a host of others of similar
ilk , At the state level, he made friends with Sri. Pattom Thanu Pillai,
59
Ponnara Sreedhar, P.S.Nataraja Pillai and others. Soon he threw himself He is a man whose only passion in life is to be of service to the
into the vortex of solialist agitations with its unending eddies, where he State, Country and the Republic, with all his strength at his command
was himself a principal player. He worked himself up day and night and with much vitality as he could muster. Here if anywhere, is a man
which had endeared himself to the people and he was one of the principal who loves his country, as much as he loves his people, with all his mind
sights at Attingal. His taking part in an agitation ultimately landed him in and heart, and never forsake them for rewards. Here , if any where, is
the Trivandrum Attakulangara Sub Jail from where fate and destiny a man who has emerged with his head high through the permutations
inveighed him out, to witness the smouldering pyre of his beloved father. and combinations of joys and sorrows, troubles and tears, cares and
The second chapter in his career saw him stand contesting the anxieties with the singular honesty of purpose, deed and action. Here if
Varkala Election, where he lost to his opponent by a narrow margin of any where is a great gentleman, a man gently and kind to the tips of his
two hundred votes. He seems to have drawn a blank in one or two fingers, who verily loves and likes his countrymen. He fills the great
subsequent elections, but soon he made it to the Assembly from Ostrovsky’s dictum. “ Man’s dearest possession is life, and since it is
Trivandrum subsequently. During Sri. C.Achutha Menon’s Ministry, given to him to live but not one, he must so live as not to be seared with
when he was all but selected to the Minister’s post, his swearing as a the shame of a cowardly and trivial past, so live as not to be tortured
minister was scuttled by the parliamentary wing of his own party of for years without purpose, that dying he can say, “ All my life and my
which he was the chairman, thanks to the political skullduggery unleashed strength were given to the first cause in the world- the liberation of
by his party men.Severely hurt by this act of unkindness, he seems to mankind.
have opted to fade gradually into political oblivion and wilderness. May his tribe increase, in increased and increasing numbers!
He has a peculiar capacity and flair in making friends. Indeed, May such a useful person as he, be spared for a hundred years!.
he believes with Dr. Johnson that one should keep one’s friendship
under constant repair. His friends are too numerous and many, belonging
to every walk of life, without any distinction. He never shunned a friend,
when a friend was in need.
Writing of him, I am reminded of the words of the poet,
Kindness and grace, excellent courtesy,
A brightness in the face, airs of high memory,
Whence came all this to such as he?
No man less proud than he, none asked for homage
less”
Now that he has entered the grand finale of his life, he
can look back with absolute satisfaction to his part in life serving a life
sublime, which never was made ludicrous by resort to acts of such
political malfeasance which has, of late been shadowing the social and
political arena.

60 61

N.GOPINATHAN,
Chairman , Souvenir Committee,
Retired District and Sessons Judge.
The word ‘Attingal Gopala Pillai’ has a special fascination for
me and vivid memories of my intimate association and friendship with
Sri Attingal Gopala Pillai drawn upon me when I hear that word. While
as a student I used to visit Trivandrum during vacation to be with my
uncle and family and my uncle was late K.Narayanan who was professor
in the Law College, Trivandrum. Anxious to reach Trivandrum I used
to enquire other passengers as to when we will reach Attingal as from
Attingal one could reach Trivandrum soon enough. So Attingal was
always in my mind even in my early years and only that memory reminds
me of my intimate friendship with Attingal Gopala Pillai in the later years
of my life. Later I joined the Law College in Trivandrum and took my
BL Degree in the year 1944 and started practice in the High Court of
Travancore at Trivandrum where my uncle Late Sri.K.Narayanana
Panikkar former Government Pleader of Kottayam was practising and
lived with him.
It was in the Bar Association where I first met the gentleman
politician Sri. Attingal Gopals Pillai who was a prominent lawyer at
Trivandrum. I learnt that was also a former athlete and soon a sincere
friendship developed between us and Gopala Pillai was glad to know
that I was an all round athlete and a member of the prestigious
Trivandrum Tenis Club which was then at Sasthamangalam and its
President was late Col.G.V.Raja who was the Doyen of all athletic
association in Travancore and who was the prince among the sportmen.
Gopala Pillai came to know how late champion, University Hockey
Player and winner of inter Collegiate Davis Cup Tennis Tournament
Attingal Gopala Pillai was also an all round sportsman during
his college days and he used to be penalised by his father for his over
enthusiasm for sporting activities perhaps neglecting his studies.
62
In the Trivandrum Bar Association, Attingal Gopala Pillai had a
unique status as a lawyer, senior politician and an important member of
the Praja Socialist Party and he contested many elections to the
Legislative Assembly as a candidate of the PSP he ultimately won his
seat from the Trivandrum-1 constituency. As Chairman of PSP and
distinguished himself as an able Legislator, but unfortunately he missed
his chance to become a minister. Though I was not interested in politics
I watched with admiration his progress as a lawyer politician and we
parted company temporarily when I entered Kerala Judicial Services
as Munsiff.
It was while Gopala Pillai was dabbling and shining in the political
field that his marriage with Barrister Smt. Indira took place. It so
happened that the distinguished lady was distantly related to me from
my father’s side. This also further strengthened our intimacy and
friendship. She worked for some years as a lecturer in the Law College,
Trivandrum.
After returning from judicial services as District Sessons Judge,
Ernakulam I chose to settle down in Brindavan, College Lane,
Trivandrum where my parents lived. Attingal Gopala Pillai was also
retired from active political life and was staying in his home at
Sasthmangalam with family and this served a chance to restore and
continue our old intimate friendship.
I recollect the many evenings that we spent together enjoying
each others company and very often many of his other friends also
joined these groups to spend evenings most happily. My association
with his family also became very close and his wife was a wonderful
hostess and I hope that such intimate friendship will continue for many
more years.
It was thus that when friends came to know that Attingal Gopala
was reaching 84 years of age that all his friends met and decided to
celebrate his SATHABHSHEKAM in a befitting manner, I had a
prominent role in that function and it was on my initiative that we chose
the venue for the felicitating function at the prestigious VJT Hall,
63
Trivandrum in on 11th May, 2003. I was also chosen as the Chairman
of the Sourvenir Committee which decided to publish a sourvenir also.
The meeting held on 11th May, 2003 at VJT Hall was inaugurated by
Sri.K. Ayyappan Pillai and there were many distinguished persons from
all walks of life to felicitate him amd messages were received from
dinitaries all over Kerala and India.
I am delighted that even though there has been some delay, the
souvenir is being printed and soon it will be released. As the Chairman
of the Sourvenir Committee on behalf of his friends and well wishers
and my own behalf I record our thanks to the distiguished persons who
have sent the articles and messages which were included in the sourvenir.
Thus as already mentioned the word : Attingal” continues to have a
special fascination for me and on behalf of one and all I with Attingal
Gopala Pillair many more years of happy and fruitful life.
64
SATHABHISHEKAM
Adv. K. Ayyappan Pillai
We have celebrated the 84th birthday of our good and valued
friend Sri. Attingal Gopalapillai a year back. He is a unique personality,
a large hearted man, politician, sincere, effective and honest; a
parliamentarian having prior equals. Sri. Gopalapillai had endeared
himself among his thousands of friends irrespective of political affiliation,
caste or religion or other denominations. I take this opportunity to pay
my sincere regards to him.
Born in an aristocratic nair family as the second son of late Sri.
Thampanoor Narayana Pillai who was the leader of Attingal bar and
later the first president of Attingal Municipal council, Gopalapillai had
an easy comfortable life during his early days. Evenwhile in high school
he proved to be an alround sportsman winning laurels in different sports
events held at that time. When he passed his secondary school leaving
examination, he joined the science college, Trivandrum (now University
College). Then he joined St. Xavier’s college, Palayamkotta where
sportsmen were given an honourable place in the student world. In a
short time he became a favourite of students and teachers of that college.
His ambition was to follow in his father’s footsteps as a legal
practictioner. So he joined the law college, Belgaum. Dr. Ram Manohar
Lohya, the great socialist thinker came to Belgaum at that time in
connection with the Goa struggle for indepedence. He came into close
contact with Dr. Lohya and he was very much impressed by his principles
through close conversation with him. So he became an ardent admirer
of Dr. Lohya. The atmosphere at Belgaum law college made a subtle
influence in his mental outlook. He gradually developed a political bias
along with his love for a legal career. Returning to Travancore he joined
the bar in Trivandrum. Simultaneously he developed an inclination for
socialist politics.
In the coming years we saw Gopalapillai being put up as a
candidate in the election-all from socialist bloc. He contested these
65
elections meeting election expenses from his own pocket disposing
valuable properties alotted to him. Gopalapillai never grudged spenting
money if the cause was just and right.
He played a distinct part in the agitation for the establishment
of a bench of the High court in Trivandrum. While he was in
Attakulangara jail, he lost his father. He was in the forefront of the
vimochana samaram - a fight against the tyrannical action of the
communist led government, the first communist government in the entire
world voted into power through ballot.
He continued to be one of the leading lights of the socialist
party in Kerala. The most prominent party then was the Praja Socialist
Party led by the late Sri. Pattom Thanu Pillai. Gopalapillai was also a
member of that party.
The Vimochana samaram (liberation struggle) succeeded in the
dismissal of the communist government led by EMS Nampoodirippad,
by the Presidential decree. In the election that followed, the Communist
party lost majority and a united government in anti-communist sessions
led by Pattom Thanu Pillai was formed. In the 1962 Lok Sabha elections,
all the four PSP candidates including Pattom Krishnapillai (son-in-law
of Chief Minister Pattom Thanupillai) lost. Pattom took it as a defeat
and it as rumoured that Pattom Thanupillai had been to the governor
V.V. Giri and told him that it was a personal defeat as Chief Minister
and that he was resigning and recommending the dissolution of the
assembly. News later appeared in newspapers that Pattom Thanupillai
had been appointed Governor of Punjab and R. Sankar was sworn in
as Chief Minister of Kerala.
K. Chandrasekharan and P. Viswambharan were elected
President and Secretary of the Praja Socialist Party respectively. The
election to Rajya Sabha was notified. Attingal Gopalapillai filed
nomination proposed by late Ponnara Sreedhar and Balakrishna Menon
who were members of the Legislature party. Later Ponnara Sreedhar
told me that the state leadership received Rs. 10000 from sale of
Muhammed Ibrahim Sulaiman Seth and asked PSP members to vote
for him. Sulaiman Seth was declared elected. So it was evident from
66
the voting pattern that nine members of the congress party also voted
for Seth at the expense of the congress candidate.
Attingal Gopalapillai filed an appeal before the central
parliamentary board of the party that the state leadership received Rs.
10000 from Seth and got him voted in election. The central board
requested Gopalapillai to make an announcement that he has withdrawn
from the contest since it was after scrutiny of nomination papers. Annie
Thayyil of the congress party was defeated. So the whip M.C. Abraham
of the congress parliamentary party filed an election petition before the
High Court of Kerala. Justice Sadasivan was appointed tribunal.
Gopalapillai received a summons to appear before the tribunal. So he
appeared before the tribunal and was questioned regarding the appeal.
He stated that there was nothing particular and that it was only a regular
appeal. So the tribunal declared Saleh Muhammed elected. If
Gopalapillai had produced his appeal before the tribunal that the party
had received financial gain it would have amounted to an election offense
and the reverse would have taken place. But he did not do so only
because of his loyalty to the party which he was nourishing from 1952
onwards. Nemesis followed congress and within a few months congress
fell into two parts, one led by R. Sankar and the other by P.T. Chacko
and on a motion of non-confidence the congress government fell and it
was followed by president’s rule.
In 1965, Gopalapillai was elected chairman of PSP. In the 1970
elections he was elected from Trivandrum Ist constituency as a united
front candidate in a coalition led by CPI, RSP, Muslim League and
Indira Congress. Along with him two other members of PSP were
elected - N.K. Balakrishnan and Kuttappan. By a secret ballot N.K.
Balakrishnan was elected leader of the party and he was sworn in as
minister. After an year, the congress joined the government. Three CPI
ministers resigned and M.N. Govindan Nair and T.V. Thomas were
sworn in as ministers. The PSP in the same way elected Gopalapillai as
leader. The Secretary of the party Palkulangara Thankappan Nair wrote
to Chief Minister Achutha Menon that Balakrishnan may be dropped
from the ministry and Gopalapillai be asked to join the ministry. The
67
Chief Minister did not take any action in that. In the subsequent liaison
committee meeting the chief minister told Gopalapillai to wait for two
and a half years and then he could join the ministry. Immediately without
any hesitation Gopalapillai told Chief Minister that he did not wish to
seek favour from him. As the leader of United Front Achutha Menon
should have asked Balakrishnan to resign. But he did not do so. On a
former occasion, when minister N.K.Seshan was asked to resign from
cabinet by the chairman of SSP, P.R. Kurup, Achutha Menon sent the
police to bring Seshan and asked him to resign. But in the case of
Gopalapillai he did not do that.
Gopalapillai proved to be an effective member of the legislature.
Credit goes to him as the first legislative member who sought leave for
introduction of an anti-corruption bill in any Indian legislative assembly.
The members of the bar should be greatfrul to him for the Advocate’s
Provident Fund bill. Another private bill sought for introduction in the
assembly was to neutralise the bad effects of the enactment of the land
reforms act, because a new set of landlords had been created. It was
just like robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The properties owned by the original landlords had been taken
away and handed over to the rich lessees who acted as middlemen.
Kerala Land Reforms Act instead of transferring the land from the Janmis
to the actual cultivators had transferred the land to the lessees in the
name of tenants. Gopalapillai moved a bill to protect the interest of
middle class landlords with a view to lessening the harm done to the
landed genry. That bill was unfortunately opposed by the Chief Minister.
Attingal Gopalapillai is having a well earned rest after a hectic
political life. Sri. Gopalapillai had successfully withstood the onslaughts
of political victimisation because he had a spotless political career.
Besides he has the good fortune to have a happy and contented family
life for which his wife Smt. Indira Gopalapillai, a highly educated and
cultured lady who stood by him firm as a rock through the ups and
downs of his political career is responsible.
We wish him a long and healthy prosperous life.
68
A LOW PROFILE POLITICIAN
Prof. P. Gopalaraman, Secretary, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Attingal Gopalapillai a person whom I adore and respect
recently celebrated his sathabhishekam. To commemorate this happy
event, a souvenir is being released. It is my pleasure and privilege to
pen a few lines about his wonderful personality.
I know Attingal Chettan for the last fifty years. My first contact
with him was through a common friend of ours late K.R.V. Pisharady
of Trivandrum Hotel and Trivandrum Chitty Fund. We were having an
All India Tennis Tournament here in Trivandrum. As the then Honorary
Secretary of the Kerala Tennis Association responsibility of conducting
the tournament was on my shoulders. The main stumbling block in the
proper conduct of the tournament was finance. Sri. Pisharady who
was the treasurer of the Tennis Association and a few of us were going
round the entire length and breadth of Kerala to collect funds. One day
Sri. Pisharady mentioned about a tennis lover and a more than average
tennis player. It was none other than Attingal Gopalapillai. The moment
we mentioned our mission to him there was a positive response from
him. From then on he was always with us in our endeavour to collect
funds for running the tournament. I shall never forget the spontaneous
help he rendered to our mission.
Now a few words about Sri.Attingal Gopalapillai as a politician.
A very respected politician. Sri. Attingal can be referred to as a low
profile politician. He believed in deeds and not in words. The many
things he has done for the constituency he represented are legendary.
He believed in calling a spade a spade much to the embarrassment of
his co-politicians.
From another angle I would like to refer to Sri. Attingal as a
candle politician and not as a tubelight politician. Let me explain. A
candle can always be depended upon to give light until we ourselves
extinguish it. But a tube light cannot be depended to shed light according
to our will. Perhaps at the time we want light the most, it will be
69
extinguished due to current failure. Today we want dependable candle
politicians like Sri. Attingal and not undependable tubelight politicians
as many of the present day politicians are.
Because of his integrity, honesty and forthright utterances Sri.
Gopalapillai has been sidelined. It is a great loss to our state and to our
nation.
I used to meet Sri. Gopalapillai everyday during our morning
walk and exchange a few pleasantries. But due to his present state of
health I have been denied this wonderful opportunity. We still maintain
our contact and this I value most.
Sri. Attingal has just celebrated his Sathabhishekam. Let me
on this happy occasion pray to God Almighty to spare Sri. Attingal for
many more years enabling him to be the role model for every section of
society.
70
ATTINGAL GOPALAPILLAI : A VICTIM OF THE
VICISSITUDES OF IDEALISTIC POLITICS
Dr. N.A. Karim
My friend Mr. Attingal Gopalapillai who celebrated his
sathabhishekam recently was one of the outstanding first generation
leaders of socialist politics of Kerala. He played crucial roles in the
then Travancore-Cochin and later Kerala politics, both as a top
functionary of PSP and member of the state legislative assembly.
Trained as a lawyer, Mr. Gopalapillai set up practise which he
soon neglected due to his pre-occupation with politics and in politics
not being a careerist he later lost grip of the fast changing political style.
A keen sportsman right from his school days he brought to bear on his
political life the spirit of sportsmanship which ill-fitted with the nature of
politics of later years. The socialist movement, first as part of Indian
National Congress and later as an independent one generally consisted
of idealist young men and women who were restless of the very slow
transformation of society to the socio-economic ideals they believed
in. Finding that it was futile to function as a political catalyst within the
parent body they strengthened their movement inorder to make it
independent if necessary. On the other hand the conservative in the
congress were finding the presence of these radical elements quite
uncomfortable. Therefore they were shown the door at the earliest
politically convenient moment. Cut adrift suddently from the main body
the socialist groups became the flotsam and jetsam of our national politics.
Caught in the powerful current of later parliamentary politics several
idealistic socialists like Attingal Gopalapillai reluctant to swim with the
tide was washed ashore in a political wilderness.
He has vivid memories of the state leaders with whom he closely
worked and the national leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya
Kripalani, Nath Pai etc. of the socialist movement with whom he came
into contact during the course of his political career. His estimate of
every one of them is imbued with a deep insight into their character and
71
personality. Mr. Pillai is a born racontuer who recalls his political days
with wisdom and maturity and regales his friends with interesting
anecdotes even now. With no trace of frustration or bitterness he exudes
a cheerfulness even at this advance age which is infectious. The only
handicap now is the loss of the agile mobility that he enjoyed till recently.
For his friends like me, Gopalapillai chettan is the embodiment
of values that are fast vanishing from our public life particularly political
life.
I wish him a long and happy life.
72
S. Peer Mohammad
Former Managing Director,
Kerala State Industrial Enterprises, Trivandrum
I was a college student in Trivandrum for eight years from
1935 for BA in the then Science College and B.Sc (Engg) in the first
batch of students in the Govt. College of Engineering. I came as a shy,
reclusive student from the suburban town in south Travancore but passed
out of the colleges with an abundant wealth of acquaintance of eminent
people of the Kerala state. Perhaps T.V. Thomas comes up in my
memory as distinctive among the valuable personalities, I was privileged
to interact in this mileu. He gave me an outstanding opportunity to peep
into the intricacies of the political set up in public life. Attingal Gopalapillai
exemplifies the inscrutable complexities of political career.
Gopalapillai in his college days was an outstanding student and
attracted attention of the turbulent culture of student life. He shined as
an outstanding MLA in the assembly. Sreekandan Nair who capped
the RSP movement set the pace for the fire brand in political life. Attingal
Gopalapillai resembled him in candour, courage and cleanliness in public
life.
Even from his student days Gopalapillai who was an excellent
ball badminton player among other innings used to enter with ease,
dangerous public situation with abundant insight and courage. I have
great pleasure to congratulate him on his innings and wish him abundant
measure of mental happiness in his future.
73
 GOPALAPILLAI CHETTAN
Prof. G. Pankajakshan Pillai, Retd. Principal, Mahatma
Gandhi College, Trivandrum
Born in an aristocratic Nair family in 1919 at Chirayinkeezhu
as the son of a renowned and popular lawyer, Sri. Attingal Gopalapillai
became a socialist when he was a college student. It was quite accidental
that he became a politician. When he was a student in the Raja Lakham
Gowda Law College at Talakwadi, Belgaum he happened to meet Dr.
Ram Manohar Lohya who came there in connection with the struggle
for the liberation of Goa. Dr. Lohya was staying with Sri. Sharaf a
socialist and a close associate of Gopalapillai. The Linged hostel were
Sri. Pillai resided was near Sri. Sharaf’s house. This gave him an
opportunity to become acquainted with Dr. Lohya. Dr. Lohya was a
great revolutionary and a stalwart of socialism. His magnetic personality
attracted and inspired Shri. Pillai and he plunged into politics.
After his education, Shri. Pillai followed his father’s path and
enrolled as an advocate in 1950. He began practice at the district court
Trivandrum. In 1954 he shifted his practice to Attingal and in 1962 he
again set up his practice at Trivandrum. Though he was practising as a
lawyer he was very keen and active in politics. He contested more than
once in the election to the state assembly. The first election based on
adult franchise in independent India was in 1952. He contested in the
election to the state assembly as a candidate of the socialist party from
Varkala constituency. It was a triangular fight. The other contesting parties
being the congress and the left front (with an independent candidate)
under the leadership of the communist party. He was defeated, but
only for 250 votes. He won the election in 1970. It was from the
constituency of Thiruvanthapuram-1. He was a candidate of the PSP
which was a constituent of the United Democratic Front consisting of
the Congress, the CPI, the RSP, the Muslim League and the PSP.
74
Sri. Attingal Gopalapillai held many official positions in the party
including that of the Chairman of the party. He decided the destiny of
the party as the Chairman during the period 1965-70. In 1971 he left
the UDF and went with the opposition consequent on the differences
of opinion with the party regarding certain vital issues. He gave up
active politics in 1976.
Sri. Pillai never ran after power and position as many politicians
do today. He was more than satisfied with the chairmanship of the
party and the membership of the state legislature for one term. He was
not an expert in political manoeuvring. He was not disappointed when
positions he deserved slipped away from him. His face only brightened
with his characteristic smile on these occasions. Among the names of
politicians who enter politics only to make personal gains through power
and position the name of Sri. Pillai shines like a lone star. He was a very
good player in football and ball badminton when he was studying for
the intermediate. Even as a boy he was a great lover of liberty and
treasured most his self respect. He did not bow his head before anybody.
Perhaps it was the sportsman in him and the ardent love for freedom
that enabled him to face all odds with his usual enchanting smile.
Sri. Pillai’s marriage was in 1966. He married Smt. Indira
daughter of Capt. Dr. Nanoo Panicker, Retd. Principal, College of
Indigenous Medicine, Colombo, Ceylon. Smt. Indira was part time
lecturer in Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. She also
served for some time as part time lecturer in the Police Training College,
Thiruvananthapuram. Smt. Indira, with LLB from London, Barrister at
Law from Middle Temple and ML from the University of Kerala would
have attained a very high official poistion if Sri. Pillai was prepared to
exert his political influence. But for the said premature demise of one of
his two sons in the prime of youth, Sri. Pillai’s domestic life is happy.
Sri. Attingal Gopalapillai is a towering personality with his big
and thick moustache. But his appearance is deceptive. He looks like a
leopard, but is as gentle as a lamb. His colleagues, friends and well-
75
wishers celebrated his Sathabhisheka in a befitting manner on the 11th
of May 2003. I have always called him Gopalapillai Chettan. He is like
an elder brother to me. When I was a college student, he used to visit
our residence to discuss political and other matters with my elder brother
late Prof. G. Kumara Pillai for whom he cherished very great regard
and love. On the auspicious occasion of the Sathabhisheka of Gopala
pillai Chettain, let me convey to him the warm regards of an younger
brother and wish him a long healthy and prosperous life.
76
SENIOR LEADERS SHOULD QUIT
ELECTORAL POLITICS
The Hindu, Friday April 9, 2004 by N.J. Nair
Thiruvananthapura, April 8
Politicians who have contested twice should quit electoral politics
and give way for the younger generation, the veteran socialist Attingal
Gopalapillai has said.
Mr. Pillai told the Hindu here today that the national parties
should arrive at a consensus against fielding certain leaders repeatedly
from certain constituencies. “There are leaders who have been
representing a constituency consecutively for the past fifty years. Now
they are introducing their children in their place”, he said.
Progeny politics is the bane of the nation, according to Mr.
Pillai. What started during the days of Jawaharlal Nehru was being
followed even now, Kerala being no exception, he said.
Political parties no longer attached any importance to values
that were once considered sacred in politics, he said. Ramjeth malani
who was one of the bitter critics of the congress president Sonia Gandhi
has now been given the party ticket to contest. There are any number
of such instances to cite, he said. An ardent crusader against corruption
Mr. Pillai has the rare distinction of attempting to move a private anti-
corruption bill in the assembly when the late Achutha Menon was chief
minister. Achutha Menon opposed the bill saying that it will affect the
party functionaries too. If a member moves a private bill in the Lok
Sabha no member would oppose its admission. Later it would be
adopted on the merit of the discussion that follows. This should be the
practice in the state assembly too, he pointed out.
According to Mr. Pillai, raising election expenses are the route
of all corrupt practice. The proposal that government should bear
election expenses of candidates during the time of Jawaharlal Nehru
still remained in cold storage. There were many commission reports on
which no action had been taken. Only the former Chief Election
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Commissioner had had the temerity to end booth capturing and other
corrupt practices to a considerable extent, Mr. Pillai said.
Mr. Pillai entered electoral politics in 1952, contesting from
Varkala as a socialist party candidate. He contested from Attingal in
1957, from Kazhakuttom in 1965, from Trivandrum West in 1967 and
from Trivandrum East in 1970 when he was elected. He was instrumental
in setting up Trivandrum Railway division.
“When Madhu Dandavate was the Railway minister, he came
here to inaugurate the Railway overbridge. I went to the airport with
placards demanding the setting up of a division at Trivandrum. This
was a follow up of the continuous correspondence I had with the centre
in this regard. Mr. Dandavate called me and assured that he would
announce the decision at the public function and he kept his words”, he
recalls.
Mr. Pillai said many socialist leaders had been opposed to the
setting up of the division. Now, many were coming forward with the
claim that they had also made efforts to set up the division. I have
nothing against them, he said.
Mr. Pillai had actively participated in the agitation to establish
a high court bench here and had been imprisoned twice. During the
tenure of Achutha Menon government the assembly had unanimously
passed the resolution seeking to set up the bench. But there had been
no effective follow up, he said.
The octogenarian who lives in the city now has no affinity towards
any political party. His friends and well wishers who felicitated him
recently are planning to bring out a souvenier as part of his 85th birthday
celebrations.
It would have interesting details about the politics and social
life of Kerala of which Mr. Pillai is an integral part.
78
Rejoinder to a statement of P. Viswambharan alleging that
S. Chandrasekhar became Prime Minister after paying
king’s ransom to MPs.
When I read the statement of Janata Dal Secretary P.
Viswambharan alleging that Chandrasekhar ministry was formed on
the foundation of immorality, I feel like quoting a famous saying “a pot
calling the kettle black”. Viswambharan raised the allegation that for
purchasing each MP, 5-50 lakhs ransom was paid. But he conveniently
forgets that he as the secretary and K. Chandrasekharan as President
had sold 18 MLAs for Rs. 10000. This story of the sale of MLAs is
still a public knowledge. For Viswambharan Nov 10 may be a black
day. But according to national dailies in the country it is a memorable
day on which the people of India got a man at the helm as Prime Minister
who is a champion of millions of poor and down trodden.
V.P. Singh who played a tacit role in putting Chandrasekhar in
jail and who took up the leadership of like-minded persons after his
ouster from the congress and came to power. It was his policy to linger
on in power by fomenting communal and caste passions. His eleven
month rule was a period of non-functioning of government. The life of
common people became miserable due to price rise and inflation. Can
Mr. Viswambharan afford to forget these things?
It needs no political wisdom to understand the reason why Mr.
Viswambharan and his friends support V.P. Singh leaving Chandrasekhar
alone. It is sheer opportunism and a cheating of the entire rank and file.
Viswambharan will before long understand the fact that the rank and
file of his party will follow the leadership of Chandrasekhar.
I still believe that the leadership of Chandrasekhar marks a
turning point in the Indian polity. I have watched Chandrasekhar at
close quarters as an ordinary member of Janata Dal after being a worker
of PSP right from 1952 and state president for a period of five years.
There was a time when the Trivandrum corporation council
had eight mayors and majority of members of PSP. Now there is not a
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single member in the council. Who is responsible for this deplorable
decline of the party? It is none other than Viswambharan himself. It is
nothing but shamelessness to issue such a statement by the president of
Janata Dal which does not have a member to represent even a single
ward of his own panchayat. Your statement is false and far-fetched.
Thiruvananthapuram
11.11.1990 Attingal Gopala Pillai
80
DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIA -
THE SAGACIOUS SOCIALIST
Every Indian remembers Lohia as a fire brand socialist who
was reluctant for compromises. Though he was different from any
socialists of his making and contemporaries he lived as a true socialist
till his death, even when J.P. and Acharya Narendra for their own reasons
deserted socialism in the post-independent era.
In 1948, the socialists in the congress decided to constitute a
seperate parallel political party and not to join the government. The
congress high command altered the constitution to debar from its
membership one who is a member of any political party which had a
seperate membership and programme. Lohia is one among those who
left congress.
What Lohia said about congress after leaving congress to justify
his action.
“Congress was an organisation to the building of which we
contributed as much as anybody else. We are voluntarily sacrificing our
share and going to build ourselves another house.” Lohia was the
strongest opponent of the idea of country’s partition. He abstained from
the congress working committee meeting at Delhi on 15-6-1947.
Explaining his absence he wrote.
“In any event my opposition could not have moved mountains.
It could only have been on record as the healthful opposition of a fighter
for freedom without much influence. Nevertheless the absence of serious
opposition to partition even from a man like me who had absolutely no
selfish axe to grind showed the depths of weakness and fear which our
people and I, as an ordinary one among them had taken”.
It is in record that Lohia accompanied Mahatma Gandhi to
some areas of Noakhali when communal riots broke out. In 1947,
Lohia was made a member of the food committee by Govt. of India.
A brochure “Salient points of the Indian foreign policy” authored
by Lohia to which Nehru contributed a foreword was presented in the
1938 congress session at Haripara. It made the following points.
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 1. India is determined to participate in the world affairs as a free
and soverign nation.
2. So long as British imperialism lasts in the country India is
determined to resist by countrywide direct action any attempt to
force her into Britain’s war. It must therefore be clearly
understood by the whole world that for the purpose of international
diplomacy and war India does not form part of the British empire.
3. India desires the transformation of league of nations into a league
of peoples and support it.
4. India does not recognize the sanctity of international treaties. But
declares that the aggression and the easily named.
5. India offers her support to all the national democratic and socialist
form in the world that are working for peace, freedom and
democracy and puts on record her readiness to associate whole-
heartedly in any scheme of international economic sanctions
against an aggressor.
6. India regards her present Indian army as an army of foreign
occupation and cannot in anyway support its maintenance or
strengthening. The congress declares that the only way to meet
imperialist attacks from without is arms to the people and adult
military training.
Lohia’s view on Marxism are vividly included in his book
“Fragments of a world mind”
Lohia was against the very term ‘Marxism’ because ‘no man’s
thought, should be made the centre of a political action and one should
behave like an eclectic taking the good points from all thinkers and
systems of thought, as ‘there are priceless treasures to learn from’ them.
Lohia commented on Marxist theory of increasing accumulation
or concentration of capial without pauperisation in the following words
“The weakness of Marxist theory in explaining the absence of poverty
under capital accumulation has tended to blunt its understanding of what
is otherwise a correct description of the industrial crises in capitalism”.
82
Lohia does not agree with Lenin that imperialism appears only
after capitalism enters the monopoly phase and asserts. “Imperialism
not only appears at the first stage of capitalism, but goes on developing
with it. Capitalism seeks its external dynamic one might say, even before
it is born and, unsatiable in this search, it gobbles up one country after
another, until the limits of the world are reached.
Lohia was a student of Prof Werner Sombart at the university
of Berlin. Prof. Sombart was a known social scientist who is influenced
Lohia greatly.
On Land reforms unlike communists Lohia wanted socialists
to press for ‘democratization of state’ and decentralization of political
power before taking up the question of agrarian relation. Whenever the
redistribution of land was going to be achieved, the efforts should be
directed to promote co-operativisation and adopt intensive techniques
of production.
Lohia was for non-violent mass action or satyagraha as the
most important instrument of struggle. He warned “unless socialists are
continually ready to use this weapon of mass action they will be
submerged by governmental action on the one hand and insurrectional
violence by the communists....communist class struggle is immoral and
violent because of its faulty analysis of capitalism.
Rejecting both capitalism and communism Lohia propounded
his own variety of socialism as the third force seemingly communism
and capitalism were in combat with each other, but they “bear a close
kinship; both are doctrines of political efficiency of seeing in any one
people the image for others to follow, of environmentalism. In an article
“Twentieth Russian Congress and Indian Communists” Lohia said.
“The concept of unanimous reconstruction has forcefully
emerged out of the Russian communist congress. This concept was so
long valid only when communism became the government and through
the dictatorship of proletariat.....Mr Vinoba Bhave’s Unanimous
Panchayats, Mr. Asoka Mehta’s areas of agreement, Mr. Jayaprakash
Narayan’s partyless politics and the earlier communist concept of
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dictatorship of proletariate and the present concept of unanimous Acknowledgement:
reconstruction are all one piece”. It is a hard truth that no serious studies have been made on
However, Lohia lashed out at Indian communists by saying Lohia’s ideas on socialism in free India. Lohia’s ideas are most relevant
that “they were robbed of all self respect and that minimum of pride, in the country when non-congress coalition governments are
which holds the personality together. They had during the open rebellion indispensable due to political dilutions, compulsions and instability caused
of 1942 associated with foreign rule in treachrous suppression of their for reasons inherent in the democratic set up of post-independence
own people. They had intermitendly dishonoured the national flag and free India.
they had learnt to abuse Mahatma Gandhi”. A sketch of Lohia’s ideas can be comprehensed through various
Lohia was trying to democrat himself from the long line of Indian statements I have received from Lohia’s writings, speeches during his
Nationalist thinking and this found expression in his report to the National 37 years of political life. Special mention is also made here on books
Planning Committee of the Congress. He asserted in one place as below. “Fragments of a world mind”, Ram Manohar Lohia “Wheel of History”,
“The essential thing is to note that capitalist as well as communist Ram Manohar Lohia “The Man and his Ism”.
rationalisation makes use of identical technology and that it is totally
useless for Asia in view of its too many people, too little land, too few
forces of production. Socialists of Asia must themselves understand
and make it clear to the people of Asia that communism cannot give
bread even after it destroys freedom. Marx wanted to abolish the
capitalist relations of production but he wanted to continue the capitalist
technology of production which may have been alright for Europe
because Europe has been the beneficiary of capitalism. This essentially
European analysis must give way to a world analysis Socialists have to
fight capitalism on both points, they have to alter the forces as well as
the relations of production.
Lohia viewed that Marxian slogan “workers of the world unite”
is absurd because the proletariat of England or France have nothing in
common to the working class of India. The proletariat of a country
unites with the bourgeoisie of his land and helps it exploit the proletariat
and the bourgeoisie of another nation.
Lohia stressed that India had to chart a path which should be
qualitatively different from capitalism and marxisian communism. Because
both were genetically the same. Both of them were not suited to the
condition in India and other countries of Asia and Africa. Consequently
both were equally irrelevant.

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