Last wishes of late Congress lawmaker P.T. Thomas fulfilled

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 4 (IANS) After Kerala gave late Congress legislator P.T. Thomas a befitting farewell, which no one in the state has got in recent times, his last wish - that a portion of his ashes be interred in his mother's grave - was also fulfilled on Monday.

His mother lies buried at a church in his home district Idukki.

A four-time legislator, the 71-year-old Thomas was the MP from Idukki 2009-14 and since 2016, was representing Thrikakara Assembly constituency in Ernakulam district.

A heart patient, he was recently diagnosed of cancer and was undergoing treatment at CMC, Vellore where he breathed his last on December 22 last year.

In a public career spanning five decades, Thomas was known for always standing his ground and not afraid to speak his mind, and in his death also, he chose to tread a different path.

He did not want anyone to place a wreath on his body and he had donated his eyes, besides also wanting the song "Chandrakalabham" (sung by K.J. Yesudas in the 1975 film "Kottaaram Vilkkaanundu" when his last rites were being carried out at a crematorium, as he did not wished to have a Christian funeral.

On Monday, the ashes was brought in a convoy from Ernakulam with top leaders, including two-time Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and many others, accompanying them.

The Catholic Church to which he belonged and h never had the best of relations and on Monday, they had put forward a condition that there should be no sloganeering when the function takes place.

True to the word given by the Congress leadership, a huge crowd, that had gathered, was silent as the grave of his mother was opened, the small earthen pot with the ashes lowered into it, and then, the grave put back into order, in the final act of Thomas, who will be etched in the memory of many on account of how he conducted himself as a politician.