Veteran communist leader and the Freedom Fighter A.M. Govindarasu passed away

A.M. Govindarasu (A.M. Gopu), the veteran communist leader and the Freedom Fighter passed away on 13 September 2012 at Chennai. The 83 year old, who survived six bullet shots by the police in 1950, is survived by his daughter. Following his wish of not being cremated, his family members donated his body to the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital.

Life of A.M. Govindarasu alias A.M. Gopu

He became a part of the freedom movement, when he was in class ninth in the year 1942. Supported by three more classmates, he came on the streets at Tiruvidaimarudur shouting slogans against British government, where he was arrested and sent to Juvenile jail for 16 days. He was expelled from his college, Maharaja College at Pudukottai after making protests against the Diwan of Travancore, Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer. Gopu was brought to Chennai by CPI leader K. Balathandayutham to be a member of the party’s body Janashakti.

Some of his daring actions were

1. He waylayed the trolley that carried the salary of railway employees of French Government in Puducherry
2. At Karaikal-Kumbakonam route he along with three of his friends threw country bombs at a security officer and took away Rs. 37,000 and a gun carried him. French Government announced a prize amount of Rs 5000 on him and his friends
3. He escaped life term by French government for killing 2 people and robbing the train but Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajaji’s intervention saved him at that point of time
4. After Communist movement saw a split, he remained with the party. He served the parties trade union AITUC as its general secretary