The Kerala High Court now holds the fate of his remains as the ideological clash within his family raises larger questions about faith and political ideology 

One may apologise for seeing some similarities between the 1983 movie Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (directed by Kundan Shah) and the demise of CPI(M) leader M M Lawrence last month. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron was immortalised by the black humour associated with Indian politics and a splendid show by Satish Shah who perfected his role as the dead body of D’Mello.

It has been more than a fortnight since Lawrence (95) breathed his last.

But his dead body has become a subject of litigation and it is waiting for a verdict from the Kerala High Court as his younger daughter Asha Lawrence challenged the decision of the late leader’s son  M L Sajeevan to hand over the mortal remains to Government Medical College, Ernakulam, for the MBBS students for studies. Sajeevan, a Kerala Government lawyer, claims that his late father did not believe in any religion and had left word with him to donate the body to the MCH students. But Asha released the wedding pictures of Lawrence which were held in a church and which was being solemnised by a Catholic priest. She also argues that her elder sister Suja and her husband were evangelists working in West Asia to free the sinners from their sins.

When it was time for the relatives, friends and well-wishers of Lawrence to bid ‘Lal Salam’, a scuffle broke out between the deceased leader’s son, daughter, and son-in-law on one side and Asha on the other side. Asha and her son Milan Joseph wanted the mortal remains to be interred as per Catholic rites in a cemetery where they had buried their mother.

Following a plea by Asha, the High Court asked the Medical College authorities to take possession of the body, and keep it in the mortuary till a final decision is made on the issue. When it was time for the body to be removed to the MCH, a sobbing Asha fell on the coffin and started weeping uncontrollably saying that she would not allow her father’s body to be left to the students to dissect and mutilate. The relations of Sajeevan physically assaulted Asha and her son Milan alleging them to be RSS agents.Sajeevan alleges that the RSS and other Sangh Parivar ‘elements’ were behind the showdown.

A CPI(M) leader claimed that Communists across the world hand over their bodies to medical colleges as they do not believe in religious rites. But bodies of EMS Namboodirippadu, E K Nayanar, CPI(M) state boss Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and A K Gopalan were consigned to flames as per Hindu rites.

In contrast, the body of T V Thomas was interred at a special cemetery meant for comrades.Even E K Imbichi Bawa, a former Marxist minister, was buried as per Islamic rituals in a grave after the recital of Quranic verses and Janazah. The new age leaders in the CPI(M) like Elamaram Kareem (Kareemikka),  A A Rahim MP and  K T Jaleel, may have to take immediate decisions regarding their last journey.Archie Brown (author of The Rise and Fall of Communism) has stated that the downfall of Communism began with it turning into a religion.

The life sketch of Castro says that his mortal remain was consigned to flames and the ashes were interred in the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery.If the Communist parties make it mandatory that the dead bodies of all comrades be handed over to medical colleges for teaching purposes, our medical students stand to benefit.

Devika, a second-year MBBS student in a famous Government Medical College in Chennai says that only postgraduate and final semester students get the chance to dissect dead bodies because of shortage of bodies.According to George Orwell, the Communist parties have a unique rule: all are equal but some are more equal. Hence the leaders and their close family members may get a reprieve from the scalpel of wannabe doctors.

(The writer is South India bureau chief with the Pioneer; views are personal)