The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Panicker to be cremated with State honours

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Panicker to be cremated with State honours

Special Correspondent

TEARFUL ADIEU: Poet Sugathakumari paying her last respects to K. Ayyappa Panicker at his house in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The body of poet K. Ayyappa Panicker will be cremated with State honours at his native village Kavalam on Thursday.

Kerala Sahitya Akademi and persons from different walks of life have condoled the poet's death. The Akademi has declared a holiday on Thursday as a mark of respect to the departed litterateur.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy, Culture Minister M.A. Baby, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala and several Ministers and leaders have condoled Dr. Panicker's death.

Mr. Achuthanandan described Dr. Panicker as one who had brought about a new idiom in Malayalam poetry and said his death was a major loss for the State. Mr. Chandy said Dr. Panicker had literally led Malayalam poetry into the realm of modernity. Mr. Baby recalled that Dr. Panicker was a keen observer of the happenings in the world literary scene and he was one of the globally renowned poets in Malayalam. Mr. Chennithala said Dr. Panicker was a writer with a difference in Malayalam literary scene.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union Minister O. Rajagopal said Dr. Panicker had dedicated himself to literary scholarship.

Home and Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Public Works Minister P.J. Joseph, Labour Minister P.K. Gurudasan, Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy, Cooperation Minister G. Sudhakaran, Forest Minister Benoy Viswom, Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran, and Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Rathnakaran, were among those who condoled Dr. Panicker's death.

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