On Monday (October 27, 2025), Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will release the list of Punnapra-Vayalar Rebellion fighters during the 79th anniversary celebrations of the Vayalar Rebellion.
Speaking to the media on Sunday (October 26, 2025), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) leader and former finance minister TM Thomas Isaac, who oversaw its preparation, said the directory contained information on 1,859 participants in the Punnapra-Vayalar struggle. “Unlike conventional political histories, the directory has been compiled on the basis of documentary evidence. The names have been verified with leaders of both the CPI(M) and the Communist Party of India (CPI),” Mr. Isaac said.
Those listed as leaders of the struggle include KV Pathrose (known as Kunthakkaran Pathrose), who was the CPI secretary during the Punnapra-Vayalar struggle, and CPI leader Varghese Vaidyan. Mr. Isaac said 400 to 500 people were martyred in the battle. However, information could only be collected for 193 of them. “Tracing the records eight decades after the uprising presented several challenges. Many of the families of the participants moved to other parts of the state after the land was distributed by the communist government in 1957. The directory is the result of years of work by a 20-member team,” he added.
Two parts
The directory consists of two parts. The first part contains information about the participants in the struggle from the area between Aroor and Aryad grama panchayats. The second part covers Alappuzha municipality, Punnapra North and Punnapra South grama panchayats and other regions adjacent to Ambalappuzha border.
Data collection was done under the Alappuzha Tourism Heritage Project. The directory is available on the Muziris Heritage Project website at www.punnpravayalar.org.
During Monday’s edition, the directory will be distributed free of cost to Class A and Class B libraries in Cherthala and Ambalappuzha taluks and also to CPI(M) and CPI local committees. Libraries must bring documents as proof of identity.
Published – 26 Oct 2025 17:23 IST
