ON May 22, thousands of working people and the cadres and supporters of the CPI(M) bid a tearful and emotional farewell to Comrade R Umanath, a legendary communist and a pioneer of the trade union movement, who passed away here on Wednesday, May 21. Leaders and cadre of the Left and other political parties and members of trade unions paid respect to the mortal remains of the late leader, kept at Venmani Illam, the district headquarters of the CPI(M) in Tiruchi. On behalf of the Kerala state committee of the party, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and state leaders Elamarm Kareem and Aanavur Nagappan joined the funeral. On behalf of the CPI(M)’s West Bengal state committee, its secretary Biman Basu and, on behalf of the Polit Bureau, K.Varadhrajan, Brinda Karat and A K Padmanaban paid their last salutes to the leader. The CPI(M)’s Tamilnadu state secretary G Ramakrishnan, Central Committee members including U Vasuki, daughter of late Comrade Umanath, and members of the CPI(M) state secretariat and state committee also paid their tributes. CPI state secretary D Pandian, veteran leader R Nallakannu, DMK’s former minister K N Nehru and leaders from various other parties also came to pay homage. Earlier, the late comrade’s eyes were donated to the Tiruchi Joseph Hospital, as per his own wish. A condolence meeting was held in the premises of the CPI(M) District committee office; G Ramakrishnan presided. Biman Basu, Brinda Karat, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, A K Padmanabhan and others addressed it. Biman Basu described Umanath as a legendary Marxist-Leninist and one who had won the appreciation of great parliamentarians such as Hiren Mukherjee. "While I was in-charge for Rajasthan state unit of the SFI during my days in the student movement, I had a chance to hear the speech of Umanath for the first time. Really the speech was energetic and inspiring to the students," he said. Brinda Karat paid rich tributes to Umanath for repeatedly highlighting the problems of the working masses and oppressed sections in the parliament, where he represented the Pudukottai constituency. Umanath helped the party to equip itself ideologically and politically in order to counter the onslaught of forces of imperialism and capitalism against the Marxist ideology, when he became a member of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau in 1995, she said. He was always of the view that instead of waiting for others to take up social issues like casteism and communalism, the Left should play a pivotal role. She said Umanath was a source of inspiration for the functionaries of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) in taking up issues relating to the women’s rights and gender equality. Kodiyeri recalled that Umanth often came to Kerala and guided the comrades there at various moments on the organisational matters. He said that the demise of the leader was an irreparable loss to the communist movement of the country. Earlier N Sankaraiah, veteran leader, said in a condolence statement, that he had lost his comrade-in-arms of several decades. Later, the body was taken out in a procession. Amid slogans like “Red Salute to Comrade Umanath,” the body was cremated in the Oyamari electric crematorium around noon time.