tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33564640269931574542024-03-13T18:49:19.984+05:30EMS ACADEMYLIFE AND TEACHINGS OF COMRADE EMS NAMBOODIRIPADAJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-60984643944751421412023-03-19T16:28:00.003+05:302023-03-19T16:28:23.120+05:30The Political perspectives of EMS Retain their Relevance | Sitaram Yechury<p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>On the 25th death anniversary of legendary Communist leader EMS Namboodiripad his long term comrade and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury goes back in time reminiscing on shared moments. He also analyses the present on the basis of EMS’s abiding political perspectives.</b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://youtu.be/4vzHZQAo25g" target="_blank">Sitaram Yechury on EMS</a><br /></span></p>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-71629576641682715392016-07-14T21:44:00.001+05:302016-07-14T21:44:57.138+05:30Sitaram Yechury's inaugural keynote at EMS Smriti, Thrissur 13th June, 2016<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iZEFAppnSzM" width="480"></iframe>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-11631447239170031812016-07-14T21:41:00.001+05:302016-07-14T21:42:16.592+05:30Idea of India: A New Agenda for Reclaiming Secular Democracy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="line-height: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">By <a href="http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/auteur296.html"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Sitaram Yechury</span></a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; padding: 0in;">The
following is the speech delivered by the CPI-M General Secretary at the <span style="color: red;">EMS
Smrithi,</span> Thrissur, (Kerala) on June 13, 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Mainstream, VOL LIV No 27 New Delhi June 25, 2016 <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I am,
indeed, very happy to be back at the EMS Smrithi. I am honoured to inaugurate
this 2016 discussions on the ‘<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Idea of India: A New Agenda for
Reclaiming Secular Democracy’</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">‘Idea
of India’ — The Backdrop<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
emergence of Nation-States was integral to the long process of transition of
human civilisation from the stage of feudalism to capitalism. This period also
threw up in Europe, the struggle for the separation of the State from the
Church. The triumph of capitalism over feudalism, at the same time, signified
the separation of the political authority from the myth of a divine sanction to
rule invoked by Kings and Emperors across the civilisations during the high
time of feudalism. The agreements of Westphalia finally signed in 1648 laid the
principles of sovereignty of the Nation- State and the consequent international
laws and is widely believed to establish an international system on the basis
of the principle of sovereignty of States; principle of equality between
States; and the principle of non-intervention of one State in the internal
affairs of another State usually referred to as the Westphalian system.
Westphalian Peace was negotiated between 1644-48 between the major European
powers. These treaties laid the basis for a host of international laws many of
which remain in force today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">During
the course of the defeat of fascism in World War II and the consequent dynamics
of decolonisation, the people’s struggles for freedom from colonialism threw up
many constructs regarding the character of these independent countries. For
sure, such constructs arose out of a long struggle in individual countries
against colonialism, including India, during this period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">‘Idea
of India’ — Evolution<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
concept of the ‘Idea of India’ emerged during the epic people’s struggle for
India’s freedom from British colonialism. What is this ‘Idea of
India’? To put it in simple terms, though conscious of its complex
multiple dimensions, this concept represents the idea that India as a country
moves towards transcending its immense diversities in favour of a substantially
inclusive unity of its people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Prof
Akeel Bilgrami, in his introduction to a volume of essays containing revised
versions of lectures on the relations between politics and political economy in
India given at a seminar in 2010 at the Heymen Centre for Humanities at
Columbia University, New York (a Centre that he chaired then), says about my
observations on the ‘Idea of India’, then, the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“(This)
might be viewed as an ideal of a nation that rejects the entire trajectory in
Europe that emerged after the Westphalian peace. What emerged then (and there)
was a compulsion to seek legitimacy for a new kind of state, one that could no
longer appeal to older notions of the ‘divine right’ of states personified in
their monarchs. It sought this legitimacy in a new form of political psychology
of a new kind of subject, the ‘citizen’, a psychology based on a <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">feeling</span> for a new form of entity that had emerged, the
‘nation’. This feeling, which came to be called ‘nationalism’, had to be
generated in the populace of citizens, and the standard process that was
adopted in Europe for generating it was to find an <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">external</span> enemy <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">within,</span> the outsider, the ‘other’ in one’s midst (the
Irish, the Jews, to name just two), to be despised and subjugated. In a
somewhat later time, with the addition of a more numerical and statistical form
of discourse, these came to be called ‘minorities’ and the method by which this
feeling for the nation was created came to be called ‘majoritarianism’.” (<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Social Scientist,</span> January-February 2011)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
RSS/BJP objective of replacing the secular democratic modern Indian Republic
with their concept of a ‘<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Hindu Rashtra</span>’ is, in a sense, a<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">throw back</span> to the Westphalian model where the Hindu
majority subjugates other religious minorities (mainly Muslim: the <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">external</span> enemy<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">within</span>) to foster ‘Hindu
Nationalism’ as against ‘Indian Nationhood’. This, in fact, represents a <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">throw back</span> to notions of nationalism that dominated
the intellectual discourse prior to the sweep of the Indian people’s struggle
for freedom. Such a State, based on ‘Majoritarianism’—their version of a
rabidly intolerant fascistic <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">‘Hindu Rashtra</span>’—negates
the core, around which emerged the consciousness of Indian Nationhood contained
in the ‘Idea of India’ as a reflection of the emergence of “a political
psychology of a new kind”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
RSS/BJP ideologues dismiss the ‘Idea of India’ as a mere idea—a metaphysical concept.
They reassert as a given reality Indian (Hindu) nationalism, negating the epic
freedom struggle of the Indian people. From this struggle emerged the concept
of Indian Nationhood rising above the Westphalian concept of ‘nationalism’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
RSS/BJP today are spearheading the most reactionary ‘throwback’ to Indian
(Hindu) nationalism as against the Indian Nationhood (the ‘Idea of India’)
consciousness that emerged from the epic people’s struggle for freedom from the
British colonial rule. Akeel Bilgrami asserts to this: “The prodigious and
sustained mobilisation of its masses that India witnessed over the last three
crucial decades of the freedom struggle could not have been possible without an
alternative and <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">inclusionary</span> ideal of this kind to
inspire it.” (<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Social Scientist,</span> Volume 39, Number 1-2, 2011)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">India’s
diversity—linguistic, religious, ethnic, cultural etc.—is incomparably vaster
than in any other country that the world knows of. Officially, it has been
recorded that there are at least 1618 languages in India; 6400 castes, six
major religions—four of them originated in these lands; six anthropologically
defined ethnic groups; all this put together being politically administered as
one country. A measure of this diversity is that India celebrates 29 major
religio-cultural festivals and probably has the largest number of religious
holidays amongst all countries of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Those
who argue that it was the British that united this vast diversity ignore the
fact that it was the British which engineered the partition of the subcontinent
leading to over a million deaths and a communal transmigration of a colossal
order. British colonialism has the ignomous history of leaving behind legacies
that continue to fester wounds through the partition of countries they had
colonised— Palestine, Cyprus, in Africa etc. apart from the Indian
subcontinent. It is the Pan-Indian people’s struggle for freedom that united
this diversity and integrated more than 660 feudal princely states into modern
India giving shape to a Pan-Indian consciousness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Role of the Left <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
Indian Left played an important role in this process of the evolution of this
‘Idea of India’. Indeed, for this very reason, given the Left’s visionary
commitments to the long struggle for freedom, the Left’s role is absolutely
central to the realisation of the ‘Idea of India’ in today’s conditions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Let me
illustrate this with reference to three issues that continue to constitute the
core of the ‘Idea of India’. The struggles on the land question unleashed by
the Communists in various parts of the country last century—Punnapara Vayalar
in Kerala, the Tebagha movement in Bengal, the Surma Valley struggle in Assam,
the Worli uprising in Maharashtra etc.—the highlight of which was the armed
struggle in Telengana— brought the issue of land reforms to centre-stage. The
consequent abolition of the zamindari system and landed estates drew the vast
mass of India’s peasantry into the project of building the ‘Idea of India’. In
fact, such struggles contributed the most in liberating crores of people from
feudal bondage. This also contributed substantially in creating the ‘Indian
middle class’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">In
today’s conditions, the issue of forcible land acquisition has acquired a very
dangerous dimension. Subverting the Parliament legis-lation, many BJP-led State
governments are implementing schemes which permit the indiscriminate
acquisition of agricultural land forcibly dispossessing lakhs of farmers,
aggra-vating the agrarian distress even further. The question of land, hence,
remains a crucial issue for the Left, the most important political force that
is today focusing on developing the agrarian struggles against the mounting
distress and the neo-liberal policies that are intensifying the process of
primitive accumulation of capital.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Secondly,
the Indian Left spearheaded the massive popular struggles for the linguistic
reorganisation of the States in independent India. It, thus, is chiefly
responsible for creating the political ‘map’ of today’s India on reasonably
scientific and democratic lines. The struggles for Vishalandhra, Aikya Kerala
and Samyukta Maharashtra were led, amongst others, by people who later emerged
as Communist stalwarts in the country. This paved the way for the integration
of many linguistic natio-nalities that inhabit India, on the basis of equality,
into the process of realising the ‘Idea of India’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Even
after the linguistic reorganisation of States, today, many problems and demands
for smaller States reflect the lack of equality amongst the various ethnic
identities that exist in the country, particularly in the North-East. These can
only be resolved by ensuring that all the linguistic groups and ethnic national
identities are treated equally with concrete plans backed by finances to tackle
the economic backwardness of these areas; and having equal access to all
opportunities. It is only the Left that sincerely champions this cause to
strengthen the unity and integrity of India.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Thirdly,
the Left’s steadfast commitment to secularism was based on the recognition of
India’s reality. The unity of India with its immense diversity can be
maintained only by strengthening the bonds of commonality in this diversity and
not by imposing any uniformity upon this diversity like what the communal
forces seek currently to do. While this is true for all the attributes of
India’s social life, it is of critical importance in relation to religion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Following
the partition of India and the horrendous communal aftermath, secularism became
an inseparable element for the realisation of the ‘Idea of India’. The Indian
ruling classes, however, went only half-way in meeting the Left’s objective of
defining secularism as the separation of religion from politics. This means
that while the State protects the individual’s choice of faith, it shall not
profess or prefer any one religion. In practice, the Indian ruling classes have
reduced this to define secularism as equality of all religions. Inherent in
this is the in-built bias towards the religious faith of the majority. This, in
fact, contributes to providing sustenance to the communal and fundamentalist
forces today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">On this
score as well, in today’s conditions, it is the Left that remains the most
consistent upholder of secularism, spearheading the efforts to forge the broadest
people’s unity against communalism and the steadfast fighter to defend the
religious minorities; to ensure their security and equality as citizens of our
country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">These
are illustrative of some constituents of the ‘Idea of India’. The drawing in of
the exploited majority of rural India; the drawing in of the socially oppressed
people, especially those who continue to be subjected to obnoxious caste- based
oppression and atrocities; the drawing in of the numerous linguistic
nationalities; and the drawing in of the multi-religious Indian population,
above all, the drawing in of all Indians in an inclusive path of economic and
social justice, constituting the core of the inclusionary ‘Idea of India’,
remains an unful-filled agenda. The struggles for realising these incomplete
tasks constitute the essential agenda of the CPI-M and Indian Left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Battle
of Visions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
emergence of the conception of the ‘Idea of India’ was a product of the Indian
people’s struggle. It arose from a continuous battle between three visions that
emerged during the course of India’s struggle for freedom in the 1920s over the
conception of the character of independent India. The mainstream Congress
vision had articulated that independent India should be a secular democratic
Republic. The Left, while agreeing with this objective went further to envision
that the political freedom of the country must be extended to achieve the
socio-economic freedom of every individual, possible only under socialism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Antagonistic
to both these was the third vision which argued that the character of
independent India should be determined by the religious affiliations of its
people. This vision had a twin expression—the Muslim League championing an
‘Islamic State’ and the RSS championing a ‘<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Hindu Rashtra</span>’. The
former succeeded in the unfortunate partition of the country, admirably
engineered, aided and abetted by the British colonial rulers, with all its
consequences that continue to fester tensions till date. The latter, having
failed to achieve their objective at the time of independence, continue with
their efforts to transform modern India into their project of a rabidly
intolerant fascistic ‘<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Hindu Rashtra</span>’. In a sense the
ideological battles and the political conflicts in contemporary India are a
continuation of the battle between these three visions. Needless to add, the
contours of this battle will continue to define the direction and content of
the process of the realisation of the ‘Idea of India’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Further,
the Indian Left argued then and maintains today that the mainstream Congress
vision of consolidating the secular, democratic foundations of our Republic can
never be sustainable unless independent India frees itself from its bondage
with imperialism and breaks the stranglehold of feudal vestiges. The Congress
party’s inability to take the freedom struggle to this logical culmination
became clear by its serving the interests of the post-independence ruling classes
— bourgeoisie in alliance with the landlords, led by the big bourgeoisie. This,
by itself, weakens the foundations of a secular democratic Republic. First, it
relegates the anti-imperialist social consciousness that forged the unity of
the people during the freedom struggle to the background, thus permitting and
buttre-ssing a social consciousness dominated by caste and communal passions.
Secondly, instead of strengthening an <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">inclusive</span> India, it
progressively <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">excludes</span> the growing majority of
the exploited classes. This is resoundingly vindicated by our experience during
these six decades of independence. This provides the ‘grist to the mill’ of the
communal forces, or the third vision, to strengthen itself exploiting the
growing popular discontent against the policies pursued by the ruling classes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">A mere
declaration of the creation of a secular democratic Republic and its
reassertion by the Congress today, by definition, remains limited in its
ability to realise this inclusive ‘Idea of India’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">There is
another equally important factor that prevents the realisation of the
‘Idea of India’. The path of capitalist development being pursued by the ruling
classes is one where there is an increasing collaboration with international
finance capital and in compromise with feudal landlords. The Indian capitalist
path of development, hence, is not along the classic lines of capitalism rising
from the ruins of feudalism but in compromise with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
inability to eliminate the vestiges of feudalism means, at the level of the
super-structure, the perpetuation of the social conscio-usness associated with
feudalism and other pre-capitalist formations. The domination of religion and
caste, integral to the social consciousness of pre-capitalist formations,
continue to remain powerful in today’s social order. The efforts at
super-imposing capitalism only create a situation where the backwardness of
consciousness associated with feudal vestiges is combined with the degenerative
‘consumerism’ of today’s globalised capitalist consciousness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
Caste Factor:</span></b><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> The process of class formation in India, as a
consequence of such circumscribed capitalist development is, thus, taking place
within the parameters of historically inherited structures of a caste divided
society. It is taking place not by overthrowing the pre-capitalist social
relations but in compromise with it. This results in the overlapping
commonality between the exploited classes and oppressed castes in contemporary
India. Class struggles in India, therefore, can advance only through
simultaneous struggles against both, economic exploitation and social
oppression.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Thus, at
the level of the superstructure, feudal decadence is combined with capitalist
degene-ration to produce a situation where growing criminalisation of the
society, coexists and grows in the company of such social consciousness
dominated by caste and communal feelings. Instead of overcoming such
consciousness for the realisation of the ‘Idea of India’, precisely these
elements that are sustained and exploited by the ruling classes for their
political-electoral benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Such a
reality provides the fertile ground which engenders the current Rightward shift
in Indian politics buttressing the efforts for the negation of the ‘Idea of
India’ and the erection of a ‘<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Hindu Rashtra</span>’ in its
place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Fascism? Does
all this mean the emergence of fascism in India? The most authoritative and to
date scientific analysis of the nature and emergence of European fascism was
made by Georgi Dimitrov in his penetrating address to the Seventh Communist
International in 1935. He defined fascism as the “open terroristic dictatorship
of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialistic elements of
finance capital”. The capturing of state power by fascism is not an ordinary
succession of one bourgeois government by another but the substitution of one
form of the ruling class state by another—bourgeois parliamentary democracy by
an open terroristic dictatorship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">This
came as a response, in Europe, of the ruling classes to the actual crisis that
threatened its class domination. This was the case with the German monopoly
capital, as a part of the global capitalist crisis of the ‘Great Depression’
that began in 1929, in the period preceding Hitlerite fascism. This threat emerged
as a response to the crisis generated by the ruling classes’ own rule both from
within its own camp as well as, and often simultaneously, with the challenge to
its class rule by the toiling sections of the working people—the proletariat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
situation obtaining in our country today is not similar to the period leading
to the emergence of fascism in Germany. The threat of the immediate seizure of
power by the proletariat is not yet on the agenda. Further, the crisis of the
bourgeois-landlord class rule, notwithstanding the sharply increasing
authoritarian tendencies, recently seen in the Uttarakhand developments and the
undermining of institutions of parliamentary democracy, has not reached a stage
where the jettisoning of parliamentary democracy by the ruling classes is on
the immediate agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hence,
the assumption of power by the RSS-led BJP does not mean the establishment of
fascism in its classical sense. Undoubtedly, the RSS vision of its <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">‘Hindu Rashtra’</span> is a fascistic vision. However, if the
RSS <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">does succeed,</span> then it is a qualitatively different
situation. That, however, is<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">the situation</span> that
the revolutionary forces must work to render as unrealisable. The present
situation, therefore, can be more appropriately described by the fact that the
crisis of the bourgeois landlord class rule has reached a stage where one
section of the ruling classes, the most reactionary section, represented by the
RSS/BJP and the Saffron Brigade, has succeeded in capturing state power, at the
moment. And, they are vigorously using this to advance their vision of
establishing a fascistic <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">‘Hindu Rashtra’</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">However,
there are striking similarities in the propaganda methods employed by European
fascism and the RSS. The RSS/BJP today adopt fascistic methods of appropriation
of popular symbols, create a false consciousness of deprivation amongst the
majority community and appeal to extreme jingoism as their methods to advance.
Dimitrov had said: “Fascism acts in the interests of extreme imperialists but
presents itself to the masses in the guise of a wronged nation and appeals to
outraged ‘national’ sentiments.” In order to present the RSS as such a
champion, a false consciousness is created that the Hindus had been and
continue to be deprived, while, at the same time, generating hate against the
Muslims (taking the cue from Hitler’s rabid anti-Semitism) to the effect that
they are responsible for such a ‘deprivation’ of the Hindus. To achieve its
goal of a ‘<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Hindu Rashtra’</span> it has perfected the Goebbelsian
technique of ‘telling big enough lies frequently enough to make them appear as
the truth’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Georgi
Dimitrov says: “It is in the interests of the most reactionary circles of the
bourgeoisie that fascism intercepts the disappointed masses who desert the old
bourgeois parties. But it impresses these masses by the vehemence of its
attacks on the bourgeois governments and its irreconcilable attitude to the old
bourgeois parties.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Further,
Dimitrov notes: “Fascism puts the people at the mercy of the most corrupt and
venal elements but comes before them with the demand for ‘an honest and
incorruptible government’ speculating on the profound disillusionment of the
masses...fascism adapts its demagogy to the peculiarities of each country. And
the mass of petty bourgeois and even a section of the workers, reduced to
despair by want, unemployment and insecurity of their existence fall victim to
the social and chauvinist demagogy of fascism.” (Dimitrov, Georgi, <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Selected Works,</span> Volume 2, Sofia Press, 1972, page 12)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Dimitrov
could well be talking about the RSS/BJP’s current campaigns and the people’s
experiences with its control of the State since the 2014 general elections.
This shows a chilling convergence with fascist methodology. Impor-tantly, this
strengthens the grip of the ruling class hegemony, which requires to be
urgently confronted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Unless
confronted, the very conception of the ‘Idea of India’ that we are discussing
will be rendered redundant. At the same time, it is clear that the unity and
integrity of our country and the unity of the social fabric of our immensely
diverse society cannot be maintained unless the ‘Idea of India’ is fully
realised. Such a realisation is only possible when the revolutionary forces in
our country advance in order to beat back the current communal offensive that
negates the ‘Idea of India’. This is the only manner in which the process of
the unfolding of the ‘Idea of India’ can advance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
Agenda<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">But then
how can this be achieved? What constitutes the various elements of the agenda
that must engage us in today’s conditions?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; padding: 0in;">First,</span><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> communalism divides the Indian people on the basis of their
religious identity. This is not only detrimental to the security and livelihood
of the religious minorities, but also undermines the unity and integrity of our
country and people. By doing so, communalism disrupts the very unity of the
most exploited classes in our society on whose strength alone the revolutionary
movement can advance. The communal forces today, therefore, represent a lethal
counter-revolutionary force in our country. This has to be vigorously combated
and defeated by forging the broadest people’s unity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
agenda that we are discussing today for reclaiming secular democracy requires,
first and foremost, the strengthening of class and people’s struggles. The
objective of such popular upsurges must be the strengthening of the Left and
democratic forces in our country, which has to be based, in turn, on the basis
of an alternative policy framework to the existing bourgeois-landlord class
rule.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; padding: 0in;">Secondly,</span><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> there is a need to recognise the class-caste overlap that exists
in our country today. Class struggle in India has essentially two
elements—economic exploitation and social oppression. Class struggle in India,
therefore, stands on these two legs. Unless both these aspects are
simultaneously taken up by the revolutionary forces with equal emphasis, the
class struggle cannot begin its walk forward, leave alone running ahead. Issues
of social oppression centring around the obnoxious caste oppression will have
to be a part of the new agenda as much as the issues against economic
exploitation have traditionally been. This inte-gration of both these aspects
is an important element of this new agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; padding: 0in;">Thirdly,</span><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> the ‘Idea of India’ can never blossom unless the constitutional
guarantee of equality “irrespective of caste, creed and sex” is scrupulously
respected and implemented. Unless this is done, the confidence of the
minorities in the Indian State cannot be strengthened. It is precisely playing
upon this element of targeting religious minorities that the communal forces
seek to consolidate their grip over State power. Championing the interest of
the minorities is, hence, an important element of our agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; padding: 0in;">Fourthly,</span><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> there are various popular and social movements that champion
various important issues that need to be integrated in this struggle. Issues
like environmental concerns are assuming a very serious dimension threatening
the future existence of life on our planet. There are many others like the
movements on the issues of children’s rights; for a universal public health
system; for a security net to be guaranteed by the State for the old and
disabled people; the movements against gender oppression and for gender
equality etc. etc. A common ground must be found to integrate such popular
social movements with the larger revolutionary and democratic movement. This is
again an important element of this agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">In
addition to this, there are many other aspects that would legitimately be part
of this agenda whose final objective would be to consolidate the unity of our
diverse people into a single force for creating a better India for our people
and for our country by permitting the unfettered unfolding of the ‘Idea of
India’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article6497.html"><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article6497.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "albertus medium" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0Thrissur, Kerala 680001, India10.5276416 76.21443490000001510.2778471 75.89171140000002 10.777436100000001 76.53715840000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-82156536734216488162016-07-14T21:25:00.001+05:302016-07-14T21:31:57.538+05:30Inaugural speech of EMS Smrithi by Sitaram Yechury at Thrissur on 13th June, 2016<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">#IdeaOfIndia #EMSSmrithi2016 #Thrissur Must tackle issues </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">of both, economic exploitation and social oppression </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">simultaneously.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sitaramyechury/videos/vb.100010577828292/260815237614402/?type=2&theater" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/sitaramyechury/videos/vb.100010577828292/260815237614402/?type=2&theater</a></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.facebook.com/sitaramyechury/videos/vb.100010577828292/260813224281270/?type=2&theater</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0Thrissur, Kerala 680001, India10.5276416 76.21443490000001510.2778471 75.89171140000002 10.777436100000001 76.53715840000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-86215150888361369932015-03-19T20:45:00.000+05:302016-07-14T21:36:01.922+05:30EMS MEMORIAL LECTURE 2015<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cpimcc/posts/409784029193283"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">EMS MEMORIAL LECTURE 2015</span></b></a><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WANHHVULhBE/VQrmv5tKrSI/AAAAAAAAqJc/Y2_hT4om9bk/s1600/KB%2BSPEECH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WANHHVULhBE/VQrmv5tKrSI/AAAAAAAAqJc/Y2_hT4om9bk/s1600/KB%2BSPEECH.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/emsremembered?source=feed_text&story_id=409784029193283" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #6d84b4;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span><b><span style="font-size: large;">#</span></b></span><span class="_58cm"><b><span style="font-size: large;">EMSRemembered</span></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><b>CPI(M) Kerala State Secretary Com. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan delivering Com.EMS Memorial lecture after paying floral tribute in-front of Com. EMS Namboothiripad Sculpture in EMS Park in front of Kerala Legislative Assembly on Com. EMS's 17th Death Anniversary.</b></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><b>CPI(M) Polit Bureau members Com. Pinarayi Vijayan, Com M.A Baby, CPI(M) Central Committee Members Com. V.S Achuthanandan, Com. Vaikkom Viswan, Com. Thomas Isaac, Com. E.P Jayarajan, Com. K.K Shailaja were also present.</b></span></div>
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AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India8.5241391 76.936637600000048.2728715999999984 76.613914100000045 8.7754066 77.259361100000035tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-58683422412217580742014-12-14T16:55:00.000+05:302014-12-14T16:55:00.573+05:30EMS's Ancestral House at Elamkulam Mana, Malappuram<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0Malappuram, Kerala, India10.907144557142853 76.22486114501953110.875961057142854 76.184520645019532 10.938328057142853 76.26520164501953tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-78635973524806397402014-12-13T22:33:00.001+05:302014-12-14T16:56:29.191+05:30EMS CO-OPERATIVE HOSPITAL AT PERINTHALMANNA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India10.98 76.23000000000001810.9488235 76.189659500000019 11.011176500000001 76.270340500000017tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-68575640433625952722013-09-04T18:58:00.001+05:302014-12-14T16:56:54.987+05:30Inauguration by EMS Namboodiripad <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ahYBvofm4ks" width="480"></iframe>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-57904420939085640582009-10-23T21:35:00.001+05:302009-10-23T21:38:10.410+05:30An Exceptional Communist<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000099;">By Prakash Karat<br /></span></strong><br /><br />JUNE 13, 2009 marks the birth centenary of E M S Namboodiripad, whose life and work has left an indelible imprint on the communist movement in India. Born in 1909, EMS's remarkable life spanned the entire gamut of the social and political movements of the 20th century in India.<br /><br />As a young student he became the standard bearer for social reforms in the orthodox Namboodiri community to which he belonged. He became a Gandhian Congressman who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement as a student and went to jail. He was one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party when it was formed in 1934 at the all India level. He became a key organiser of the peasant movement against feudalism and imperialism in Malabar. By 1936, he joined the Communist Party, being among the first group of five members in Kerala.<br /><br />Thus began the extraordinary journey of EMS as a communist who became the foremost leader of the communist movement. It is not possible to make a full and proper evaluation of EMS as a Marxist thinker and his great contribution to the communist movement in a short article. But there are five distinctive features which stand out in his revolutionary life.<br /><br />Firstly, EMS was pre-eminent among all the communist leaders in his creative application of Marxist theory and practice. His extraordinary intellectual prowess enabled him to grasp the essence of Marxism and apply it in a creative fashion to Indian conditions. It is this outstanding ability which enabled EMS to become the first to lay down the theoretical basis for the abolition of landlordism in Kerala after a concrete study of the socio-economic conditions. He also had the unmatched capacity to translate theory into practice. His thesis on the jenmi-landlord system in Malabar became the basis for providing practical guidance to the developing peasant movement. His exposition of agrarian relations and the democratic content of the agrarian revolution laid the basis for the pioneering land reforms which were later initiated when he became the chief minister of the first Communist ministry in Kerala in 1957.<br /><br />EMS also showed how a Marxist analysis of society and history should be conducted in his study of the evolution of the linguistic nationality formation of the Malayalis and Kerala society. His Aikya Kerala and the study of “National Question in Kerala” became the basis for the major democratic movement in post-independence India for the linguistic reorganisation of the states. On all the major questions of India's politics and society, EMS made an original contribution because of his firm grounding in Marxist theory. He analysed history, society, politics and culture from the Marxist standpoint in the most authentic manner. These interventions and views would provide the catalyst for discussions and debates amongst not only Left intellectuals but also among all thinking sections of society.<br /><br />It would not be an exaggeration to state that no other communist leader has made such a contribution to the development of Marxist theory and practice in the ex-colonial countries or the developing world.<br /><br />As a Marxist-Leninist, EMS was deeply committed to the cause of world socialism and internationalism. But after decades of experience of the international communist movement, the CPI(M) leadership of which EMS was part, broke from the practice of heeding the line emanating from Moscow. EMS and his comrades began the arduous quest to apply Marxism-Leninism to evolve the correct strategy and tactics of the Indian revolution based on their own experience. EMS played an important role in this process.<br /><br />The second important feature was the pioneering role that EMS played in developing the correct perspective for the Communist Party's participation in parliamentary forums. He himself charted out the course for communist participation in government by becoming the chief minister of the first communist ministry to be formed in India in Kerala in 1957. The 28-month stint of the communist government blazed a new path by adopting land reform measures, democratic decentralisation and a pro-people police policy. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">EMS throughout was firmly committed to democratic decentralisation. Both as a Party leader and as an administrator EMS conceived of and worked to execute a more federal and decentralised system from the centre to the states and down to the panchayats. It was EMS who did the most in translating the Left vision into public policy making and execution. To EMS must also go the credit for clearly demarcating from revisionism and parliamentarism when he drew the proper lessons of communist participation in government. He saw this as part of the class struggle and laid out clearly that participation in government should be accompanied by extra parliamentary work which will strengthen the working class movement.<br /><br />The third distinctive feature was EMS's original contribution to the Marxist understanding of caste and class relations. After analysing the caste structure in Kerala society in the early decades of the 20th century, EMS drew out the class content of the caste configurations and was able to develop the communist outlook and practice which harnessed the anti-caste revolt and the democratic aspirations of the lower castes to the wider goals of the proletarian movement. Unlike many in the earlier generations of communists, EMS did not ignore the realities of the caste system and was able to utilise the impetus for social change for building the wider unity of the working people. In later life too, EMS also sought to apply Marxism to an ever changing caste-class correlation. As an authentic Marxist leader, EMS's interests spanned all aspects of society and social change. He was equally insightful in interpreting culture and on ways to build an alternative cultural hegemony to that of the ruling classes. From his earliest days fighting for social reform he was deeply committed to women's emancipation and as the general secretary he played a key role in the Party addressing issues of gender equality and women's oppression.<br /><br />The fourth unique feature was EMS's unparalleled role in communicating to the people the ideas and the politics of the Party. No other communist leader had such a prodigious output in terms of articles, reviews, commentaries and books. In Kerala, there was a remarkable dialogue between EMS and the people through his daily writings.<br /><br />EMS was the editor of a number of Party publications starting from Prabhatham which began as a paper of the CSP in 1935 in Kerala and ending in his last years once again as the editor in chief of Deshabhimani. In between he was the editor of a number of papers in the united party and of People's Democracy and The Marxist. The collected works of EMS in Malayalam which are being brought out will run into over a hundred volumes. These writings put together are an impressive and enduring legacy for the people and the country.<br /><br />The fifth distinctive feature of EMS was that he was a communist of special mould. Despite his intellectual prowess he was modest and devoid of egoism. The love and reverence of the people of Kerala never turned his head. He lived a life of utmost simplicity after giving up his property to the Party. As a leader he set the standards for democratic functioning and by sheer example exercised a great moral influence over the cadres to live up to the expectations of the people.<br /><br />For the Communist and Left movement in India the theoretical and practical work of E M S Namboodiripad is a rich and abiding legacy. The essence of that legacy – study of Marxist theory, its creative application to the live and concrete conditions of society, the firm belief in the emancipatory goal of socialism and a total identification with the people – has to be transmitted to succeeding generations of activists committed to the people's cause.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Peoples’ Democracy, June 14, 2009<br /></span> </span></strong></div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-15149400344280994282009-10-23T21:31:00.001+05:302009-10-23T21:35:09.768+05:30CPI(M) Commemorates EMS Birth Centenary<div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">KERALA:</span></strong> THE two day national seminar on the ‘World of EMS’ was held to commemorate the birth centenary of Comrade EMS Namboodiripad at his birth place, Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district. Inaugurating the seminar CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat recalled his experience with EMS Namboodiripad, who was the first chief minister of a democratically elected communist government in Kerala and the general secretary of the Party for nearly one and a half decade. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Prakash reiterated that the Party would continue its struggle against neo-liberal economic policies and the pro- imperialist stand of the UPA government. He also emphasised the importance of a self-critical analysis on the recent electoral setbacks and assured that the Party would examine whether it had distanced away from certain sections of the society. He also added that the electoral defeat is only temporary and the Party will continue to be the leading force in resisting the pro-rich, anti-people policies. The consolidated attacks of the right wing political parties, and other sectarian forces backed by imperialism can never hamper our struggle to resist neo-liberal economic policies and UPA government’s servile attitude towards imperialism, he said. </div><div align="justify"><br />It is none but EMS Namboodiripad who identified the threat of majority communalism against democratic ethos and designed our strategy against the fascist forces. Even in the early eighties, he warned about the strengthening of the right wing Hindutva forces and their penetration into our secular society. Talking about the contributions of Comrade EMS Namboodiripad, Prakash described him as the most original and outstanding Marxist produced by the developing world in the 20th century. No other Marxist thinker theorised about the class and caste associations of our society as EMS did. He evaluated Indian national movement from a working class perspective and played a pioneering role in developing communist perspective for parliamentary forums.<br /></div><div align="justify">The minister for local administration, Paloli Muhammedkutty presided over the seminar. Presenting a paper on democratic perspective of development, Prabhat Patnaik, vice chairman of the State Planning Board said that Kerala could never duplicate other states in development. If we imitate other states, much of our freedom would be negated and indiscriminate encouragement of capitalist investment would be dangerous to Kerala, he said. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The Finance minister T M Thomas Issac recalled the role played by EMS Namboodiripad in the successful implementation of decentralisation of power in Kerala. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The evening session kindled nostalgic revolutionary memories of Comrade EMS when Prakash Karat laid the foundation stone for EMS Memorial Complex on the banks of river Nila in a ceremony charged with emotions in which thousands of comrades and sympathisers participated. A Vijayaraghavan, MP presided over the function and the daughters of EMS, Dr Malathi, EM Radha and son in law Dr A D Damodaran attended. Dr Sumangala, the grand daughter of EMS sang melodious revolutionary songs belonging to the resistance music genre. </div><div align="justify"><br /> </div><div align="justify">On the second day, the session started with CPI(M) Polit Bureau member S Ramachandran Pillai’s paper on ‘EMS and Coalition Politics in Kerala’. He urged the activists to follow the model of EMS in waging restless and sustained struggles against bourgeois social system and reactionary ideas. He also cautioned the Party activists not to confuse between the third front and the third alternative, which the Party seeks to build. He warned the Party activists to be vigilant against the influence the existing bourgeoisie society is trying to exert on them. Instead of being influenced by the unequal society, the communists should try to change the society, he said and called upon the activists to be prepared to face any challenges. </div><div align="justify"><br /> </div><div align="justify">Many other learned scholars and practicing politicians presented their views on various facets of Comrade EMS’s life and related these to the contemporary task of the communist movement. Madhavankutty, famous journalist criticised the media for targeting CPI(M) adversely. Speaking on ‘Coalition Experiments and Media,’ he accused the media of giving shape to a ‘mega media rainbow coalition’ against the CPI(M). KKN Kuruppu, historian presented a paper on coalition politics in pre independent days. T N Seema, AIDWA state president spoke on Left perspective on women’s interventions.</div><div align="justify"><br /><br />The last session which dealt with EMS’s relationship with the cultural front was inaugurated by M A Baby, minister for Culture and Education. The session was presided over by Prabha Varma, the poet and was enriched by the presence of luminaries from the cultural front. Veteran poet Akkitham and Dr K G Poulose, vice chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam participated. Baby described EMS as a leader who recognised the importance of cultural activities for the movements which work for social change. </div><div align="justify"><br />The two days of discussion on EMS’s life, politics and contributions recharged the comrades with inspiration and confidence with the light radiating from the brilliance of the ‘Genius of the epoch’.<br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Kolkata Observes EMS Centenary</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><br />ADDRESSING a large indoor rally to remember E M S Namboodiripad, the legendary communist leader, in his centenary year, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said that the party would go to the people as in the past, learn from them and battle ahead, defeating all adversities. </div><div align="justify"><br />The function was organised at the Calcutta University Centenary Hall on July 31 evening, with Biman Basu in the chair and CPI(M) state secretariat members on the dais. </div><div align="justify"><br />Prakash Karat said EMS was not merely a theoretician, he was also of that rare quality that allowed one to put theory into practice. He would analyse the evolving situation and draw correct lessons from them. He placed a remarkable address on the problems plaguing the Malabar kisans when he was speaking at a legislative session in Delhi in the pre-independence years. This was the address that later served to inspire the land reforms movement in the country and gave birth much later to the movement for land reforms in places like Kerala and West Bengal.</div><div align="justify"><br />EMS’s was also a correct analysis of the nationalities question in Kerala and, apart from calling for an integrated concept of what was then called a province, EMS also spoke firmly in favour of democratic decentralisation of power, financial as well as administrative.</div><div align="justify"><br />Prakash Karat said the CPI(M) was at present under assault from the forces of reaction, indigenous and foreign. The attacks assumed a sharp dimension during the run-up to the 15th Lok Sabha elections and has continued since in Bengal.</div><div align="justify"><br />From the date of the announcement of election schedule, 70 comrades have been martyred here in West Bengal, said Prakash Karat. In Kerala, the attack was open and overt. In Bengal the attack is covert and in the guise of ‘Maoism.’ Prakash Karat was bitterly critical of the politics of ‘Maoism’ being practiced in some parts of the country.</div><div align="justify"><br />Analysing the election results of the 15th Lok Sabha elections, Prakash Karat pointed out that the results were an “exception in Bengal where the LF has been in office for 32 long years.” The CPI(M) has full confidence, and it would learn from the people the correct lessons to drive forward in the days to come. The life and achievements of EMS would serve as source on inspiration in this task. <br /> </div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-70331636616334608552009-07-05T22:23:00.002+05:302009-07-09T20:31:38.233+05:30ON THE BIRTH CENTENARY OF COMRADE EMS NAMBOODIRIPAD<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 21px"><b><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#000099;">JYOTI BASU </span><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I came to know that CPI (M) Kerala State Committee and EMS Academy are observing this year the birth centenary of Comrade EMS Namboodiripad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This observation in honour of one of the outstanding exponents of Marxism of our times is a fitting tribute to his memory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">My relation with Comrade EMS spans for over 60 years and the bond that we shared during all these years was very cordial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We worked together for many years, taking many decisions to build up political–ideological and organizational movements achieving our goal to build an exploitation-free society. There were debates, exchanges of opinions and most importantly consensuses, in our joint effort to build a communist party based on a correct ideological path as a part of the collective leadership of the party. He was both a visionary and a communist with a strong practical bent of mind. He had a strong political acumen and at the same time he was a versatile and knowledgeable politician with commendable hold on a vast range of issues.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">He was brought up in a wealthy and respectable Brahmin family, but he gave up his studies to join the movement for India’s independence from the colonial rulers. It was in the 1930s that he established contact with the communist revolutionaries of Bengal and Punjab. The country and generally the world, then was witnessing a turbulent phase that was marked by intense anti imperialist and anti fascist struggles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Comrade EMS too was influenced by the intensity of this struggles and he was slowly drifted into the socialist fold and then in the subsequent years started working to build the communist party. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">His campaign against ill belief and superstitions and prevalent casteist feelings had started even earlier when he undertook the tedious task of reforms among his own family members. He took an exemplary role in building up the communist movement in the state of Kerala.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">It was in 1939 itself that he became a part of the parliamentary politics in Kerala. In the early years of the 40’s he had to go underground and he went to work with the poor peasants and became a part of them by adopting their lifestyle in a befitting manner. The love and sensitivity that he showed towards the poor peasants remained an intrinsic part of his characteristics for the rest of his life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">He was elected to the leadership of the Party from the time since its very first congress in 1943. He made invaluable contribution as a leader of the Party.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">In the fifties, when the party was in the midst of an inner- party ideological struggle he played a significant role by guiding the party and insisting on the fact that a communist party should retain its revolutionary characteristics. He was elected Party General Secretary in 1962 when the ideological struggle in the party became intensive. Comrade EMS boldly expressed his opinion in the party, and many a time we had debated on his opinions. I too, had some opinions in the party on ideological issues and later it was decided to incorporate both the opinions into the party fold for elaborate discussions. All of us at that time decided to work together to strengthen the party. After the division of our party in 1964 Comrade EMS took a vital role in building up party organization and also penning down our party’s programme. During his tenure as the general secretary from 1977 to 1992 he contributed commendably to shape up party’s political–organizational line.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">From the fifties onwards he played an important role at the party centre and gave his vital inputs as part of the collective leadership of various movements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In the subsequent elections in 1957 when Kerala became a full fledged state under the Indian Union, the first communist government under his leadership emerged. It was under his chief ministership the first non - congress government was established in any state of independent India.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">While we were not successful in West Bengal at 1957 assembly election, Kerala was building a new history under the leadership of Comrade EMS Namboodiripad. For the first time, the people elected a Communist government in the country and reposed on us a new responsibility for the days ahead. I still remember it was the third week of March 1957. As soon as we learnt of the news Kakababu, Comrade Muzaffar Ahmad, immediately sent a telegram to Trivandrum saying, "We have just heard of the success of the Communist Party in Kerala. We congratulate you on behalf of members of the party in West Bengal and all democratic forces in the state." The Communists alone got sixty seats. Independents backed by the Communists got five, PSP nine and the Congress won forty three seats. The total number of seats was 126. Comrade E M S Namboodiripad was elected the legislative Party leader with Achutya Menon as his deputy. E M S became the first Communist chief minister of the country. The other ministers included K. P. Gopalan, T. A. Majid, P. K. Sathan, Joseph Mundaseri, V. R. Krishna Iyer, K. R. Gouri Amma, Dr A. R. Menon and K. C. George.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I remember, on April 7, we called a meeting at the Kolkata Maidan to celebrate the formation of a Communist government in the country and the gaining of strength of the CPI in Bengal. The rally, which was presided over by Muzaffar Ahmad, began with a famous song which had been written in the memory of the martyrs of Kerala’s Malabar district. I proposed a resolution which said, "We have gone one step ahead with the victory of the Communist Party in Kerala. Our congratulations go out to the people of Kerala and we resolve to forge stronger ties among the democratic and peaceful forces in this state in the fight against imperialism."<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">After taking over as chief minister, E M S introduced a 16-point programme including major land reforms, farmers’ rights on their land and growth of the agricultural industry. He also appealed to the industrialists to take an active role in progress of the state's economy. The new government started work in earnest. In a matter of few days, the historic Ordinance which gave agricultural rights to 10 lakh labourers and five lakh sharecroppers came into being while one lakh acre of agricultural land was distributed to landless farmers. All political detenus were released. The Kerala government also announced that the police would not be used to break any democratic agitation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">All these were noble efforts, particularly compared with the experience of long Congress regimes earlier. This was a major responsibility; on the one hand the government had to function within the bourgeoisie-zamindar political structure while, on the other hand, the onus was on the government to lend a revolutionary role to the people’s struggle. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">In 1952, the Communist Party had won 27 of the 60 Lok Sabha constituencies that it had contested while out of the 122 it had contested this time, 29 had been elected. But the number of votes polled for the party had doubled.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The party had formed the government in the state during second general elections by becoming the single largest party. Jawarharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister then, while his daughter, Indira Gandhi, was the president of the AICC. We all know how tirelessly Prime Minister Nehru and his daughter tried to prevent the Communists from coming to power in Kerala. However, they did not succeed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">E. M. S took over as chief minister amid a wave of people’s support and encouragement in Kerala. But on July 31, 1959, the President used Article 356 to dismiss the state Assembly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">There were many tactics which were adopted to prevent the Communist ministry from working to a programme. The AICC with Mrs Gandhi at its helm entered into an unholy alliance with reactionary and opportunistic forces and parties. A disinformation campaign was launched which said that the masses wanted the Kerala government to go. It isn’t exactly a top secret that Prime Minister Nehru had called E.M.S. and asked him the resign, dissolve Assembly and call fresh elections. But E.M.S. ignored this pressure tactics and thus the unrelenting efforts to dismiss the Kerala government continued.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The progressive attitude and some of the virtuous Bills on land reforms and the education system had set the cat among the pigeons in Kerala. These steps had come rudely shocked the vested interests in the state. The so-called popular "mass movement" against the Kerala government had not touched the majority of the people of the state because by the time, an agitation to protect the state government had spread throughout the nation. The people’s demand was to get the Congress out of Kerala.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">When the disinformation campaign failed and the much expected mass movement against the Kerala government did not come by, the Centre resorted to Article 356 and imposed President’s rule in Kerala.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">On June 6, E.M.S. had come to Calcutta and two lakh people were there to receive him at the Maidan. Women blew conch shells to welcome the first Communist Chief Minister of the country. I was in Delhi when the decision to impose President’s rule in Kerala was announced. Bhupesh Gupta and Dinesh Roy were there along with me. We had gone to present a memorandum of grievances against the West Bengal government.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">On August 7, a huge rally was taken out which culminated in the Maidan protesting against the action in Kerala. On July 14, a resolution was adopted at the National Council of the CPI which rejected the proposal for re-election in Kerala.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">On July 15, 1959 Triguna Sen, journalist Vivekananda Mukherjee, Dr Paresh Chandra Sen, Satyajit Ray, Susobhan Sarkar, Hemanta Mukherjee, Gopal Chandra Halder, Sambhu Mitra. Mihir Sen, Binoy Ghosh, Asitbaran, Suchitra Mitra, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and other intellectuals like Nandagopal Sengupta appealed to the President and the Prime Minister in which they said, "Those who are unified to oust the Kerala government by unholy means are working to strike at the roots of Indian democracy. We request that such efforts be stopped immediately. "A separate appeal entitled Intervention shall not be allowed in Kerala" was sent to the President by playwright Bijan Bhattarcharya, actor Bhanu Banerjee and scientist B D Nagchowdhury. On July 15, 1959, a letter signed by 17,336 residents of Calcutta was sent to the President carrying the same message.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">On July 3, the party’s West Bengal state committee held a rally at the Monument which was attended by more than one lakh people. Indrajit Gupta and I spoke on the occasion. I said that the need of the hour was not to get disillusioned but defend the forces of democracy against Congress dictatorship with fortitude and discipline. A strong movement was necessary for this. Amar Bose of the Forward Bloc (Marxist) presided over this rally. On the same day, when the demand to place the Kerala Governor’s report in the Lok Sabha was rejected, the majority of the Opposition members staged a walkout. At that time, Dangey was the leader of the Communist Parliamentary Party. On that very day, I was addressing a press conference in Delhi where I placed the views of the West Bengal State Council of the party. It was during this press conference that we got news that the Kerala government had been dismissed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Shortly before going to Delhi, I had met Dr Roy. He had told me that he was against the tactics of the Congress in Kerala and that he did not like the way an elected government was being harassed. He had indicated this to the Congress Working Committee. I remember Dr Roy telling me that it needed a strong hand to run a government. I asked him what he would have done if he had been in E.M.S.’s shoes. The Chief Minister replied, “I would have arrested all the agitators and taken strict administrative steps." Needless to say, we had ourselves been subject to the "strong administrative steps" as suggested by the Chief Minister. Bhupesh Gupta and I went to meet Feroze Gandhi after the press conference. He did not stay in the residence of the Prime Minister at that time and had shifted to one of the flats allotted to parliamentarians on North Avenue. While asking us to sit, Feroze Gandhi said "A murder has been committed today. Democracy has been killed in Kerala." That day, he told us many other stories. That does not require mention here. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">However, during this brief tenure the state government embarked on radical land reforms and had taken concrete steps on democratization of education system and strengthening health facilities and took steps to uphold the rights of workers and farmers. The stand taken by EMS government acted as a torchbearer for future struggle in the history of Indian democracy. He was successfully able to consolidate the struggle both inside and outside of the Parliament. His legendary skills helped in shaping our party’s political strategy in the later stages of struggle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">In 1967 assembly elections, non-Congress governments came up in eight states of India, including West Bengal. In Kerala again a non-Congress government was formed under the stewardship of Comrade EMS. But unfortunately CPI, a partner of the left withdraw themselves from this government and joined hands with the Congress. Again the non-Congress<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>government in Kerala though destined to fall was able to have an impact by introducing pro-people policies distinct from its predecessors. This invaluable experience helped us immensely while we managed the successful Left coalition in the State of West Bengal in 1967 and 1969 as part of the United Front government.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Comrade EMS was a glaring example of a communist leader, who showed all the qualities that one communist should have, and he rightfully had earned accolades, nationally and internationally.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Though he was extremely busy to keep his political and organizational commitments, still he managed to find out time to write the history of India from the Marxist point of view. He contributed immensely to Marxist literature. His writings on the history of India’s Freedom struggle, trade union movement, and cultural movement are considered to be masterpieces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>His fame as an eminent author and as an acclaimed intellectual was spread even beyond the Party circles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>His opinions, writings also served as guidelines to our party at some of the important junctures of national politics. Comrade EMS was not only a national leader but also a leader of the international communist movement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Apart from Party Polit Bureau and central committee meetings we met and exchanged each other’s views many a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>His simplicity, exemplary honest behavior, his life as a communist earned respect of those who came in touch with him. In his death the country has lost a prodigal and idealistic personality.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Comrade EMS’s contribution in all these seven long decades will be a milestone not only for our party but to the entire nation. After 1992 due to illness his movement was restricted to his home state of Kerala though he regularly wrote his opinions about different subjects to various party forums on different issues and was a regular contributor to the party’s literary circuit. His ability to study sequentially different issues was another rare attributes of his memorable life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">//<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-10433139133105808652008-12-10T19:02:00.002+05:302008-12-10T19:40:01.883+05:30THE EMS ACADEMY: A HAVEN OF POLITICAL EDUCATION & RESEARCH<strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong><br /><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">B.Prasant</span></strong><br /><br />As we left Thiruvanthapuram moving steadily in a left-leaning curve, we started to leave behind us the suburbia of the large and bustling city of Thiruvanthapuram. We were climbing all the while. It was the Malabar hills along the ridged nestle of which we were passing through as the circuitous but a sturdily built route became ever narrower. </div><div align="justify"><br /><br />We motored through and passed by Peyadi, Thirumala, and Kalaimundu, touching the margins of a plethora of small segments of tiny urban habitations -and had just passed the large S K hospital, when the air suddenly started to turn cool and moist. We were right amidst the mountain range- historically called the Western Ghats- itself, having passed the foothills.<br /></div><div align="justify"><br />We were soon entering the impressive 40 feet high brown-stone portals of the EMS Academy amidst some of the densest greens we have ever encountered. Nominated by the Bengal unit of the CPI (M), we had come here attend the Central Party School being organised for the comrades who worked in the Party media.</div><div align="justify"><br /><br />The Academy the foundation of which was laid back in 1999 by the late lamented general secretary of the CPI (M) comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet, was named after the Communist pioneer and legendary Marxist chronicler of the annals of Indian history, Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran [‘EMS’ as he is still popularly referred to] Namboodiripad (June 13, 1909 – March 19, 1998), and even as work goes on we were very impressed indeed with what has already been achieved.</div><div align="justify"><br /><br />The 40-odd acre of a medium-sized plateau on the western side of the Malabar hills had been carved out to produce a great big ground of rolling lands. On small hillocks were constructed beautifully stucco-roofed buildings, some very sprawling, some deceptively small. There was that vast mail buildings on the first floor of which 87 of us were fairly lost in the lecture hall surrounded by a wide verandah on all four sides. The Malabar hills appeared close enough to touch. There was this cavernous canteen hall, and an equally large library, which is still being built up. All walls of all the buildings carried large photographs of EMS, some them dating back to the time when EMS had been sworn in as the first Communist chief minister of a state in India.</div><div align="justify"><br /><br />Dr A Pratahapa chandran Nair, retired university teacher of solid state and nuclear physics, and a leader of the college and university teachers’ movement, briefed us about the Academy. The campus contained a never-ending, as we imagined, rubber plantation. There were massive patches of Tapioca trees.<br /></div><div align="justify"><br />There were plants and trees, some herbal, some flowery, some roots-and-tubers, some creepers the wide variety of which left us a complete non-botanist stumped for answers. This did not prevent us from enjoying the green that apparently stretched to the horizon. Only 10% of the vast plateau has been built upon and that would be about it, we were assured. We could see and enjoy myriad types of insects, flying and crawling, birds including the rare white hawk, and reptiles of various sizes, length, and shape.<br /></div><div align="justify"><br />Dr Nair told us that the Academy housed Party education centres. Party education in Kerala is a central hub of party functioning as it should well be elsewhere too. Classes are regularly held in the Academy with the faculty suggested by both the Kerala unit of the Party and the central committee with the latter giving the final stamp of approval. </div><div align="justify"><br /><br />Party education is imparted to various target groups throughout the year by a highly-proficient faculty with guest lecturers often participating in the teaching-learning process. Our classes were addressed, for example by Dr Nageswar Rao of the Osmania University who came down from Hyderabad to talk about ‘media and social responsibility.’</div><div align="justify"><br /><br />The massively wide swathe of rubber plantation is organised in a truly Communist fashion. The workers- men and women, the latter outnumbering the former- have formed a co-operative under the initiative of the Party. The proceeds of the sale of raw and processed, high quality rubber (milky white and thick as honey) is divided up by half, with the workers getting 50% of the sale and the rest going to funding and running the Academy. The workers we spoke to appeared quite content and happy with the state-of-affairs.<br /></div><div align="justify"><br />The principal function of the Academy is the imparting of Party education. The Academy organises classes at different functioning tiers of the Kerala unit of the CPI (M) – district committees, zonal committees, local committees, branches, and for various frontal organizations of the CPI (M). The Academy is no island of excellence. It seamlessly merges its activities with the CPI (M)-run Panchayats around. The Academy itself is situated right in the midst of the Vilappil village Panchayat.<br /></div><div align="justify"><br />There is an exchange if political-organisational ideas with the elected members of the rural bodies where the Academy provides the guidance, and the Panchayat members are the eager students – in such topics as Marxism-Leninism, political economy, and party organisation, as well as the pro-people and pro-poor rôle of the Panchayat bodies in three tiers.</div><div align="justify"><br /><br />The future plans, Dr Nair informed us, include development of a science and technology centre, a horticultural centre, and a bio-diversity park. A recent visit by a team from the People’s Republic of China has seen plans afoot to set up a physical culture centre and a stadium at the Academy: a healthy mind in a healthy body. </div><div align="justify"><br /><br />As we were coming out of the Academy for this time, the Kerala Party simply would allow us to do so with a heavy heart. We saw a fresh batch of students, 155 local committee members all, trooping in to take their classes. This is the sixth student batch of LCM’s we are told. We exchange a cheery Red Salute and pass along each other’s way – with a very joyful frame of mind, the depression of departure all gone in a flash of fervour. <strong><span style="color:#000099;">INN</span></strong> </div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-10801622478718377912008-12-10T18:49:00.004+05:302008-12-10T19:02:06.594+05:30EMS Academy Hosts Party Media School<div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#000099;"></span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#000099;">Towards Setting Peoples' Agenda: Changing Role Of Media </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#000099;"><br /> </div></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span></strong><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#660000;"></span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#660000;">V Srinivasa Rao</span></strong></div><strong><span style="color:#660000;"><div align="justify"><br /></span></strong><br />IN the era of globalisation, the role of media has changed drastically in both technical and professional areas. Due to the availability of information through various channels like internet, SMS etc., readers and viewers of media also want to be informed accurately and on time. With the advent of 24-hour news channels, the character of print media is also changing. Most of our Party media in various states is mainly dependent on the print media. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />Twenty years ago when the discussion on Party media had come up, a broad understanding was reached: 'Party newspapers should be run as comprehensive news papers and not confine themselves to just expressing views'. Lot of changes had taken place in our Party media after that. New machines with multi-colour printing were introduced, our offices were fully computerised with high-brand width networking in the technical side and new editions were started together with the introduction of district editions. Even though all these developments have taken place, our media is still lagging behind because of the high costs and skills. As far as professional skills are concerned in-house training methods are introduced. Apart from training, regular reviews were also helping us to rectify our mistakes and shortcomings from time to time. But this development is not uniform. Particularly the periodicals that are run in the weaker states are lagging behind in various aspects. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />During this period, the media in general has changed a lot. Every newspaper is expressing its own views in the front-page 'news items' itself. Special stories, cooked up to serve their own agendas are being published. All these years, bourgeoisie media is affectively interacting with the readers and influencing them with their 'news'. Taking into consideration all these changes, a year and half ago the in-charges of Party media met and discussed about these trends.</div><div align="justify"><br /><br />In this context Party decided to hold a school and workshop for comrades working in Party media. The school was held from <strong><span style="color:#990000;">November 1-3, 2008 in EMS Academy</span></strong>, Thiruvanantapuram. 87 comrades attended from various dailies, weeklies and Party periodicals. Sitaram Yechury while inaugurating the school dealt with the forms and methods of media in the era of globalisation. He emphasised the need for strengthening the Party media both professionally and technically. He also explained about the implications of financial crisis and how the bourgeoisie media had reported it to serve its interests. He directed the comrades working in the Party media to monitor the news content-that which is useful to the people and the country and that which is not. He also explained the need of timely interference and the developments taking place in mass movements. He stated that this is the right time to place peoples' agenda affectively on the basis of real mass issues.<br /></div><div align="justify"><br />V Srinivasa Rao, member of Central Secretariat presented a review report since the last meeting. On the basis of this report, a discussion was held in two stages: in the first stage, state-wise and in the second stage theme-wise discussion was held. Delegates were divided into six groups to discuss on the themes such as news resources, agitation-propaganda methods, lay-out design, managerial issues etc. Finally Sitaram Yechury summed up these discussions. In his concluding remarks he exhorted the comrades to explore the opportunities available in the current situation and also advised to follow offensive ideological positions to counter imperialist globalisation propaganda and for social progress to make use of the present favourable situation.<br /><br />On the second day, there were three lectures exclusively on professional subjects. Dr K Nageshwar, Professor in Journalism, Osmania University, Hyderabad explained about media and social responsibility. Prominent journalist and reporter of Frontline, Parvathi Menon presented a paper on recent trends in journalism. M A Baby, member of the Central Committee presented a paper on media and globalisation. These three subjects gave an idea on the present trends in the field of journalism and specific responsibilities of journalists working with a pro-people agenda. </div><div align="justify"><br />On the last day, Nilotpal Basu took a class on recent political developments and the stand of CPI (M). In the evening, Deshabhimani, Malayalam daily hosted the delegates in their headquarters in Thiruvanatapuram. On this occasion, delegates interacted with the editorial staff and managers of Deshabhimani. This interactive session helped them understand various aspects.<br /><br />This three-day workshop was a good experience to all those who attended the classes. Delegates hoped that even though this is a modest beginning, workshop and classes of this type would certainly help them a lot. CPI(M) Kerala state committee, EMS Academy and Deshabhimani made all the arrangements for this workshop and classes to ensure that the delegates do not face any difficulties.<br /></div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;">V Srinivasa Rao, member of Central Secretariat CPI(M). </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#990000;"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#990000;"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#990000;"></span></strong></div><div align="justify"></div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-41380238483931205772008-12-10T18:44:00.002+05:302008-12-10T18:49:22.389+05:30EMS of 1957 vintage<div align="justify"><br /><em><strong><span style="color:#990000;">The transformation which EMS strove to bring about was true to the Marxian observation that men do not make history under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given, and transmitted from the past. </span></strong></em></div><em><span style="color:#990000;"><div align="justify"><br /></span></em><strong><span style="color:#000099;">V.R. KRISHNA IYER</span> </strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />E.M.S. NAMBOODIRIPAD is mortally no more with us. But it is blasphemy to say he is dead. He lives in the hearts and minds of millions of his countrymen and a large number of admirers abroad. Tidal waves of tributes, crores of bosoms in grief and obituary references from all over the globe testify to the great visionary's matchless contribution to revolutionary thought and his dynamic leadership luminously spanning over a semi-centennial space. But a dialectical scan of the historic stem of EMS' governance in Kerala in 1957 that stunned the world as the first democratically elected Communist Party government through constitutional parameters and courageous ballotry may well reveal the ideological mastery and adroit ability of EMS to advance a radical administration, with a margin of a single vote giving him the majority in the House. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />He administered the State flawlessly according to the rules of the game, running a radical government with people's support despite hostile vested interests, including the Congress bosses who were in a hurry, waiting in vain to intervene and dismiss him from power on the pretext of constitutional breakdown, democracy being in jeopardy and the rule of law being in peril. EMS, with the versatile vision of a Communist statesman and the flexible realism of a political activist, conformed to the constitutional paradigm and political compulsion of the Nehru era. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />What was the secret of this masterpiece of statecraft which held at bay the reactionary cabals and cliques and enabled this radical leader to push through his socialistic programmes? He adopted a strategy that dumbfounded his adversaries in politics by declaring that his government would implement the progressive policies of the Nehru Congress and the Avadi thesis which the Congress high command professed and consistently betrayed. He insisted that land reforms, which was the nation's pledge on gaining Independence, would be implemented without delay, that peasants would not be evicted by latifundists with clout, that labour would be assured of a fair deal and that the police would not interfere in peasant struggles and labour strikes on the side of the landlords and industrial magnates. Social justice in many dimensions would be accomplished for the people and promotion of agriculture and industry would be given high priority. People's participation would be a policy imperative. </div><div align="justify"><br /> </div><div align="justify"><br />These items on the agenda were supplemented by the liberation of education from the stranglehold of vested interests and radical reforms in this field were brought about. Electricity generation and tapping of irrigation potential, legal aid to the poor and easy access to justice found high place in the contemplated transformation of the economic order. Administrative reforms, which would simplify bureaucratic processes, decentralise the system to bring the people closer to government, were also integral parts of the EMS perspective. His dynamism, clarity of thought and leftist dialectic enabled him to carry his party and progressive sections of people with his line of thinking. A leader of light and learning was at the wheel with firm ideological grip. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Here at last was an awakening of people's power, inspired by a leader whose integrity, credentials of struggles and sacrifices were above suspicion and whose life of simplicity and accessibility was a marvellous model for the rest of the country. He drew a monthly salary of Rs. 350; so did his partymen in the Ministry, although the statutory entitlement was higher. Small wonder that he could command collective reverence and shared responsibility from his colleagues in the Cabinet and the legislators and members of his party. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />What was remarkable about this legendary figure in power was that his imaginative grasp of the changes necessary, and their priorities were impeccable. All of us, Ministers, agreed with our obligations as suggested by the leader. We had disagreements no doubt, but not on fundamentals. Wherever minds differed or new policies were launched, there were informal discussions and creases of differences were ironed out. EMS would listen with respect and consent to modifications if convinced, and a consensus was always evolved. We were equals, with EMS being more equal than the rest since, obviously, he had a higher stature, a nobler perception and a longer political experience. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />He was among the rarest of the rare in power. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />There was a healthy practice cultivated during those days among the members of the Cabinet and leaders of the party - meeting informally almost every week to exchange views and arrive at a community of thought in executing policies. The Left ideology was never forsaken, but the constitutional and other legal limitations were always complied with. The towering personality of EMS made this epic story of Communist rule in Kerala a legend for the country as a whole. Of course, as a Marxist he knew that people, not leaders, make history. He proved, under the difficult circumstances of a Nehru at the Centre, communal forces and Congress politicians in subversive hunger for power, that "men make their own history but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given, and transmitted from the past." The transformation which EMS strove to produce was true to this Marxian observation. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />I DISTINCTLY recollect Dhebar as Congress president complaining to me about Namboodiripad's police policy of non-interference in peasant and labour struggles. I explained to him that whenever there was violence, the police would be vigilant, but whenever goondas of employers and landlords threatened workers and peasants with violence, the police would prevent such traditional tactics which distorted social justice and foiled the just claims of workers and peasants. Dhebar could not remonstrate anymore. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Land reforms were integral to social change as India was still feudal in the countryside and the people were asphyxiated by casteist and communal oppression. National liberation had to begin with the land and our edifice of freedom was to be built on the slogan of "land to the tillers". EMS knew the pulse of the people and gave broad guidelines for the transformation process. Thus a pioneering adventure in distributive agrarian justice was given statutory shape. All that the Revenue Minister and Law Minister did was to implement the clear ideas of EMS. Whenever there was doubt, all of us discussed together, hammered out differences and reached an agreed solution. Thus came into being the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill. Of course, the Supreme Court struck down the Bill on a technical ground. The court could knock down a Bill but could not wipe out a militant demand of the people. So land reforms reincarnated substantially in the same form and no one can refuse to attribute this glorious achievement to EMS who was leading Kerala - in essence, the nation - from its feudal slumber. Regrettably, many parts of India still remain primitive and under the heels of de facto landlordism. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />In the field of education, Prof. Joseph Mundassery, the Education Minister, under the guidance and intrepid backing of EMS, started educational reforms which remind one today of the colossal blunder of the hostile forces that conspired to create nightmares among their followers about the Bill which was introduced in the Assembly and passed. Of course, the Church and other reactionary establishments started 'Operation Overthrow'. It must be remembered that with the tacit connivance of the Congress high command and Central government departments, this upsurge took a violent turn, throwing the rule of law to the winds and violating all norms of democracy and constitutional order. The State Government desisted from using the police and insisted on minimal force where engineered clashes threatened the peace of the State. I was Home Minister and can claim that never in free India's history was so little force used against so large a violent turbulence masterminded by the Church, the Nair Service Society (NSS) and other vested interests supported by motivated dollars from abroad and concealed support from the Congress leadership. Political memory may be short and so, I may remind the present generation of Indians that, aided by American dollars, para-military training was being imparted in several Church compounds for the battle to oust the legally constituted EMS Government. I had condemned this Christoper's movement in the House as Home Minister. And yet not one was put in preventive detention and prisons were reformed to comport with human dignity - the best then in the country and I was the Minister for Prisons. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) had held a conference in Delhi in late 1958 and eminent jurists gathered there were misled into the impression that there was a breakdown of the Constitution in Kerala State. So the Secretary-General of the ICJ visited Kerala to see for himself whether there was violation of the rule of law and departure from the norms of democracy. I spent hours with him and discussed every facet of the law and order situation. He was thoroughly satisfied that the police policy of the State was in harmony with the norms of democracy. He visited Chennai the next day and, addressing a gathering in the Cosmopolitan Club there, presided over by Justice A.S.P. Aiyar, said how he had met and held long discussions with the Home Minister of Kerala and added a passage pregnant with meaning: "Either the Home Minister was a mota Communist and he did not know that; or I was a Communist and did not know that; so complete was the identity of views on the democratic situation in Kerala." This passage was communicated to me by Justice Aiyar the very next day. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /> </div><div align="justify"><br />Congress general secretary Sucheta Kripalani came with similar grievances and so I called her for tea and explained to her our position. She left with no answer. The violent crisis persisted, fertilised by instigation from abroad and from Delhi. The Congress party in the State conveniently fished in troubled waters and gave leadership to this movement of chaos and anarchy. Namboodiripad requested me to apprise Nehru of the shocking developments, organised by the vested interests of Kerala and abetted aggresively by the Congress party. Many within the Congress, like V. K. Krishna Menon, did not agree with this unconstitutional programme of action. Under the direction of EMS, I met Nehru at Ooty and explained to him that under the hegemony of his party (of which Indira Gandhi was then president) the Church, the NSS and other reactionary forces were conspiring to tear up the Constitution of India and the Kerala regime which implemented the great promises of its Preamble. Nehru seemed stunned and asked 'Indu' to discuss the matter with me. That formality was a ritual and Nehru's condemnation was formal. EMS and his Government were unconstitutionally overthrown by the misuse of the obnoxious Article 356, invoking a theory of a wall of separation between the people and the government. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />HISTORY, when retold with authenticity, will reveal the great developmental work executed by the EMS Ministry. New industries were started, false charges were resisted and dauntlessly we marched on without fear of honest contradiction. I may claim that so much was done in so short a span to put Kerala on the map of dynamic socialist advance under the luminous and dialectically guided leadership of one man, EMS. There was no personality cult and there was no pomp or propaganda either. I could and did sometime disagree, and frank exchange of views resolved friction. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />In every field we acted collectively. New medical and engineering colleges, new irrigation projects and hydel plants were constructed. There were many agricultural reforms. On the whole the Legislative Assembly itself was lively and constructive. Many new courts were started; many legal aid programmes were initiated. Party cadres never interfered in judicial matters. The Chief Justice of Kerala was asked in high secrecy by G.B. Pant, the then Union Home Minister, whether the Communist cells were influencing crime investigations and his reply was clearly in the negative. Chief Justice K.T. Koshi himself told me this. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Nehru came to Thiruvananthapuram to see for himself what all the ballyhoo was about. He told the Cabinet that he had three points to raise with us. First, he wanted a certain section of the Education Bill to be suspended. Secondly, he wanted a case of police firing to be judicially investigated (Florey's case). And, thirdly, he desired that the 32 charges Asoka Mehta had raised in Parliament against the Kerala Government - an outrageously novel stratagem - should be inquired into. We took a day's time, had consultations among ourselves and with the party and met Panditji to tell him that we were willing to suspend a section of the Education Bill, were prepared to order a judicial probe into the police firing and finally, were agreeable to Jawaharlal Nehru himself looking into the Asoka Mehta charges; and if he found us guilty we were willing to resign. Nehru was astonished and perplexed and went back to report to his partymen who would be satisfied with nothing short of a death sentence on the Ministry, that is, the dismissal of the Government. When I met Nehru the next day he looked pale and almost comatose. I have a photograph of a dazed Panditji with me near him. Later, in Delhi, he surrendered and President's rule was imposed. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS was a great statesman and took this contra-constitutional action with the firmness of a profound Communist. Later he came back to power. Still later, he shone in India's sky as a great thinker, a prolific writer and speaker, a spotless statesman who will be remembered for long as one like whom few have lived in free India. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#993300;">V.R. Krishna Iyer, a former Judge of the Supreme Court was a Minister in the Communist Government in Kerala led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad, which assumed office in 1957. </span></em></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><em><span style="color:#993300;"></span></em></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">FRONTLINE</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><em><span style="color:#666600;">Vol. 15 :: No. 08 :: Apr. 11 - 24, 1998 </span></em></strong></div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-46372632626299355342008-12-10T18:40:00.001+05:302008-12-10T18:43:51.756+05:30The tireless writer<div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">SUKUMAR AZHICODE </span></strong></div><p><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong> </p><p align="justify">THE talk in the streets is that violence and non-violence are mutually exclusive. Following this, it is axiomatically held in the political field that the Marxian and Gandhian ideologies cancel each other at least in theory. But keen students have discovered that what stands out between these two philosophies is more their consanguinity than their contradiction. I have found that this view if extended to a relative study of the personalities of Marx and Gandhiji would unravel hitherto unknown affinities between these two world leaders. </p><p align="justify"><br />Let us study one of these affinities. Both Marx and Gandhiji were tireless writers, their literary output being unusually massive. They did not take to the mission of writing casually, but in a severely professional manner, pressing into service all their innate skills and proficiencies. The stupendous corpus of writing they bequeathed to the world underscores the creative affinity of their selves. When every ten minutes from a quarter hour in one's wakeful life for about six decades is devoted to either speaking or writing, this incredibly corpulent mass of about tens of thousands of printed pages would be the inevitable result. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />The hundred royal-size volumes of the collected works of Gandhiji is an instance illuminating the above principles. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />The second would be the works of E. M. S. Namboodiripad, which has not yet been collected in their entirety. But if a rough and ready reckoning of the vast physical extent of the works left behind by him could be attempted, the final score would place him as a close runner-up after Gandhiji in this likely contest. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />The sturdy foundation for EMS' literary inspirations was laid during his college days. It was none other than the doyen of social reform in Kerala, V. T. Bhattathiripad, who initiated him into the secrets of writing literary and journalistic pieces for his organ Unni Nampoothiri. The first book Nampoodiripad wrote was about Jawaharlal Nehru. All these tentative footsteps in the field of writing were taken in the early part of the 1930s. This ceased only with the final breath of the writer. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />The very number count of this body of writing, under various genres and classification, would be a shattering experience. The books authored by EMS in Malayalam come to 75. In English, the number of books would be about 15, including such works as A Short History of the Peasant Movement in Kerala, The Mahatma and his Ism, Marxism and Literature and Selected Writings. A political leader of great intellectual capability that he was, he had always been a vigorous pamphleteer. He had a flair for writing polemics on all the live contemporary political, social and literary issues. The total number of all these could be as high as 200. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />Another unchartered area in the writing field covers his articles on a variety of subjects published in various journals, which emerge in an interrupted stream of printed matter. Add to this the introductions he gave to authors, which enhanced the reputations of the works. Then come the columns he contributed for journals such as Chintha, Desabhimani and People's Democracy, besides Frontline. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />The bewildering range and variety of these writings is itself a tribute to the ever-alert, computer-like intellect of the author. But the fastidious among the readers would not be carried away by mere proclivity. They would sniff around for quality. Profusion in creation generally tends to take away quality from artistic and intellectual productivity. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />This happened neither in the case of Gandhiji, nor in the case of EMS. It was Edward Thompson, the British poet and critic, who escorted Gandhiji to the Round Table Conference as his private secretary; he confessed that he failed invariably to pick any error in the statements dictated by Gandhiji. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />Namboodiripad would not pardon himself for any stylistic shortcomings in his works. For he was a writer with finicky tastes who would not allow himself to deviate from the King's Malayalam. His concern for purity and quality in Malayalam writing was as profoundly genuine as that of any good Malayalam writer. He, in fact, constituted himself as a one-man army to fight for the cause of good Malayalam. His mastery was heard at all the forums of Malayalam writers and journalists. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />The countless writings notwithstanding, his style has unfailingly impressed the reader by its care in avoiding the pitfalls of verbosity, looseness in expression, needless exuberance and long-windedness. In his writings, the celebrated aphorism of Buffon - "Style is the man"- came to life.<br />Namboodiripad the person led a simple life, was austere in his habits and was lofty in his thinking. His style does not take another way. His style may look dry, but it only means that he has avoided unwanted fat and padding. The inartistic verbal tendencies rearing their heads in modern journalism and literary prose, such as inappropriate exaggeration and subjective excesses in imagination and chaotic rumbling, are hard to find in the written and spoken words of EMS. His speech when transcribed could go to print unedited.<br /></p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify">To me it seems that EMS was at heart influenced by Gandhiji, though his intellect was dominated by Marx. His style had the qualities of Gandhian simplicity, clarity and lack of artificiality. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />EMS wrote as he lived, his writing cannot be separated from his life - an integration few writers could achieve. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#000099;">Sukumar Azhicode, orator and critic, was the Chairman of the National Book Trust, New Delhi. </span></em></strong></p><p><strong><em><span style="color:#000099;"></span></em></strong> </p><p><em><span style="color:#000099;"> </p><p align="justify"><br /></span></em><strong><span style="color:#666600;">A select bibliography of EMS' publications in English :<br /></span></strong></p><p align="justify">A Short History of the Peasant Movement in Kerala (1943)<br />The National Question in Kerala (1952)<br />The Mahatma and his Ism (1958)<br />Problems of National Integration (1966)<br />What really happened in Kerala (1966)<br />Economics and Politics of India's Socialist Pattern (1966)<br />Kerala Yesterday Today and Tomorrow (1967)<br />India under Congress rule (1967)<br />Conflicts and Crisis (1974)<br />Indian Planning in Crisis (1974)<br />Marxism and Literature (1975)<br />How I became a Communist? (1976)<br />Crisis into Chaos (1981)<br />Kerala Society and Politics: A Historical Survey (1984)<br />A History of the Indian Freedom Struggle (1986)<br />Reminiscence of an Indian Communist (1987)<br />Nehru: Ideology and Practice (1988) </p><p align="justify"> </p>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-46933566767147631162008-12-10T18:27:00.002+05:302008-12-10T18:30:53.624+05:30EMS as a historian<div align="justify"><em><span style="color:#660000;"><strong></strong></span></em> </div><div align="justify"><em><span style="color:#660000;"><strong>Namboodiripad's engagement with history was not academic but an inevitable part of his involvement with politics. </strong></span></em></div><em><span style="color:#660000;"><div align="justify"><br /></span></em><span style="color:#000099;"><strong>K.N. PANIKKAR</strong></span> </div><div align="justify"><br />HISTORY had a central place among the intellectual and scholarly interests of E.M.S. Namboodiripad. A substantial part of his voluminous writings - books, pamphlets and articles in both English and Malayalam - deal with history. They mainly cover two areas: the history of Kerala and the history of the national liberation movement. To the study of both he brought an analytical mode to bear that was refreshingly original. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />As EMS has often stated, his engagement with history was not academic but an inevitable part of his involvement with politics. Concerned with the transformation of society on democratic and egalitarian lines, he could not but be interested in the way the present was historically constituted. But his scholarship did not remain confined to this political purpose; it scaled heights and reached out to areas which became the envy of many a scholar. His works generated intense debate, within both popular and academic circles. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS' ability to deal with historical subjects was evident even during the freedom struggle. His dissent note to the Report of the Tenancy Commission is generally reckoned as an expression of his radical commitment, but it was equally a clear indication of his historical insights. However, his first important work on history, Keralam: Malayalikalude Mathrubhumi (Kerala: The Motherland of Malayalis), was published in 1948. A revised version in English, The National Question in Kerala, was published in 1952. A further expanded and revised edition, entitled Kerala Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, was brought out in 1967. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS achieved two objectives through these works. First, he outlined the course of social and political transformation from ancient times through feudalism and colonialism towards a united peoples' democratic Kerala. Secondly, he traced the formation of the identity and personality of Kerala as embodied in the democratic struggles of the labouring castes and classes. While doing so, he focussed on the material imperatives which made social transformation possible and the role and intervention of different social classes which either facilitated or retarded this process. Understandably, his analytical mode, informed by Marxist method, aroused criticism and debate, more so among scholars in Kerala. He was dubbed by some as a "feudal socialist" and as a Namboodiri who was not able to overcome his caste prejudices. For a person who, even when young was part of a movement which sought to change "Namboodiris into human beings", the accusation must have been more amusing than hurtful. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS attracted criticism principally because of his characterisation of pre-Aryan society and his description of the process of caste formation in Kerala. His critics were of the view that EMS did not give due recognition to the achievements of pre-Aryan culture. They held that his sympathies lay with Aryan culture, because of which he tended to lionise it at the expense of the pre-Aryan. They also attributed this to his upbringing and identity as a Namboodiri. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Responding to this criticism, EMS argued that he did not agree with the view either of pre-Aryan inferiority or Aryan superiority. Both, according to him, were untrue and unscientific. He questioned the wisdom of counterposing Aryan against pre-Aryan and suggested that such attempts were part of the process of legitimation of vested interests:<br />"This new theory of Dravidian superiority is as unscientific as the theory of Aryan superiority. For, it goes against all the accepted conclusions of historical research, which have conclusively proved the indivisible links between social and family institutions on the one hand and the stage of civilisation on the other." </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The second issue related to the process of caste formation in Kerala. In contrast to the then existing view that migration was the main cause of caste differentiation, EMS focussed on social changes internal to society. Migration and invasion, he held, were only catalysts which facilitated and hastened the process of differentiation. He advanced this opinion more in the nature of a hypothesis, rather than as a conclusion. He thereby suggested a line of further enquiry and validation, which still remains influential in historical scholarship. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />A major part of the writings of EMS on Kerala deals with the nature of colonial subjection and the character of popular struggles against it. His main interest was to identify the forces which enabled the realisation of a united Kerala. He saw in this political project the expression of the democratic aspirations of the people, which were expressed in a variety of struggles, oriented around both caste and class. His analyses of the Malabar rebellion of 1921 and the reform movement inspired by Sree Narayana Guru are rooted in this perspective. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS was the first to highlight the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal character of the Malabar rebellion, and at the same time to point to the dangers inherent in a rebel consciousness circumscribed by religion. He pointed out that the rebellion was both a call for action and a warning. About its alleged communal character, he stated:<br />"It is far from the truth to say that the rebellion was a communal riot, that the objective of the rebels was the destruction of Hindu religion and that the six months of rebellion were six months of anti-Hindu atrocities... All this, however, does not mean that religious fanaticism was totally absent in the rebellion. The numbers of forced conversions which did take place cannot by any stretch of imagination be explained by any other motive than religious fanaticism... One can and should, however, state explicitly that the main force behind the rebellion was not fanaticism which was simply a by-product..." </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />AMONG the writings of EMS on the national movement, two works deserve special mention: The Mahatma and his Ism and A History of the Indian Freedom Struggle. The first was initially written as a series of articles in 1955-56 offering a review of D.G. Tendulkar's eight-volume biography of Gandhi. The second, originally written in Malayalam in 1977, is a comprehensive account of the history of the freedom struggle. Jointly, these two works represent EMS's uncanny ability to apply the materialist understanding to historical events and to undertake class analysis without missing the ideological dimensions. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The essays on Gandhi are an attempt to evaluate the character and significance of the Mahatma's ideas and movement. Carefully selecting events from the freedom struggle, EMS located them in the context of the evolving class society under imperialism. Such an approach admitted of a multi-dimensional analysis which enabled him to comprehend the complexities of the Gandhian movement. Gandhi's tactics, he held, were "perfectly suited to the requirements of a class that was daily growing in Indian society and was increasingly asserting itself in its national-political life." </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />At the same time, EMS did not characterise Gandhi as the representative of a particular class alone. Unlike many of his contemporaries, said EMS, Gandhi "associated himself with the masses, their lives, their problems, sentiments and aspirations." Quite clearly, EMS was sensitive to the contradictions and complexities of the Gandhian movement and was conscious of the need to understand it in a non-mechanical manner:<br />"Like several other historical personages, Gandhi had a highly complex personality, his teachings, too, are incapable of over-simplified assessments on the lines of his being 'the inspirer of the national movement who roused the masses to anti-imperialist action', 'the counter-revolutionary who did all he could to prevent the development of our national movement on revolutionary lines', etc." </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS had recently suggested the need to explore the areas of identity between Gandhism and Marxism. This was obviously no flash in the pan. A Gandhian during his younger days, EMS was sensitive to the positive dimensions of Gandhism even when he was critical of some of its elements. His analysis of Gandhi and the national movement reflects a creative Marxist mind, an outstanding one of this generation. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS was always open to new ideas. It was only at the last stages of his life that he read the Prison Note Books of the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. He was fascinated by Gramsci's ideas, which he thought deserved wider dissemination and discussion. The result was a book that he authored in collaboration with P. Govinda Pillai. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Always ready to learn, ever ready to imbibe, EMS was a Marxist par excellence, both as theoretician and practitioner. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">K.N. Panikkar is Professor of Modern History at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. </span></em></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><em><span style="color:#990000;"></span></em></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#006600;">FRONTLINE</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#000099;">Vol. 15 :: No. 07 :: Apr. 4 - 17, 1998</span> </div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-37558082234762558662008-12-10T18:22:00.003+05:302008-12-10T18:40:12.226+05:30EMS and Kerala: Life and times<div align="justify"><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#000099;">The political-theoretical line formulated by EMS laid the basis for the far-reaching changes brought about by public action in Kerala after its formation in 1956. </span></em></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><em><span style="color:#000099;"></span></em></strong></div><strong><em><span style="color:#000099;"><div align="justify"><br /></span></em><span style="color:#660000;">V.K. RAMACHANDRAN</span></strong> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />TO trace the political and intellectual career of E.M.S. Namboodiripad is to trace, in substantial measure, the history of the social, economic and political development of modern Kerala. No person has played as important a part in the socio-political and cultural life of a region of India for as long a period in the 20th century as has EMS in Kerala. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />As is now well known, Kerala's progress in crucial spheres of social and economic development has been substantial, and significantly better than other States of India. Consider some statistics that are often used by social scientists as indicators of social development, and from these, some of the changes that EMS saw in a lifetime. In 1911-20, the years of EMS's childhood, the expectation of life at birth in the areas that make up modern Kerala was 25 years for men and 27 years for women. In 1990-92, men could expect to live 69 years and women 74 years (the corresponding figures for India in 1990-92 were 59 years and 59.4 years). The death rate in Kerala was 37 per 1,000 in 1911-1920 and 6.1 per 1,000 in 1990-92 (the all-India figure in 1990-92 was 9.8). The infant mortality rate in Kerala, 242 per 1,000 live births in 1911-20, was 17 per 1,000 in 1992 (all-India, 1992: 79). The birth rate in Kerala, 40 per 1,000 in 1931-40, was 18.5 per 1,000 in 1990-92 (all-India, 1990-92: 29.5 per 1,000). </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />The people of 20th-century Kerala have altered radically a system of agrarian relations that was among the most complex, burdensome and exploitative in India, and have won important victories against some of the country's most monstrous forms of caste oppression. Public action in recent decades has narrowed the gap in health and educational facilities and achievements between the districts of the north and the districts of the south, a gap that widened during the period of colonial rule. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify">The modern State of Kerala has also introduced a series of interesting protective social security measures that attempt to provide pensions and other payments to working people in the so-called "informal" sector, and to destitute and physically handicapped persons. Kerala is the only State in India where there is mass literacy (and near-total literacy among adolescents and youth), and is also the State with the lowest proportion of child workers in India. Nutrition levels have improved in Kerala after the 1970s, and, according to official data, household consumption levels were higher than the Indian average by the late 1980s. The public food distribution system, the best among India's States, gives basic nutritional support to the people of Kerala.<br /></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Kerala's accomplishment shows that the well-being of the people can be improved, and social, political and cultural conditions transformed, when there is theoretical clarity and determined public action. In the transformation that has taken place in the State, the most important agency of change since the late 1930s has been the Left movement in the State. The Communist Party, and the organisations of workers, peasants, agricultural labourers, students, teachers, youth and women under its leadership, have been the major organisers and leaders of mass political movements in Kerala since the end of the 1930s, and have been the major agents of the politicisation of the mass of Kerala's people. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Radical Left-minded individuals in Travancore began to make an impact on intellectual life in Kerala from the early part of the century; the Communist movement, however, began in Malabar. There is a stimulating scholarly literature and there are memoirs by leading participants, and novels as well, on the Left movement in Malabar in the 1930s and 1940s, which deal with the events of the time and with the people who lived and died in its cause. The number and quality of the extraordinary mass organisers and leaders for which the Communist movement in Malabar is famous are remarkable. Selfless, enlightened, and acutely sensitive to injustice, the Communist organisers of Malabar faced extraordinary repression by the ruling classes in order to achieve a better future for the people of Kerala and of India. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />THE Communist movement in Kerala was led, from its inception, by three extraordinary individuals - P. Krishna Pillai, a genius of organisation; A.K. Gopalan, an unsurpassed mass leader; and E.M.S. Namboodiripad, thinker, theoretician and active revolutionary and politician. The three were recruited by P. Sundarayya in the 1930s to the Communist Party from the radical section of the Congress movement, and their joint contribution has been the foundation of the Left movement in the State. It is clear that the movement in Kerala today still bears their stamp. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />EMS himself had been active in the movement for social reform among Namboodiris, particularly in the movement against the oppression and seclusion of women of the caste. He came to the freedom movement through the Congress in Malabar district. In an interview with me in 1992, EMS spoke of the roots struck by the Congress in rural Malabar in the 1930s and of his own entry into the freedom movement: </div><div align="justify"><br />As far as the freedom movement is concerned, it had reached the villages even in the days of the non-cooperation movement. You remember the Malabar rebellion of 1921. Even before that, the district of Malabar had a series of Congress and Khilafat committees, almost every village would have one Congress Committee and one Khilafat Committee. Although that was suppressed after the rebellion, its roots continued. An organised liberation movement of this sort dates back to the 1920s - in fact, I am a child of that movement. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />EMS rose quickly to a position of leadership in the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, and the forms of organisation of the Congress in rural Malabar initiated by him were unique. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />As soon as we started work in the Congress, that is, in the mid-1930s, we started to organise night schools and reading rooms. When I was first elected the organising secretary of the KPCC - that is, in 1937 - our effort was to have, in every village, a village Congress Committee and, attached to it, a reading room and a night school. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />THROUGH his writings and practice, EMS guided the Communist movement towards assimilating the most progressive features of diverse local socio-political movements and giving them new philosophical and political direction. These different movements in Kerala included the freedom movement, the radical and anti-caste sections of the social reform movement, the movement against landlordism, the movement against autocracy and monarchy, the movement for the linguistic reorganisation of the region and for the establishment of a unified Kerala, and, of course, the modern movement of workers, peasants and radical intellectuals. Communists were among the early organisers of mass political organisations of women in the State. They played a leading part in the literary movement and in the cultural movement (including the theatre movement) in Kerala. School teachers were key activists and mass organisers of the national movement and the Communist Party; they were the first organisers of the granthashala (library) movement and the movement for literacy in Malabar. In the 1970s and 1980s, activists of the Left movement were the main activists in the popular science movement led by the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad, and in the Total Literacy Campaign of 1989 to 1991. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />IT is no exaggeration to say that the political-theoretical line formulated by EMS laid the basis for the far-reaching changes brought about by public action in the State of Kerala after it was formed in 1956. (Indeed, EMS was one of the first to articulate clearly the demand for an Aikya Keralam - united Kerala - based on the linguistic principle and bringing within it the princely states of Travancore and Kochi and the Malabar district of the Madras Presidency.) He was active in the peasant movement in Malabar, he helped to formulate the demands of the peasantry, and was really the architect of India's first land reform. (His Note of Dissent to the Malabar Tenancy Bill in the late 1930s was a landmark document of its time.) He was active in the movement for the public distribution of food and was instrumental in formulating a food policy for post-1957 Kerala. His writings on history, society, culture and literature played no small part in public discussion and activism in these spheres. His understanding of the position to be taken by a Communist Party towards the anti-savarna movements was crucial to the Left's advance in Kerala. T.M. Thomas Isaac, a leading scholar of the Left movement in Kerala, characterises the attitude of the Communists in Kerala towards caste reform movements in this way: </div><div align="justify"><br />While supporting and actively participating in the social reform movements in various communities, particularly the anti-savarna movements of the oppressed castes, the Communists (also) sought to build class and mass organisations irrespective of caste, and raised caste reform slogans as part of their anti-feudal democratic struggle. The Communists carried forward the radical legacy of the social reform movement and won over a large part of the masses in these movements, while the elites within these castes began to confine themselves to sectarian demands and withdraw into casteist organisational shells. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Elections were held to Kerala's first Legislative Assembly in 1957. Of all the political forces in the State, only the Communists had a coherent vision for Kerala's future; they knew what they were going to do and how they would go about it. In June 1956, the Communist Party in Kerala met in Thrissur to discuss a policy framework for Party activity in Kerala, and the document that emerged from the meeting, "Communist Proposal for Building a Democratic and Prosperous Kerala", provided the basis for the Communist election manifesto of 1957, and, indeed for future public policy in the State. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />The first Government of Kerala was a Communist Government, and there was, of course, no doubt about who would lead it. E.M.S. Namboodiripad was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of the State on April 5, 1957. The major features of the agenda of the new Government and of later Communist ministries in the State were, among other things, land reform, health, education and strengthening the system of public distribution of food and other essential commodities. Land reform and the public distribution system are recognised as unmistakably Communist projects; it is noteworthy that the EMS Government's first Ordinance on land reform was promulgated on April 11, just six days after the Ministry was formed. Communist-led governments also worked on policies that helped bridge the gap between regions, they drafted early legislation on local self-government, and the ministry of 1987-1991 provided administrative and institutional support to the Total Literacy Campaign. A major feature of political reality in Kerala today is that the Left has been successful in making many parts of its agenda part of the broad social consensus in the State. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />For all this, EMS was far from being complacent, or uncritical of the course that change has taken in Kerala. In his view, reflected sharply in his writings and interviews on Kerala in the 1990s, the concentration on development in the social sectors of Kerala's economy had led it into something of an impasse, characterised above all by the contemporary crisis in the spheres of employment and material production in the State. He had no patience with scholars who attempted to romanticise a "Kerala Model" of development. For him, the very high rates of unemployment in Kerala and the low rate of growth of its economy were politically and socially unviable, and he saw the task of transforming the conditions and levels of production in the State's economy as among the topmost items on the Left agenda. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Those who shall take on the task of building the Kerala of the future that EMS envisaged shall have special historical resources on which to draw, including basic land reform, an educated, skilled and politically conscious working class and unique achievements in the fields of health and education. To the making of all of these, the contribution of E.M.S. Namboodiripad - Communist, freedom fighter, Marxist thinker, political activist, administrator, historian and social theorist - is immeasurable. EMS was, as President K.R. Narayanan said in his condolence message, sui generis. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#006600;">V. K. RAMCHANDRAN</span></strong> is professor of Indian Statistical Institute, kolkata</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#660000;">FRONTLINE</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#000099;">Vol. 15 :: No. 07 :: Apr. 4 - 17, 1998 </span></div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-81032135064363167982008-12-10T18:17:00.001+05:302008-12-10T18:22:32.280+05:30Father, friend, philosopher and guide...<div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Malathi Damodaran:</span></strong> MY first distinct memory concerning my father goes back to when I was eight years old. One day in January 1947, when I woke up in the morning, I found a number of policemen standing outside my house. I was told that they had come to arrest my father. Meanwhile, someone came and told me that my baby brother had been born the previous night. My father was suffering from chicken-pox at that time. He was arrested and subsequently moved to hospital. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />In the next four to five years, I met my father only twice, while he was underground. When I joined Queen Mary's College in Madras, he used to visit me often and take me out to the movies and to have ice-cream. When I joined the Christian Medical College, Vellore in 1957, he was the Chief Minister of Kerala and my fellow students were quite curious to know how a Chief Minister's family lived - in particular, how many servants we had and how many cars we owned. They were surprised to learn that we did not own a car and that my mother had only one person to help her. During his first visit to CMC to see me, he addressed a meeting of staff and students and started his speech by stating that this was his first visit to Vellore as a free man - he had been in Vellore on several occasions, as a detainee in the Central Jail. This shocked those gathered there. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Following the severe colitis that he suffered in 1969, he came under the supervision of doctors for a variety of ailments. He could be called a doctor's delight for his complete faith in them and his complete compliance with their advice. He was on a strict, bland diet since 1969 and followed it faithfully. What he loved to eat was sweet dishes, which he was allowed to eat. All of us made it a point to make something sweet for him whenever possible. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />He took great pleasure in spending time with his grandchildren whenever he could, right from playing with them when they were little to taking a great deal of interest in whatever they were doing as they grew up and became adults. He also lived to see his great-granddaughter, who was born last year. He was looking forward a great deal to seeing her again this summer. </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#660000;"><em>Malathi Damodaran is a consultant paediatrician in Thiruvananthapuram</em></span></strong>. </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">A.D. Damodaran:</span></strong> I got married to EMS' daughter Malathi in September 1965. Our marriage was conducted without any traditional rituals, something highly unusual in those days. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />After our marriage, when we were to leave for my home, EMS gave me a copy of his celebrated book Keralam, Malayaalikalude Maathrubhoomi with an autographed inscription: "Vivaahithayaayi makal thante bharthrugruhathil pokumbol oru pithaavinundaakaavunna vikaaravichaarangal prashastha kaviyaaya Kaalidaasan thante viswotharakrithi Shaakunthalathil savistharam prathipaadichittundu. Aa vikaaravichaarangalku ee aatom yugathilum prasakthiyundennu innu enikku thonnunnu." ("The great poet Kalidasa has, in his Shakuntalam, described the emotions and feelings of a father whose daughter is departing for her husband's home after marriage. I consider that even in this atomic age, these feelings are relevant.") </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Those were the days when EMS was under strict police vigil and as one working in the Department of Atomic Energy I also came under scrutiny, in the process going through great mental tension, something I had never experienced before. Subsequently, when we settled down in Bombay (and later moved over to Hyderabad), he used to visit us often and stay with us, even when he was the Chief Minister. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />I cannot even begin to recount what a profound influence he has had in shaping my professional and personal life. Having great faith in science and technology, he was quite interested in my research and S&T activities, be it in the Department of Atomic Energy, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research or the Government of Kerala. He used proudly to recall always his visit to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. I can recall his delight in going around the Nuclear Fuel Complex at Hyderabad and appreciate its great strategic-technological significance. He abhorred mediocrity and was very much concerned over the growing "amateurishness" in different walks of life including the ranks and, as was emphasised by one and all, he used his pen as a great weapon. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">The three books which have attracted me the most are:<br />(a) Economics and Politics of India's Socialist Pattern, describing the evolution of the Indian bourgeoisie. (b) Kerala Yesterday Today and Tomorrow with his Jaathi-Janmi-Naaduvazhi formulation of the Kerala feudal system, and (c) A History of the Indian Freedom Struggle, published originally through the columns of Desabhimani daily during the Emergency period. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />He considered the completion of his recently published Marx Engels Lenin Vicharaprapancham, Oru Mukhavura as a major accomplishment. We happened to visit him on the day this work was completed and his face glowed when he said this to us. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;"><em>A.D. Damodaran is a former Director of the Regional Research Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram, and a former Chairman of the State Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, Kerala. </em></span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><em><span style="color:#000099;"></span></em></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em> </em>FRONTLINE</span> <em> </em></span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">Vol. 15 :: No. 07 :: Apr. 4 - 17, 1998 </span></em></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#990000;"></span> </div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-51495478590078854952008-12-10T18:12:00.002+05:302008-12-10T18:17:15.046+05:30A global vision<div align="justify"><em><span style="color:#333300;"><span style="color:#660000;">What is remarkable about the vision of EMS is not only its appeal, which arises because of its essential correctness, but also its quality of being fresh and forward-looking.</span> </span></em></div><em><span style="color:#333300;"><div align="justify"><br /></span></em><strong><span style="color:#000099;">PRABHAT PATNAIK </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong> </div><strong><span style="color:#000099;"><div align="justify"><br /></span></strong>LIKE many of his youthful contemporaries, E.M.S. Namboodiripad was drawn towards socialism by the experience of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The fact that even as the capitalist world was reeling under the impact of massive unemployment and unutilised resources, the Soviet Union, untouched by the crisis, was taking gigantic strides towards developing its productive forces, opened his mind to the stark contrast between the two systems. It won him to the socialist cause; it also left him with two of his abiding intellectual interests: planning and social laws. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS' interest in planning was enthusiastic in the extreme. He wrote a book Indian Planning in Crisis (Chintha 1974) which was in fact his presentation to a conference of the Indian School of Social Sciences held in Bombay that year. In more recent times when very few people took much notice of the national Plan documents, EMS was a notable exception, and could put one in an embarrassing situation by engaging one in a discussion of the latest essay of the Planning Commission. Linked to this was his interest in social formations and the laws governing them, on which again he wrote extensively. Notable in this connection is his paper presented at another Indian School of Social Sciences seminar on "Lenin and Imperialism" held in Delhi in 1981. The proceedings of the seminar are published as Lenin and Imperialism (edited by this writer, Orient Longman, Delhi, 1986). </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The two Marxist ideas, namely that capitalism is a system governed by spontaneous economic laws which are objective and independent of human will, which manifest themselves inter alia in periodic crises, and whose operation can only be somewhat modified through intervention but never nullified without undermining the system's functioning, and that, by contrast, socialism is a system which allows conscious intervention through a plan, must have appealed to him greatly in the midst of the Depression. But the intervention and planning that socialism provides the scope for, do not mean that "anything goes". They have to be "correct", have also got to follow certain laws. In overcoming the spontaneity of capitalism, socialism too has to follow certain rules, or laws, of intervention. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It follows that both capitalism and socialism are law-governed systems, but there is a fundamental difference in the nature of the laws governing the two systems: the laws of capitalism are an ensemble of spontaneous tendencies; the laws of socialism are essentially rules of action. </div><div align="justify"><br /> </div><div align="justify">This basic idea underlay EMS' thinking all his life. It enabled him not only to recognise the fact of social and economic crisis in the socialist countries, but even to explain it, pithily and brilliantly, within his socialist theoretical perspective: the crisis in capitalism is because of the operation of its laws, the crisis in socialism is because of the violation of its laws. When the laws regarding correct relationship between the Party and the State, or regarding inner-Party democracy, are violated, socialism runs into crisis, even though in principle it is crisis-free. The purpose of conscious praxis in a socialist society, of which planning is a part, should be to ensure that these laws are not violated systematically. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />An interesting off-shoot of this idea of EMS needs to be noted. Since the Communist parties, even in bourgeois societies, represent in a sense the early embryonic stage of the socialist praxis, they too have to follow certain laws of intervention, not only in their organisation and overall functioning, but also in the kind of planning which they undertake in the regions administered by them within the constraints of a bourgeois society. It is this perception which prompted EMS (at the International Conference on Kerala Studies organised under his leadership) to be somewhat critical of the "Kerala Model" which the whole world was lauding, on the grounds that there was an imbalance underlying it: the development of the productive forces had lagged behind; this had to be rectified. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Capitalism and socialism have their own laws. But what happens when they co-exist? This is the question which EMS is concerned with in his paper at the "Lenin and Imperialism" seminar, after having given, explicitly or implicitly, the perspective on social laws and crises outlined above. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Clearly, the socialist forces have to resist the operation of capitalism's spontaneous tendencies, for the sake of their own survival, by following correct strategy and tactics. The thwarting of such operation disrupts capitalism; the thwarting in some sphere aggravates capitalism's contradiction in some other sphere. It follows then that such resistance can be successful, and that it is simultaneously a part of the process of struggle for the transcendence of capitalism. The specific context in which EMS discussed this issue related to imperialism. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />After arguing that the contradictions of the imperialist era highlighted by Lenin have been further intensified since his writing, that inter-imperialist contradictions are no less fierce than they were at his time, and that there is the overarching contradiction between the imperialist world and the socialist world, EMS asks the question whether these contradictions would propel the world towards yet another global war. Lenin had argued that war was inherent in imperialism. Is another global war then inevitable? </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"The answer is by no means simple" since there are two contradictory tendencies: on the one hand there is "the powerful military-industrial complex propped up by multinational firms having their grip on the entire capitalist world and seeking to use the armaments industry for making maximum profits", whose operations promote the prospects of war, and on the other hand there is the growing camp of peace, consisting of the socialist countries, the newly-liberated countries of the Third World, and the working class movement, together with the anti-monopoly, anti-war element in other sections of society, in the advanced capitalist countries. A "running battle" between these two trends is the main feature of the political situation and forms the background against which the contradictions noted by Lenin are operating. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Lenin's call "Transform the imperialist war into civil war", cannot be applied in that form in the contemporary context. What is necessary is an integration of the activities of the "forces of proletarian and national revolution" with those of others who are trying to prevent the imperialist war from breaking out. "Though the final and complete elimination of war requires the end of the imperialist system, the outbreak of a new world war is no more inevitable." In fact, the social revolution in particular countries is "inseparably connected with the global struggle against the most aggressive ruling circles of imperialist countries".<br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Having thus underscored the need for socialist intervention for thwarting the tendency of capitalism to perpetrate war, EMS turns to the question of why socialist praxis may go wrong. Given the complexity of this praxis, two kinds of difficulties may come in the way of correct strategy and tactics: first, unity with the bourgeoisie in the Third World countries against imperialism and its warmongering has to be combined with a struggle against the anti-people policies of this very same bourgeoisie, and an underestimation of either task can lead to distorted praxis. The possibility of such distortion is strengthened by the second difficulty, namely, the fact that the foreign policy interests of the socialist countries have to be combined with the basic commitment to proletarian internationalism. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The incorrect handling of these difficulties can give rise to Right Opportunist or Left Sectarian errors. To underplay the struggle against domestic bourgeois governments because of their opposition to imperialism is the hallmark of Right Opportunism which also derives sustenance from the support of ruling Communist Parties to such bourgeois governments as part of their foreign policy. On the other hand, to run down the anti-imperialist role of the domestic bourgeois governments amounts to underestimating imperialism and the need for a struggle against its warmongering, which constitutes a Left Sectarian error. This error too, in a situation where the fight against Right Opportunism in the world Communist movement has already given rise to the opposite extreme of Left Sectarianism among another section of ruling Communists, derives support from the latter and gets strengthened. EMS refers to the Indian experience and underscores the need for a correct praxis avoiding both types of distortion. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS' analysis, covering the entire expanse from Marx's notion of laws to the crisis of socialism, unifying his discussion of Lenin's theory of imperialism with his perception of the divisions in the Indian Communist movement, affirming his basic commitment to the Leninist perspective even while clearly delineating the changes since Lenin's days, is in the best traditions of Communist literature. Today, of course, the specific context is different. One is naturally tempted to ask: if EMS were writing another article of the same breadth today, how would he have brought his analysis up to date? One can only speculate on the basis of some brief offerings he left behind (for example, Frontline, April 3, 1998). </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The distortions that led to the overthrow of socialism in Eastern Europe were such that their rectification would have to take the form a "rebirth"; there is no going back to what existed before 1991. Marx, Engels and Lenin had visualised a slow and protracted development of working class state power based on the solid alliance of all exploited and oppressed classes and strata under the leadership of the working class. This dictatorship is to be directed against a small stratum of the former ruling classes. In short, the alliance underlying state power has to be broad-based and inclusive. Correspondingly, the target of this alliance has to be a narrow stratum; it follows that private property, other than monopoly private property, has a place in "reformed Communism". The distortions of erstwhile Communism then consisted in the fact that the dictatorship of the proletariat it sought to establish was too exclusive, too sweeping in its attack on all forms of private property, and too narrowly-based in terms of social support to survive being transformed into a dictatorship of the party which in the course of time turned into the "cult of personality". </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Implicit in this conception is the possibility of a multiplicity of forms in which the working people would use state power, that is, a multiplicity of "models". And such a process of "rebirth" of Communism would simultaneously be a process of putting imperialism once again on the defensive. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />What is remarkable about this construction of EMS' vision is not only its appeal which arises because of its essential correctness, but above all its quality of being fresh and forward-looking, free both of despondency and of any desire to put the clock back. There can be no greater testimony to the strength of EMS' intellect. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Prabhat Patnaik</span></strong> <span style="color:#663366;">is Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.</span> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">FRONTLINE</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#663366;"><span></span>Vol. 15 :: No. 07 :: Apr. 4 - 17, 1998 </span></div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-14540699039684453962008-12-10T18:05:00.002+05:302008-12-10T18:11:47.141+05:30An icon for millions<div align="justify"><strong><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">No other single individual has made as immense a contribution as EMS has in the shaping of the destiny of both Kerala and the Communist movement in this country. </span></em></strong></div><strong><em><span style="color:#cc0000;"><div align="justify"><br /></span></em><span style="color:#000099;">By HARKISHAN SINGH SURJEET </span></div><p></strong> </p><p align="justify">IT is with a very heavy heart that I am writing this piece. I am yet to grasp the meaning of the reality of my Comrade EMS Namboodiripad being no more. I write in grief with no certain idea of how much justice I will be able to do to his memory. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />Comrade EMS was to me what he was to millions of others in Kerala and outside, a dear and near one. He was one of my closest friends and colleagues. To millions of ordinary people in Kerala, EMS, as he was popularly known, was an icon. No other single individual has made as immense a contribution as EMS has in the shaping of the destiny of both Kerala and the Communist movement in this country. The millions who rushed to Thiruvanantha-puram on hearing of his death with tear-filled eyes bear testimony to the love and affection they had for Comrade EMS. The serpentine queues that waited for hours to have a last glimpse of the mortal remains of their beloved leader; the virtual stampede in the Durbar hall where the body was placed for public viewing; the lakhs who turned up on both sides of the road that led to the crematorium: all these tell their own tale. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />EMS was loved, respected, adored. To the ordinary people of Kerala, a mere sight of their dear leader was a life's desire accomplished. He was an affectionate comrade, caring and enquiring about the well-being of his comrades; he was a leader par excellence who combined theoretical understanding with practical work; he deeply felt for the poor and underprivileged, who in turn cared deeply for him; he was a colleague who respected the views of others even if he had reservations and differences; he was like a saint to many; he was one who lent an ear to anyone who approached him. These are the qualities that set Comrade EMS apart from the broad spectrum of political leadership in the country. He was one of the tallest personalities the 20th century has produced. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />Comrade EMS was initiated into politics at a very young age. He began his work by trying to initiate reforms in his own Namboodiri community through the Namboodiri Yogakshema Sabha. Comrade EMS came from a wealthy upper-caste family. Yet he gave up his college education midstream to pursue his goal of being in the service of the people. There was no turning back from this path. In 1931, he was drawn into the Congress movement, and jailed for participating in the Civil Disobedience struggle. Disillusioned with the Congress, he became one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party in Kerala with a view to linking the struggle for national freedom with the struggle for social revolution. </p><p align="justify"><br />In this the October Socialist Revolution was a big inspiration. Comrade EMS' everlasting thirst for knowledge led him to study the theory of scientific socialism. In 1938, he along with P. Krishan Pillai, A.K. Gopalan and others formed the illegal Communist Party in Kerala. At that time, Kerala was part of Madras Province, which comprised parts of the present Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, excepting those parts of these States which were under princely rule. All Communists were working together inside the Congress Socialist Party and the Congress at that time. Comrade EMS took the final decision to join the Communist Party after he came in touch with Comrade P. Sundarayya who was tirelessly working for developing the Communist Party in the South. While joining the Party formally in 1938, EMS was discharging his responsibilities as the General Secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and the General Secretary of the Congress Socialist Party in Kerala. His organising capabilities and leadership were illustrated when he carried the entire Kerala unit of the Congress Socialist Party to the Communist Party along with him. By now, EMS had won the hearts of thousands in Kerala who, while struggling for freedom, also dreamed of social revolution. After Nehru became Congress president in 1936, the ideas of socialism became widespread in India. </p><p align="justify"><br />EMS was also one of founders of the All India Kisan Sabha in 1936. </p><p align="justify"><br />When he was elected to the Madras Provincial Legislature Assembly in 1939, he marked himself out as a legislature of a new genre. He was a revolutionary parliamentarian who linked up the issues and demands of the people, particularly the peasantry, with the freedom struggle. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />In the first Congress of the Communist Party of India held in 1943, EMS was elected to the Central Committee of the party. From then, the cause of the party remained foremost in his mind. He gave all he had for the cause of the party. As I noted earlier, EMS belonged to a wealthy landlord family. He had inherited a substantial part from the ancestral property. He donated the entire proceeds of the sale of this property, Rs. 1.8 lakh, an astronomical sum at that time, to the party funds. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />He was an untiring worker. I recall that when he used to work from the All India Centre at 14, Ashoka Road in New Delhi, EMS used to reach the office at 8.00 a.m. sharp, well before the others arrived. Before arriving at the office, he would have already glanced through the daily papers at his residence. He would begin his day at the office by dictating letters, notes and articles. By the time all of us reached the office for our daily morning meeting, he would have finished all these tasks. Except for a half-hour nap in the afternoon, he used to remain in the office till the evening. This was the routine until a few months before the Madras Congress of the CPI(M), when he left the Centre owing to ill health. His personal life was spartan, and his requirements were restricted to the bare minimum. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />EMS was a prolific writer who wielded a lucid pen. His language was straight and simple. He spoke from the heart. An orator par excellence, EMS had his audience mesmerised. People turned out in large numbers for his meetings, wherever they were held or at whatever time, and heard him with rapt attention. His audience did not consist of party comrades alone. His political opponents, despite their disagreements, would come to hear EMS speak. That was the level of respectability and acceptability he commanded throughout the country. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />I still treasure the memory of my first meeting with EMS. It was at the Tripura session of the Congress Party in 1939. Subhash Chandra Bose was elected Congress president at this congress, defeating P. Sitaramaiah, Mahatma Gandhi's candidate. Bose was elected with the support of the Left inside the Congress. A faction meeting of the illegal Communist Party was held at that time. An unassuming man in a white dhoti and shirt was speaking at the meeting. It was EMS. The second occasion I met him was in 1946. This was en route to Nethrakona, which is now in Bangladesh, to attend the All India Kisan Conference. At the station, I observed him lending a helping hand to other delegates to get down from the train; he also helped them board the ferry. Since January 1954, when both of us were elected to the Polit Bureau at the third Congress of the Communist Party, I have had the privilege of working closely with him. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />In the history of the Indian Communist movement, the period after the Third Party Congress was one of crisis. Although the Communist Party of the Soviety Union (CPSU) tried to help, the programme and policy statement that was adopted at the special conference in 1951 and endorsed at the Third Party Congress failed to stand the test of time. India, which had been submitting to U.S. imperialism, had started taking a stand against imperialism in support of national liberation movements. The Bandung Conference marked a significant turning point in India-China relations. With this started a debate inside the Communist Party. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />This debate, which began in 1954-55, led ultimately to a split in the Communist Party in 1964. As opposed to the three trends that were emerging in the Party, EMS always tried to take a stand which he thought would help unify the party. At Palghat, the line of class collaboration was being advocated. One-third of the delegates, however, opposed this line. Comrade EMS stood with those who wanted to fight the line of class collaboration. </p><p align="justify"><br />It was during this tense and uncertain period that the relationship between EMS and me grew closer. He frankly exchanged views with me. Till the end of his life, the healthy practice of placing one's views forthrightly was a trait observed in EMS. Whenever he disagreed, he used to note down his views and submit them in writing. Over the last year, EMS stopped attending meetings, owing to the worsening of his arthritis and on the advice of his doctors. But this did not prevent him from sending his notes to the Polit Bureau and Central Committee meetings. When a divergent view was expressed, he was always ready to listen to others and willing to accept the other view and correct his own when he was convinced. He learnt from the criticisms made against him. No streak of ego or the airs that affect other leaders ever touched him. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />Para 11.2 of the CPI(M) programme, which envisages participation in government in the States, was an original contribution from EMS. Initially when the programme was drafted, this clause did not find a place. EMS initiated the discussion on this point and it was made part of the programme. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />Comrade EMS never hankered after power or position. When we required his services at the party centre and asked him if he was willing to move to Delhi, he readily agreed. Many times EMS expressed his desire to retire from active public life owing to failing health. But we always were able to persuade him to continue to be part of the team that worked together for decades.<br /></p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify">He was an internationalist in the true sense of the term. During the India-China war in 1962, braving the chauvinist onslaught, EMS campaigned throughout the country advocating a peaceful settlement of the border dispute. Similarly, during the India-Pakistan war, he advocated a peaceful settlement of the dispute. As a true Communist, he always thought the Indian Communist movement to be a part and parcel of the world revolutionary process. In all solidarity campaigns in support of the national liberation movements, in defence of peace and socialism, he was always in the forefront. He left an imprint on leaders of Communist parties the world over. Whenever I go abroad, enquiries are made about the health of Comrade EMS. </p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify"><br />EMS was more than an inspiration. His life and work are a guide for future generations. Simple living, dedication to the cause, spirit of self-sacrifice, always at the service of the people, combining theory and practice - Comrade EMS stood wide apart from the broad spectrum of politicians in the country. He will continue to be adored and loved. There can be no better way of paying homage than pursuing the path followed by him. I am sure thousands of people in Kerala and elsewhere, while mourning his death, will have already resolved to do so. </p><p align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#006600;">FRONTLINE</span></strong></p><p align="justify">Vol. 15 :: No. 07 :: Apr. 4 - 17, 1998 </p>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-59205479628624535092008-12-10T17:22:00.003+05:302008-12-10T17:55:35.821+05:30EMS ON ECONOMICS AND POLITICS OF DECENTRALISATION<strong><span style="color:#660000;"> </span></strong><br /><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#660000;">Thomas Isaac</span></strong><br /> <br /><strong><span style="color:#666600;">SECTION 1</span></strong></div><strong><div align="justify"><br /><span style="color:#000099;">POLITICS OF DECENTRALISATION </span></div><span style="color:#000099;"><div align="justify"><br /></span></strong>Democratic decentralisation constituted an important theme that engaged serious attention from Com. EMS over a long period: "It was not a new found fervour for decentralisation", we had written in an obituary note," EMS always had an abiding interest in democratic decentralisation". (EPW vol.33 #13, 1998).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS had a very wide conception of decentralisation, which went far beyond the usual conceptions of it either as simple bureaucratic decentralisation, or as a process where the local bodies confined themselves just to civic functions or even development functions. EMS placed the process of decentralisation squarely within the larger political process - a process by which democratic governance would be extended from central and state level to the local level. The rationale for a Marxist - Leninist in defending and extending democracy is a puzzle to many of the critics of the ongoing experiment in democratic decentralisation in the state of Kerala.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />As far as in the functioning of the organisations of the government is concerned CPI(M) is committed to democratic decentralisation and has given more than enough evidence of its commitments in West Bengal as well as Kerala. Which other state in India has a better record in Panchayati Raj than West Bengal? </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The conspiracy theorists like Prof. M.G.S. Narayanan, who warn that decentralisation could be misused for tyranny by the party ignore the fact that the democratic decentralisation is not devolution of powers to the local committees of the party but to the elected local bodies. Nearly 40 per cent of the local bodies in Kerala are controlled by the opposition parties. There is perversity in the logic that the CPI(M) is devolving powers to the opposition led local bodies in order to establish party tyranny. Why should CPI(M) and its political allies who hold power at the state level want to share it with the opposition at the local level? Would it not suit the authoritarian reflexes of the party set-up to hold on to its monopoly of authority and power? </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />There are some on the Left also, who doubt the system of sharing power with the opposition in local bodies. Therefore, it is important to understand why a revolutionary party such as the CPI(M) should be interested in the decentralisation agenda. How does decentralisation help the revolutionary process? Com. EMS has responded to this question in a most lucid manner in his note of dissent to "Ashok Mehta Committee Report on Panchayat Raj Institutions. After explaining how the capitalist path of development is immiserising the mass of working people and how there can be salvation only through their own self conscious organisations and struggle, he states:<br />"It is from this view point of the organised struggle to end the system of exploitation (pre-capitalist as well as capitalist) that I am looking at the entire problem of defending and extending democracy.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"By democracy here, I mean the system of parliamentary democracy with adult suffrage; periodical elections; the executives' responsibility to the elected legislature; the rule of law, full protection of the citizen's rights and freedoms which are known in our Constitution as the fundamental rights of citizenship, etc. These constitute a set of valuable rights which our working people won after decades of struggle and which can be used by the exploited majority in its struggle against the exploiting minority.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"Our experience of working of this system proves that since the parliamentary democratic system as prevails today provides the exploited majority a powerful weapon with which to fight the exploiting minority, the latter does its utmost to reduce democracy to a mere formality to subvert it whenever and wherever the exploited majority uses it to get anywhere near the seats of power. Defence of parliamentary democracy at the Central and State level (where it exists but is very often threatened by the authoritarian forces) and its extension to the district and lower levels as envisaged in the four-pillar democracy is, therefore, of extreme importance in the advance of Indian society.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"My faith in democratic decentralisation in other words, arises from the fact that it helps the working people in their day-to-day struggles against their oppressors and exploiters" (Note on Report of the Committee on Panchayat Raj Institutions 1978).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Writing soon after the bitter experience of the struggle against Congress authoritarianism during the period of Emergency, the above argument was readily understandable. Even in states where the revolutionary movement is weak, greater autonomy for the local bodies would facilitate better manouvrerability and mobilisation prospects for the radical forces within their localised pockets of influence.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />There was an important conclusion that EMS drew on from the above class exposition of the significance of decentralisation. "I cannot, therefore, think of Panchayati Raj Institutions as anything other than the integral part of country's administration with no difference between what are called the "development" and "regulatory" functions." (Note on Report of the Committee on Panchayat Raj Institutions, 1978). Given this broad vision of local self-government, the issue of decentralisation within a state -- to district and sub-district levels -- cannot be isolated from the issue of Centre-state relations, in which EMS took a very keen interest.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Centre State Relations</span></strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It was for the above reason that EMS came out strongly against the aborted attempt of Rajiv Gandhi's sixty fourth and sixty fifth Constitutional Amendments. He considered them as attempts in bureaucratic centralisation rather than in democratic decentralisation because the bills did not envisage any restructuring of Centre-state relations. He was strongly opposed to the tendency to divorce Centre-state relationship from the issue of state-panchayat relations. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"I am opposed to this whole approach. The Constitution itself according to me, failed to envisage an integrated administration in which, apart from the Centre and the states, there will be elected bodies which will control the permanent services at the district and lower levels. Democracy at the Central and states levels, but bureaucracy at all lower levels - this is the essence of Indian polity as spelt out in the Constitution. Added to this is the fact, in the actual work of the Constitution, the Centre made increasing encroachments into the rights and powers of the States. This trend reached its high watermark in the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"It was with such a centralised administration as its core that Panchayats were envisaged in the Constitution and the Balvantrai Mehta Report. It is, therefore, not surprising that neither the bureaucrat nor the politician at the states level is prepared to decentralize whatever power has been conferred to the state under the Constitution. The point is to make a radical change in the very concept of democracy and adopt what is called four-pillar democracy." (Note on the Report of the Committee on Panchayati Raj Institution, 1978).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Restructuring of the Centre-state relations was an important theme of his speeches at the National Development Council, as the Chief Minister of Kerala. In the Kale Memorial Lecture he has gone into the historical roots of ideals of autonomous linguistic states as they emerged in our national movement: they were an ideal with firm footing in the traditions of the national movement. However, the ideal of federalism got mixed up with the problem of communal relations.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"The spokesmen of the two major religious communities became the champions of the unitary and federal structures. It was in the course of an attempted agreement between the two communities (the Lucknow Pact of 1916, the All-Party Conference in the years preceding the 1935 constitution and in the discussions before the 1947 transfer of power) that the leaders of the Indian National Congress accepted the federal idea. They had serious reservations on it, considering their acceptance of the federal idea as nothing more than a compromise. They therefore took advantage of the first available opportunity -- the partition of India which removed the Muslim League from the scene -- to bring back as big a part of the unitary concept as they could. This was how, in framing the Constitution, they subscribed to the federal principle in words, but made the federal Centre so powerful that the state structure as a whole is hardly distinguishable from a unitary one." (Republican Constitution in the struggle for Socialism, 1968).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The State structure which was heavily loaded in favour of the Centre in terms of divisions of functions of powers, control of resources, unilateral power of Centre to intervene in the state in the name of coordination and control of civil services, further worsened during the course of Congress rule at the Centre. The response of the Central Government to the growing economic crisis such as, New Agricultural Strategy, also has been largely in terms of greater centralisation strategies and interventions. Centrally Sponsored Schemes have been a major instrument to make inroads into state subjects and the expenditure on such schemes today exceeds the total plan assistance even by Centre to the states.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />In a paper on 64th & 65th Constitutional Amendments presented at a seminar organised by the Kerala Panchayat Association (Panchayati Raj Bill and Decentralisation of Powers, 1989) he regretted that as a member of Ashok Mehta Committee, he had agreed for central legislation to ensure regular elections to PRIs. The Prime Minister while introducing the Bills had declared that it followed the recommendations of Ashok Mehta Committee. The Central Government was using the constitutional amendments to bypass the state governments and establishing direct linkage with the PRIs directly by devolving funds from the Centre, directly auditing their accounts and conducting their elections. The District Collectors were to be the links between the central government and to the local bodies.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Rejecting the Ashok Mehta Committee's recommendations for central legislation on the Panchayati Raj, he came out in support of Cooperative Federalism as advocated by the Sarkaria Commission. Inter-State Council of Chief Ministers were to draw up the draft model Panchayati Raj Bill to be adopted by the State Legislatures. Another option was that Centre and states through a dialogue reach a consensus on the draft bill which the states may consent to be legislated by the Central Parliament with the consent of the states. He was opposed to unilateral legislation to be carried out by the Centre.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Panchayati Raj Legislation in Kerala</span></strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS' interest in Panchayati Raj went much beyond these broad theoretical formulations on the concept of decentralisation; he was also a guiding force behind the progressive legislations enacted over a period of time on PRIs in Kerala. EMS was the Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Committee (1958) that addressed the issues of administrative reorganisation of the newly formed state. An important corner stone of the vision of future administrative edifice of the state was local self government.<br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">The Report argued for a two tier set up -- Panchayats and municipalities at the grass root level and a district council at the district level. The functions and powers of the panchayats included, besides the normal civic functions and developmental duties significant responsibilities in revenue administration and a number of other regulatory functions. In this respect it went much beyond what was recommended by even Balvantrai Mehta Committee which had by and large looked at the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) as merely popular developmental agencies.<br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">With respect to district councils the Administrative Reforms Committee of 1958 was divided into two opposite views, both of which were presented in the text. One position was that the Council need only have advisory powers and therefore, need to be constituted only through indirect elections and ex-officio membership. The opposite argued for elected district councils "that should function as institutions and take charge of all aspects of development work." EMS belonged to the second view point and, therefore, the District Council's Bill introduced in the Assembly in 1958 visualised a comprehensive district council that would coordinate the functions of both the panchayats and municipalities in the districts and also take over the entire development administration in the districts in a phased manner.<br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">The bills couldn't be passed as the Government was dismissed and the legislative assembly was dissolved. Subsequent legislations passed in 1960 and 1961 were only much watered down versions of the draft bills drawn up by the Communist Ministry and, in terms of implementation, a far cry from the declared legislative intentions. The role of panchayats in Kerala came to be in mostly what are known as the civic duties and the district councils were put in the cold storage.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The 1967 Ministry led by EMS introduced Kerala panchayati Raj Bills 1967, once again with a two tier system - panchayat at the lower level and Zilla Parishad at the district level. At the Select Committee stage the draft bill underwent significant modifications to which EMS made significant contribution. The Zilla Parishad which was visualised to be a unit of planning and development was renamed as District Council and its functions redefined as "the administration of a district in respect of matters enumerated in the first schedule shall be vested in the district council." It is in the discussion of this draft bill that EMS coined the term "District Government". This bill was allowed to lapse once the EMS Ministry was brought down.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />A Kerala District Administration Bill was introduced in 1971, reintroduced once again in 1978 and finally passed in 1979 while Shri A.K. Antony was the Chief Minister. The act was not implemented during the next decade. Finally, it was only during the Left and Democratic Front ministry of 1987-91 measures were taken for implementation. A Commission was set up to study the 1978 Act to make recommendation for rectifying many of its defects. Certain essential changes were made and elections conducted in February 1990. The district councils were constituted in March 1990. A number of notifications were issued transferring a number of district offices and officers in agriculture, soil conservation, animal husbandry and others. It may be noted that comprehensive changes required of the then existing legislation had not been made and there was a fear that the Government was adopting a ad hoc approach to the whole process.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It was in the above context that EMS took the initiative in starting a public debate on measures to be urgently undertaken to make decentralisation effective, in the pages of the party daily Deshabhimani. He himself set forth a number of proposals in an opening article and invited public debate. Some of his proposals were startling. He called for disbandment of the Local Administration Department as the District Councils were by law the co-ordinating agencies of municipalities and grama panchayats. Arrangements were to be made for a State Development Council with representation of all ministers and certain other key officials and presidents of district councils. He sought to abolish unnecessary and avoidable duplication of work between the government departments in the secretariat and the directorates outside the secretariat through substantial dismantling of departments in the secretariat and combining the directorship and secretaryship in person. Instead of IAS officers, technical and professional persons were to be the heads of the combined department -- directorate set up. A major proportion of the departmental staff were to be re-deployed to the district councils. He argued for greater devolution of powers to the district councils so that they are transformed into genuine district governments. ("For Comprehensive Power and Responsibilities", Deshabhimani, March, 1992). The publication of the above proposals was followed by a discussion in which important leaders of political parties including the opposition parties, administrators and academicians participated. Re-reading these articles today it is very evident that many could not imbibe the spirit of radical reforms that EMS was proposing. The expectations that were aroused by the initiative of EMS came to nothing as in the ensuing elections the Left lost power and a Congress led government was installed in the sympathy wave that followed the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The new Congress government headed by K. Karunakaran set out to undo whatever that had been achieved in the decentralisation front. The very first decision taken by the new government was to amend the District Administration Act as amended in 1991 and restrict the powers of District Councils. The district collector was removed from the ex-officio secretaryship of the Council and a junior official was appointed as secretary to the Council. The amendment also empowered the government to change the powers and functions through notifications without reference to the legislature. Thereafter through a series of notifications the offices and institutions transferred were taken back and most of the powers nullified so that the district councils were left with only few functions and even less resources. They were left with no technical staff and little administrative support. What remained was only a ghost of the grand designs for decentralisation.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS undertook a detailed criticism of the provisions of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments. His contention was that they were a step backward when compared to the legislations that had already been enacted in Kerala (District Administration Act).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"The Panchayati Raj - Nagar Palika legislations which came out of Parliament is thus a complete negation of all the principles upheld by the ruling and Opposition parties in the state for a quarter century. It forced on the state the three-tier set-up which had been consistently opposed by all the political parties in the state. It brought about a complete separation of rural and urban self-government institutions, making the Collector and other bureaucrats at the district level the lords of all they surveyed. The spirit of the present Central legislation, as opposed to the earlier Kerala legislation is that the district level bureaucratic framework will be the overlords of the panchayati raj and nagar palika institutions, rather than making the bureaucrat subordinate to the elected district council. It is this spirit of the Central legislation that is closely followed by the Karunakaran Government in Kerala."</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments had come into effect from 23rd April 1993 and all state governments were to pass conformity legislations within a year. Certain provisions of the amendments were mandatory (like three-tier structure). On many others (like the actual powers that should be devolved) the state legislature could frame its own provisions. For several months no action was taken by the Congress government in Kerala. And finally, in March 1994 after all around criticism from intellectuals, opposition parties and public in general the Government in a hurry introduced Kerala Panchayati Raj Bill whose provisions were highly restrictive. EMS led a severe attack on the Bill and sought to mobilise public opinion against it.<br />"The net effect of the provisions referred to above is the multiplication, at all levels, of the bureaucratic steel frame that exists at Delhi and in the various State capitals. The district, the block and village panchayat will each be dominated and controlled by the bureaucrats at the corresponding and higher levels of the administration. This is no measure of giving "power to the people" but giving more power to the bureaucrats at all levels" (Power to the People, Frontline, May 6, 1994)</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />As a result of public pressure certain changes in some of the draconian provisions were made at the Select Committee stage and it is this legislation that is in force in Kerala today. Many of the anti-democratic provisions still continue and complementary legislative amendments in the related Acts have not yet been made. It is primarily to make recommendations regarding legal and administrative changes that the LDF government set up, as we have already noted, the Committee headed by late S. B. Sen. EMS felt that even if all the recommendations of the Committee are implemented, still, the overall constitutional constraints in terms of the structure, lack of regulatory functions and compartmentalisation of rural and urban areas, etc. would continue. It was EMS's conviction that yet another round of Constitutional Amendments is required to rectify these and also restructure the Centre-State relations so that the ideal of decentralisation may be fully realised (Struggle to Change Central Law, Mal., Deshabhimani, 12 Oct. 1997).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Barriers to Decentralisation</span></strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The conception of PRIs as part of a larger political process also meant, for EMS, that these institutions cannot be imposed from above -- by just legislative processes alone -- but have to be established through popular movements, through mass mobilisation. The Left movement in Kerala has succeeded to a considerable degree in bringing in a number of people's issues -- like land reforms, social sector advances etc. -- on the social agenda through a process of mass mobilisation in favour of these issues; and PRIs could not be an exception to this.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Kerala is widely known inside and outside the country for its social sector achievements in education, health and social security. The role of public action in these achievements is also widely accepted. The scope of widespread grass root level mobilisation of the people was not limited to legislative and protective interventions by the state and social provisioning of basic needs but also extended to self provisioning some of the basic social infrastructures through community efforts. The network of libraries and reading rooms -- there is one for every panchayat ward today -- or even the formal educational institutions represent best examples of this tradition. However, it is a paradox that a region with such a vibrant civil society as exemplified by the above traditions should have remained one of the relatively most backward in the country in terms of development of local self governments.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />As we have already seen it was only in 1991 that local self governments were constituted at the district level in the state for the first time. The elections to the grama panchayats have also been irregular and conducted only either while Left governments were in power or under pressure from mass movements from below. As already noted the local bodies were confined to traditional civic functions. Such was the departmental administrative control that almost every expenditure required prior departmental sanction.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Why did Kerala lag behind states of West Bengal or Karnataka, whose experiments in decentralisation have caught national imagination and even other States also like Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat and so on? While this question cannot be settled satisfactorily for the time being, viewing PRIs as part of a larger political process should provide some clues to this: Thus, one of the reasons for this is the relative political instability in Kerala and the lack of commitment of the Congress party to the decentralisation process. Our brief survey of the history of decentralisation in Kerala dramatically revealed how the efforts made by the Left governments in 1957, 1967 and 1987 were frustrated by the Congress government that succeeded them to office. As in the rest of India the lack of commitment of Congress to decentralisation, despite their generous lip service to the ideal, was the single most important factor that prevented effective decentralisation in the state. In Karnataka also the decentralisation programme of the Janata Government was reversed by the subsequent Congress government.<br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Unlike the Left Front in West Bengal, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala has not been in power continuously for a long period. Moreover the strength of CPI(M) within the Left Front has also not been as decisive in terms of assembly seats. CPI(M) has had only around half the number of seats in LDF even though CPI(M)'s own share of voter support would be around 80 per cent. A seat sharing arrangement, which was born out of the peculiar historical context of the post emergency period, has got perpetuated. It would not be an exaggeration to conclude that the stabilisation and expansion of LDF have been at the expense of CPI(M). The formal vote share of CPI(M) in the total votes secured by the LDF has exhibited a clear trend of decline over time, even though by all indicators its mass strength has only improved during the last decades and the mass support of some of the LDF partners has severely declined.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The representation of the political parties at the local level being more proportional to their actual strength, a lopsided power sharing arrangement at the assembly and at the ministerial level has serious implications for decentralisation. In such a situation it is only natural that the smaller partners in the Front would be less than enthusiastic about devolution of powers. Thus, for example, the attempt of the 1980 LDF Government headed by E.K. Nayanar for implementation of the District Administration Act of 1978 was largely stalled due to opposition from the Congress faction of A. K. Antony, then a consituent of the LDF. Even during 1987-91 when District Councils were finally formed the necessary legislative amendments in the related Acts and redeployment of personnel proved to be tardy. Even today nearly a decade later, it has not been possible to carry out all the necessary legislative amendments or to undertake the necessary administrative reforms for effective decentralisation. The committee headed by late S B Sen that went into the matter submitted an interim report of recommendations to strengthen the local bodies in a record time of two months. It took more than an year for the cabinet sub committee to clear it and nearly one year before the government started to act upon the recommendations.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Excessive departmentalism and bureaucratic vested interests are the other impediments to decentralisation. Democratic decentralisation requires that officials at every level would be accountable to the elected representative at that level. Such democracy is alien to the departmental hierarchical traditions that the British colonialists handed over to us and which the successive Congress governments tended to reinforce. As EMS himself stated openly in his post 1991 District Council election article in Deshabhimani, "There is no doubt that the enemies of decentralisation .... those who have been enjoying the sweet benefits of centralization in the Government Secretariat would employ every tactic to see that as little as possible is passed down to the Councils." (For Full Powers and Responsibilities, Mal., Deshabhimani, 1 March, 1991) </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It is indeed difficult to generate the necessary political will to create preconditions for a successful programme for decentralisation. It is in this context that the importance of mass mobilisation in support of decentralisation reforms becomes important. Only through mobilising the masses for creating a powerful public opinion in favour of decentralisation can the hurdles be overcome. Here also there is an interesting contrast between West Bengal and Kerala.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The introduction and strengthening of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) was organically linked to the rising tide of peasant movement for land reforms in West Bengal. The panchayats played a formal role in Operation Barga. A large proportion of panchayat members were drawn from the ranks of the leadership of the peasant movement. The role that the panchayats played in the flood relief operations of 1978 and later in the agricultural extension work during the post Operation Barga phase stabilised the relationship. Decentralisation became a part of the agrarian reforms that were being carried out in West Bengal. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />In contrast, in the historic context of 1971 when the Land Reforms were finally passed in Kerala, CPI(M) was in opposition and was involved in mobilising the peasant masses for implementation of the land reform law. The state government led by the CPI and the Congress was too enmeshed in repressive and manipulative tactics to stem the tide of mass movements to think of any measures for comprehensive decentralisation, quite apart from the fact that the Congress has always ideologically been lukewarm to decentralisation.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The fears expressed by EMS about the absence of powerful mass mobilisation in support of the 1991 District Councils became a reality when the Congress government wantonly set about dismantling the entire edifice without fear of any serious resistance. The significance for People's Campaign for Ninth Plan, that we shall discuss in the IIIrd Section of the present paper, is that for the first time in Kerala, it mobilised the masses of people in support of PRIs</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#006600;">SECTION II</span></strong></div><strong><span style="color:#006600;"></span></strong><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">DEVELOPMENT AND DECENTRALISATION</span></strong></div><strong><span style="color:#000099;"><div align="justify"><br /></span></strong>The linkage between decentralisation and development has been the rationale for advocacy of PRIs in the Five Year Plan and other government documents. It was in pursuance of this advantage that the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee and, later, Ashok Mehta committee were appointed. "Panchayat Raj as a vehicle for development" was their ideal and as we have seen, an ideal which was too restrictive for EMS, and hence provided a point of departure for his note of dissent.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />From the point of view of the radical movement the participatory nature of the decentralisation process assumes special significance. Decentralisation facilitates the mass of people and their organisations to directly intervene in the planning and implementation of development. In a centralised system their participation in planning can be only indirect at central or state level. In an era where `Peoples Participation' by governmental and international agencies have come to be synonymous with voluntary organisations it is refreshing to read EMS in his dissent note to the Ashok Mehta Committee:<br />"...... it is unfortunate that the report does not take into consideration the fact that there are voluntary organisations which have sizeable membership and are active in rural areas, such as Kisan Sabha, Agricultural Labour Organisations, Students and Youth and Women's Organisation etc., which are not and would refuse to be non-political. Many of them are very active and enjoy the confidence of the people. Wherever such organisations exist, they should be given an important role in the scheme of human resources development. I am afraid that this aspect is ignored by my colleague because of their prejudice against political parties and organisations oriented towards them" (Note on the Report of the Committee on Panchayati Raj Institutions, 1978).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />With respect to the people's participation in the decentralised planning the official guidelines of the Planning Commission or official reports such as that of Prof. Dantwalla (1978), do not go beyond the involvement of the volunteers of the so called `Non Governmental Organisations' (NGOs). People are a vast reservoir of life experience and local wisdom whose potential must be tapped for the success of the local level planning. But the official documents on the topic, at best, take ordinary people into consideration for identification of the felt needs. Thereafter, their role reappears only at the implementation stage after the `experts' have drawn up the local plan. EMS, as we shall see, thought that this is an extremely narrow minded elitist approach, a hangover from the tradition of bureaucratic planning.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">NEW DEVELOPMENT CULTURE</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br />Why are the people so much alienated from the planned development process in our country? EMS attempted to unravel this problem in his pamphlet `Politics of Development' (Mal, 1989): The basic factor responsible is the very class framework of development and class bias of the development policies. The path of capitalist development without land reforms and compromising with imperialism impoverishes the vast majority of the people and condemns them to a life without even bare basic necessities. Any attempt to improve their lot is considered a drag on development -- a drain from the pool of investable funds -- not to tell of struggles that are viewed as disruptive of planned development. There cannot be a more short sighted view.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />According to EMS, in the ultimate analysis all investment surplus is created by the people and determined by their willingness to sacrifice themselves in terms of money, material or labour. This being so, the expenditure on welfare of the people is not a leakage from investment funds but a measure to promote people's co-operation and participation in the development process. In contrast to the policies pursued by the Congress, even while operating within the frame work of capitalist path of development, the state governments led by the Left starting from the 1957 Communist ministry, have attempted to formulate alternative development policies that recognized the rights of the people and ensured their due share in the fruits of development. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> EMS considered that without reorientation of economic policies at the centre and involvement of the people at large in the development process it is not possible to face the challenge before the country to resist the possible onslaught of imperialism. He pointed to the campaign for Bakreshwar project in W.Bengal and the Development Army for voluntary labour that was announced by the DYFI in Kerala as two events that pointed to the untapped potential mass participatory development (Politics of Development, Mal., 1989).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Adoption of such a participatory approach as described above is all the more relevant in a state like Kerala given the severity of the regional developmental problems and strength of the mass organisation in the state:<br />"Our greatest assets are our mass oganisations and the democratic consciousness of our people. The combined strength of all mass organisation in the state is about ten million. Besides, there is a vast network of co-operative organisations and movements, such as the organisations of the library and literacy movements. I am aware that there are some people who consider all these to be the bane of Kerala society. I have devoted my life to mobilising the people for the radical transformation of our society, and I cannot but disagree with such perceptions. I feel that one big question that we face is whether the organised strength and political consciousness of our people can be used to increase production and productivity. I want to answer in the affirmative. But there is a precondition : the government and the ruling classes must change their attitude to the organisations of the people and their demands. Instead of suppressing people's struggles and adopting negative attitudes, amicable solutions should be found through collective bargaining and discussions. Further, institutions and social mechanism have to be developed to ensure that the toilers get their due share from increased production. I must emphasis the importance of democratic decentralisation in this context." [Presidential Address, International Congress on Kerala Studies, 1994].</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Even if the above pre-condition is met, as during the periodic left led governments, the political fragmentation of the mass movements and their bi-polar compartmentalisation into two opposing fronts would have hindered united actions. Starting with the unprincipled anti-communist front forged by the Congress against the communist ministry in 1957, the politics in the state has revolved around the opposition between the two antagonistic fronts, one led by the Congress and the other by the Communists. Despite more than three decades of constant warfare neither front has been able to achieve a decisive breakthrough in the relative mass support. Their electoral support have remained more or less stable at around 45% each, the electoral fortunes swinging in favour of one front to the other depending upon chance factors like Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991 or realignment of some of the minor parties. This finely balanced political stalemate has created a situation of constant political maneouvering,and intense rivalry. As the compartmentalisation of masses became more and more water tight the sectarian attitudes also got reinforced and assumed the form of a vicious circle. The constant jockeying for power and spread of sectarian strife to every social sphere created a hostile environment to united mass action. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS felt that such an environment as above was mutually destructive and argued for a new political culture in the state that would facilitate the cooperation of the constituents of the two fronts in areas of common interest such as development of the state without any compromise to their independent political platforms.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />In the 1989, Pamphlet, `Politics of Development' and his paper presented before the association of Panchayat Presidents, both of which we have occasion to refer to it earlier, EMS was very outspoken with regards to the above political reality in the state. He even frankly admitted the non-likelihood of any basic change in the co-relation of political forces in the state in the immediate future. Therefore it was of paramount importance that both the ruling and opposition parties cooperate in order to face the development challenges in the state. Such co-operation was all the more important in the case of functioning of local bodies. With the control of the local bodies more evenly distributed between the two fronts the ruling party in one locality would be the opposition party in another locality. In such a situation co-operation between the panchayats under different political parties and between parties within a panchayat for carrying out development programmes became a necessity. Addressing the conference of grama panchayat presidents, he appealed for such a cooperation.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"The office bearers of the thousand and more panchayats are the representatives of the constituents of the two fronts that fought with each other in the 1987 March elections to the Assembly and 1988 January elections to the panchayats. It is almost certain that this struggle between the two fronts would continue into the immediate Lok Sabha elections and the legislative elections that is to take place three years lagter. But in the meanwhile cannot the panchayats and the panchayat members belonging to the two fronts work in cooperation? I am of the opinion that not only is it posible but also inevitable...despite the contradictory political perspectives they can work together in solving the daily life problems of the people. Let there be a healthy competition between the panchayats and within the panchayat as to which front is ahead in serving the people. I hope that an appeal for adoption of such a new approach will be issued by this Conference" [Panchayati Raj Bill and Decentralisation, Mal., 1989].</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />He also appealed to the panchayat members to put aside their political differences to resist any attempt of the central or state governments to interfere with their autonomy.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS returned to the same themes even more forcibly after the 1991 District Council elections. There was an urgent need for the opposition political parties to self-critically reveiw their positions and start a dialogue on cooperation for a programme for comprehensive development of the state [Political Kerala After the District Council Elections, Mal., Deshabhimani, 17 Feb 1992].</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />If anybody thought that the new line he advocated was merely a tactical ploy in the context of a left government in power, they were in for a surprise. He reiterated his position in his "Mathai Manjooran Memorial Lecture" (Politics and Kerala's Economic Planning, Mal., 1992). A Congress government headed by K.Karunakaran was in office then, but he offered cooperation of the left to the government in the implementation of the development programmes if the government was willing to reciprocate the gesture by adopting a more positive policy towards the mass movements and the left led district councils.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The Mathai Manjooran Memorial lecture initiated a major debate on Kerala's development problems in which Congress leaders, important trade union functionaries and academics participated. One of the key issues that figured in the debate was the empirical finding by Prof.K.N.Raj and Prof.T.N.Krishnan that the rate of growth of wages was higher than the rate of growth of productivity in the state. This mismatch was resulting in reduction in employment and production, so they argued. The empirical results as well as some of its possible anti-labour implications were hotly contested by the trade union leaders. Summing up the debate EMS accepted that it was true wages and standard of living had improved as a result of mass struggles. He was proud of these achievements. But he refused to comment on the veracity of the wage productivity relationship in the state. It was up to the professionals to settle the issue through refining their methods and calculations. Whatever be the outcome he was resolutely opposed to any attempt to restrict the wages or benefits to the people. The solution lay not in reducing the wages but improving the productivity. He offered the cooperation of the left and its organisations in any planned effort to improve production and productivity. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />He also self-critically admitted:<br />"I do not claim that the approach of the workers and peasant organisations and political parties leading them are above fault. While they struggle for their rights and demands they have to realise the importance of improving production and productivity in agriculture and industry. Mass organistions of workers and peasants and other sections of people and political parties giving leadership to them have to come forward to increase production in the public and private sectors and help to mobilise capital for social investment. I want to publicly state our commitment to rectify mistakes if any, in this respect from our side (Summing up the debate, Development Problems of Kerala, Mal., Chinta, Thiruvananthapuram, 1991)."</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The opportunity was missed because the Congress government spurned aside the hand held in cooperation and instead persisted in its repressive policies and in a most irresponsible manner began to scuttle the duly elected district councils almost all of which were controlled by the left.<br /></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">MARXIST DIALOGUE</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br />Despite the above setback the development debate within the left continued. Of particular significance was the round table discussion organised by Marxist Samvadam (Development Dialogue), the newly launched theoretical journal of the party with EMS as the editor. Selected leaders of the left political parties and academics participated in the discussion. The basis document for discussion was prepared by Thomas Isaac and E.M.Sreedharan and published in the inaugural issue of the journal. The text of the round table deliberations was published in the next issue. The discussion paper had attempted to sum up some of the key propositions that had emerged from the development dialogue so far:</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />1. Kerala model of development with its social sectors achievements was the starting point of the paper. The mass pressure from below had succeeded in fashioning a set of re-distributive policies which resulted in social provisioning of education and health, land reforms, public distribution systems and a number of social security measures. As a result it has been possible to provide for the basic needs for majority of the citizens in the state even though Kerala was one of the relatively more backward states. The experience of Kerala shows that the people of India do not have to wait indefinitely for the trickle down effect of the economic growth for fulfilling their basic needs. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />2. At the same time the social sector achievements did not have a complementary positive impact on economic growth in the state. Despite land reforms there was no remarkable improvement in agricultural productivity. Despite educational expansion, industrial modernisation and diversification remained retarded. As a result unemployment was three times the national average. The quality of social infrastructure was also deteriorating. The fiscal crisis of the state was rendering it incapable of intervening in the crisis. It had become evident that in the absence of economic growth it would not be possible to sustain the redistributional policies or welfare gains of the past.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />3. The reasons for the above crisis lay in the historic specificities of the capitalist path of development of the region and national and global crisis of capitalism. But given the uneven development of the left movement in the country, in regions such as Kerala where the movement is relatively more advanced, it is important to attempt to find partial solutions to some of the most pressing problems in a democratic and pro-people manner. Possibilities of such autonomous development path are also increasingly foreclosed by the new economic reforms. But given the specific situation in Kerala a conscious intervention for a redirection of the development policy became imperative.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />4. Given the class structure of the region characterised by pre-dominantly petty production units, but with high incidence of wage labour the issue of improvement in productivity has become a pre-condition for ensuring the unity of petty producers and wage labourers. In this manner improvement in productivity assumes special importance in ensuring class unity and for further advance of class struggle. The defence of the public social infrastructure in education, health and other sectors is no more possible without guaranteeing an improvement in the quality of their services. All these necessitate a reorientation of the mass movements towards direct intervention in the development process in order to improve productivity or improve the quality of services.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />5. Decentralisation for reasons which have already been explained, is necessary to provide the organisational framework for the participatory development process in the petty production sectors and the social service sectors. It was also important to have an overhaul of the institutional arrangements for land and water management, provision of social services and the cooperatives.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS endorsed the basic propositions put forward, but he expressed serious reservation with the concept of the Kerala model of development, particularly its Western variants that tended to imply that the quality of life of the people could be improved without economic growth not to speak of basic changes in the social sysem or need for social revolution. It distracted attention from the urgent task of accelerating the growth in the productive sectors:<br />"Kerala faces today an intense economic crisis in production, agricultural and industrial. In fact, I am inclined to believe that while we have spend much time and attention on "social-sector" issues of welfare and improvement of the living standards of the people, we have not paid enough attention or shown adequate concern for pressing problems of economic growth and material production. I make a request: let not the praise that scholars shower on Kerala for its achievements divert attention from the intense economic crisis that we face. We are behind other states of India in respect of economic growth, and a solution to this crisis brooks no delay. We can ignore our backwardness in respect of employment and production only at our own peril." [Presidential Address, International Congress on Kerala Studies, 1994)</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />He also steered clear of the two possible deviations namely the right deviation which created an illusion that "every thing can be done" and the left deviation that "nothing can be done." In an environment where decentralisation was being held out as the panacea for all the problems, he always took pains to explain the severe constraints to local level development action imposed by the bourgeois landlord system and lopsided federal set up in India. The contemporary trends towards globalisation and the new economic reforms would only sharpen the crisis. Further, local level planning was not a substitute for national and state level planning. There are many subjects like foreign trade, key infrastructural development and industrialisation that can be handled only at the national and state level. What was required was a system of multi-level planning.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />But he categorically rejected the view that nothing can be done... until the national policies are reversed. In this context he referred to the efforts and achievements of people and the left government of West Bengal which he illustrated with the example of acceleration of agricultural growth after the land reforms and strengthening of the Panchayati Raj in that state. Similarly, Kerala has also got to find solutions for its pressing problems:<br />The above was the rationale behind the International Congress on Kerala Studies organised in August, 1994 by AKG Centre for Research and Studies of which EMS was the director.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON KERALA STUDIES</span></strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The response to the initiative of EMS to bring together scholars in the broad area of Kerala Studies and socio-political activists in an International Congress was overwhelming. Perhaps such an initiative had been long overdue. Around 1600 persons (nearly 700 being academic scholars from more than 2 dozen disciplines) attended the Congress. There were participants from 23 countries other than India and nearly all the major states in India.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The Congress was organised in five broad subject divisions: History, Economy, Science and Technology, Society and Politics and Culture. In each subject group there were 10-12 technical sessions and a symposium on different themes. In 60 technical sessions and 6 symposia over 600 papers were presented and discussed. Altogether 170 hours of discussion took place in 17 parallel venues of the Congress. The abstracts of the papers presented at the Congress were compiled in five volumes and distributed to the participants.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />What did the Congress achieve? As EMS himself took pains to explain,<br />"This is not a seminar that is expected to come to precise conclusions on how the various problems of Kerala are to be solved. That is the task that political parties and social organisations in Kerala shall have to undertake on the basis of their experience, including the experience gained at this Congress...I want to assure you that we will do our level best to continue the dialogue between scholars and activists..." [Ibid].</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Even though no formal conclusions were drawn up at the end of the Congress certain broad perspectives did emerge. For each and every one was in agreement that Kerala was in grave crisis. This was not limited to the economic sphere but was all pervasive, in the sense, it encompassed social and political and cultural spheres. Differences persisted with regards to the solutions but there was a definite gravitation of the dialogue towards the broad development perspective that we have already discussed. Reorientation of the focus of plan towards strengthening of materials production and improvement in the quality of services required a thorough overhaul of the sectoral policies that were being followed. While industrialisation and infrastructural development required determined state level intervention, a decentralised development strategy was more suited for the petty production sectors and basic services. The International Congress on Kerala Studies was an important landmark in the move towards a broad social consensus on the development of the state.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />For various reasons, but for a number of thematic state level seminars the programme could not be carried out. But by the end of 1996 every panchayat and municipality was organising their own development seminar as the basis of printed local area development reports. But the occasion was different. These seminars were a part of the Campaign for Decentralised Planing that was launched by the LDF government. In a sense, the vision of the International Congress on Kerala Studies was being realised in a more dramatic manner than was even dreamt by the participants of the Congress.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#006600;"> SECTION III</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN FOR DECENTRALISED PLANNING</span></strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />One of the first important decisions of the LDF Government that came to power in 1996 was to earmark 35-40 per cent of the outlay of the state's Ninth Five Year Plan to the local bodies. The so-called 'district schemes', as traditionally defined, formulated in the past by line departments accounted for around 30 per cent of the State Plan. By deciding to devolve 35-40 per cent of the plan funds to the local bodies the state government ensured that almost every development activity that could be planned locally would, if transferred to local bodies, be possible for them to continue according to their own plan priorities.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It was evident that normal preconditions for such a radical financial devolution like redeployment of staff, formulation of procedures and rules, training of personnel and other administrative reforms would take a fairly long period to be satisfied. "Common sense" called for restraint, gradualist approach and postponement of the decentralised planning agenda to the Tenth Five Year Plan. Instead, the Government of Kerala decided to launch a campaign to rally behind the elected local bodies the officials, experts and masses of people so that the handicaps can be overcome and local plans be prepared from below keeping the schedule for the Ninth Plan.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Apart from the above primary objective, the People's Campaign has also certain wider socio-political objectives. It seeks to bring about certain basic attitudinal changes towards the development process among all the key players involved -- the elected representatives, officials, experts, and the people at large. A radical transformation of the development culture of the state is a necessary pre-requisite for successful participatory decentralisation.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The bureaucratic departmental approach has to give way to an integrated, democratic vision. As we have discussed, democratic decentralisation requires that officials at every level work under the elected people's representatives. Similarly, the approach of the academic and professional community also has to be transformed. Although one of the important social developments during the post-Independence period has been the emergence of a specialised academic and technical community related to the universities, research institutes, laboratories and firms in the state, unlike the organic intelligentsia of the national movement period or immediate post-Independence period, this intelligentsia has increasingly divorced itself from the social environment. But if local bodies are to be provided with expert support, particularly in the transitional phase when the bureaucracy is in the process of readjusting itself to the changed situation, the ivory tower attitude and deeply ingrained cynicism prevalent among the technical elite will have to be transformed.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The bureaucratic development process today is totally alienated from the people. The ordinary citizen is scarcely interested in the government programmes except from the point of narrow self-interest. What can one get for oneself from the programmes? People view themselves as mere beneficiary objects of the development process rather than participants in social process of community improvement. The strong traditions of popular grassroot level development action have eroded over time. We have discussed in detail how the people's movements themselves have got to reorient their agenda to include popular development action. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Above all, there has to be a transformation of the elected representatives themselves. The barriers to decentralisation are not merely at the Centre but at every level below. The demand for decentralisation is only for up to that level. Even a gram panchayat member develops cold feet when it comes to making the gram sabha effective. On the other hand, the ultimate aim of decentralisation has to be to give opportunity for as much direct participation of people in daily governance as possible. The people's representatives at national or state level cannot be the role models for local bodies. The development administration at the grassroot level demands day-to-day involvement of the elected representatives. At the same time, the officials, experts and voluntary activists at the local level also have their own roles. The elected representative, as the co-ordinator of the local development activities, should recognise the legitimate role of others, particularly the officials, and develop a partnership based on mutual respect. In short, the objective of the People's Campaign for Decentralised Planning was not somehow to draw up a plan from below. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />There is, however, a crucial question: How does one ensure that the new values and spirit generated do not die away with the tide of the movement, but are sustained? In the long run, the sustainability of the new development culture depends upon the success in institutionalising it in the legal system, new developmental institutions and traditions. Changes in laws and statutes or legalisation of new institutions would not occur automatically. There has to be sustained pressure from below, i.e., of the masses mobilised in the movement for decentralisation, to secure the necessary structural changes.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />To sum up, the campaign had three objectives. The first was to draw up the state's Ninth Five Year Plan from below. Along side, the objective also was a) to bring about attitudinal changes among the key actors in the planning process and b) to institutionalise these changes by amending the existing laws and creating new institutions and traditions.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">THE DECENTRALISED PLANNING PROCESS</span></strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />From the preceding discussion, it is clear that the process of planning is as important as the final product -- the local plans. We shall outline in brief the broad phases of the planning exercise spread over the past one year. Our discussion is more a conceptual analysis than an empirical review of the exercise. The first step in drawing up a local development plan is to identify the felt needs of the people. But a plan cannot be drawn up based on the subjective needs alone. It is particularly so in the case of a comprehensive area plan as was envisaged under the People's Campaign. It was necessary for this purpose to make an objective assessment of the resources-not merely financial resources but more importantly the local natural and human resources too. Then only could a perspective of local development that would make optimal use of the resources in tune with the aspirations of the people be developed. Thus, the People's Campaign attempted a judicious blend of need based and resource based planning methodologies.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The local development problems were identified by the people of every locality in their gram sabhas and ward sabhas. Gram sabha, it may be noted, is the assembly of all the voters in an electoral ward. Every effort was made through various means of appeal and publicity to ensure maximum participation in these meetings. It is estimated that nearly three million persons participated in these meetings to discuss local developmental problems. At least one representative from around 1/4th to 1/3rd of the households in Kerala must have participated in these meetings. People were encouraged not to limit themselves to listing of the problems but search for the causes and remedies drawing from their life experience. The convening of the gram sabhas (August-October 1996) constituted the first phase of the campaign. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The task of the second phase (October-December 1996) was to make an objective assessment of the resource potential and development problems in each sector. For this purpose, secondary data were collected from government offices, geographical studies undertaken through transect walks, local history written, ongoing schemes reviewed and gram sabha reports consolidated. Findings of these studies and discussions were summed up in a comprehensive Area Development Report which was printed and circulated. Each of these reports averaged 75-100 pages and formed the basic document for the discussion at the Development Seminars that were organised in every panchayat and municipality.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It is estimated that more than 3 lakh delegates -- elected members of local bodies, representative of grama sabhas, departmental officials and local experts -- attended these seminars. The seminars drew up a list of recommendations and constituted a task force for each of the development sector to prepare projects. Nearly a lakh persons served in these task forces.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Preparation of projects by the task forces constituted the third phase (December-March 1997). A simple and transparent format was suggested to be uniformly followed in preparation of the projects. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />At the end of the third phase, every grama panchayat and municipality had a shelf of projects corresponding to the development problems identified by the people. By then the grant-in-aid for each local body from the state government was also made known. This set the stage for the fourth phase of the campaign (March-June 1997). Each local body was to make an assessment of the financial resources available for its annual plan -- not only from the state and central government but also what it could raise from its own resources, voluntary labour or donations from the people, financial institutions and from beneficiaries themselves. They were then to prioritise and select projects to be included in the plan. A detailed document describing the logic of final selection of the projects along with its statistical and other annexes constitute the Plan Document of the local body. The Special Component Plan for Scheduled Castes and Tribal Sub Plan had to be separately shown in the Plan document. It was also recommended that 10 per cent of the outlay be earmarked for special, women targeted programmes. In order to ensure that the local plans are sensitive to the state level priorities, certain broad guidelines on sectoral allocations of plan funds were also indicated. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The next phase in the campaign was to integrate the grama panchayats plans at block and district levels and prepare the plans of block and district panchayats. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Elaborate preparation had to be made to ensure that the task of each phase was successfully completed. The most important among them was the three-tier training programme that preceded every phase. Around 600 Key Resource Persons were trained at these state level programmes who in turn trained about 15,000 District Resource Persons. At the local level nearly one lakh Resource Persons were trained. The training materials came to around 3000 printed pages. Video programmes of nearly 15 hours' duration were prepared. Despite these efforts, as we have already noted in connection with sixth phase, there were many lapses and weaknesses. But what is important is that despite these weaknesses, a plan did emerge from below.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It was only inevitable that numerous problems cropped up during the implementation stage. They were inevitable given the fact that devolution of resources and powers had taken place before the preconditions for successful devolution were met. The expectation was that the mass of people mobilised in the Planning Campaign would generate pressures from below and create a political will to clear the obstacles.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">EMS: THE GUIDING SPIRIT</span></strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />If there is any single person who can claim credit on the ongoing Campaign for Decentralised Planning in Kerala, one of the most thorough going and boldest experiments in decentalisation in our country, it is EMS. It was he who mooted the idea that decentralisation should be placed highest in the order of priority in the agenda of the new LDF state government. Details of the proposal were worked out at the State Planning Board but it was the political authority that EMS commanded that facilitated the smooth launching of the Campaign. There were serious doubts regarding the practical wisdom of plan devolution of 35-40 per cent of the outlay to the local bodies. It may be noted that during the Eigth Five Year Plan the share of panchayats in the annual plan varied between Rs.20 to 30 crores only. In its place during in the first year of the Ninth Plan itself nearly Rs.750 crores was to be given as grant-in-aid apart from around 200 crores of schemes and additional resources from Centrally Sponsored Schemes. It was EMS's intervention that put to rest the numerous reservations that were expressed. Once the decision of earmarking 35-40 per cent of the plan outlay was declared by the state government there was no going back.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It was EMS himself who explained the significance of the government decision and the role of party and class and mass organisation in making the Campaign a success in the party state committee. Despite his illhealth he personally presented the reports in the party regional conventions convened to explain the Campaign to the senior functionaries. He attempted to situate the Campaign in the broader political context and draw attention to its significance in finding partial solutions to the pressing problems of the people and also in breaking down the political compartmentalisation of the masses. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The first two months of the Campaign witnessed an exhibition of the traditional bipolar front reflex reaction from the opposition parties. Without even waiting for the details of the programme Congress started a virulent slander campaign. It was alleged that the Campaign for Decentralised Planning was an attempt to replace elected bodies by `people's committees' and siphon off public funds by CPI(M) cadres. References to West Bengal where allegedly CPI(M) captured the rural areas through Panchayati Raj was a constant refrain in the plethora of statements issued by Congress leaders. EMS, Chairman of the High Level Guidance Council took initiative to clarify some of the genuine doubts expressed even by the left front partners and expose the hollowness of the criticisms of Congress leaders. (People's Planning Myth and Reality, Mal., Deshabhimani, 12 May 1997, ). </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />A new component was added to the conceptual structure of decentralisation of EMS with the Campaign for Decentralised Planning, viz the Grama Sabhas. The grama sabhas were introduced in Kerala for the first time in the conformity legislations that followed 73rd and 74th ammendments. With no tradition of grama sabhas, its unwieldy size of around 2000 numbers on an average and the dispersed settlement pattern of the state the general belief was that grama sabhas as an institution of direct democracy were impractical in the state. EMS was keen to personally understand how they performed in the Campaign. He spent a whole day in a panchayat in Trivandrum where grama sabhas in all the wards were simultaneously being convened. He even attended some of the group discussions. He was enthused by the potential of the grama sabha. He saw in them yet another forum for not only people at large but also the different mass organisations for example, peasants associations and agriculture workers unions to collectively sort out the conflicts such as paddy land reclamation for garden crops (The Vital Role of the Grama Sabhas, Mal., Deshabhimani, 8 October, 1997). He expressed his conviction that the furture system of governnance and development would have to take the grama sabhas as their basic unit.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />During the 2nd phase of the Campaign criticisms were voiced that the printed reports and the seminars were a financial waste. EMS pointed out the details of the procedures that were being adopted for the preparation of the reports and how the whole exercise was a non formal mass education on a vast scale. He even reviewed a sample of the development reports that he had received and his assessment was that `the material collected and the conclusions drawn are such that one would wonder whether the work was done by postgraduates or research scholars' (People's Plan, Frontline, 13 December, 1996). </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The presentation of the budget for 1997-98 with more than 36 per cent of the plan outlay earmarked for the local bodies had an unexpected fall out. The village roads, minor irrigation works, small drinking water schemes and so on which were normally an important component of the budget document were conspicuous by their abesence. All this were to be decided later on the basis of priorities drawn up by the local bodies. This meant abolishing of a major source of political patronage for the MLAs. Their disappointment soon erupted into virulent attack on decentralisation and demand for an MLA area development fund on the pattern of area development funds for Members of Parliament. EMS openly came out in severest terms to nip the above demand in its bud itself. He characterised the demand for a special development fund for MLA as negation of the decentralisation process and an affront to plan development. MLAs should not be allowed to arbitrarily meddle with subject areas that have been devolved to the local bodies. It was his firm position that facilitated the People's Campaign to weather, perhaps the most serious political challenge that it faced (On People's Planning, Mal., Deshabhimani, 21st April 1997).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />When the plans were being finalised by the local bodies, and criticisms were raised that the plans to the local bodies were nothing but modified departmental schemes and subsidy distribution programmes and so on EMS made a much publicised visit to one of the grama panchayats in Trivandrum district. He personally quizzed the panchayat office bearers in a public meeting regarding the details of the plan. He expressed his satisfaction at the serious attempt made for additional local resource mobilisation and the participatory nature of plan implementation that was being envisaged. Not satisfied with the grama sabhas the panchayat had taken initiative to organise neighbourhood groups. The entire dialogue was televised and contributed to settling the disquiet that was being spread by the critics. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Perhaps the most decisive intervention by EMS after the Campaign was launched came during the implementation stage. As we have already noted the progress of complementary administrative reforms or amendments to statutes or laws were proving to be very slow and was creating difficulties for smooth implementation. In his presidential address at the 3rd meeting of the High Level Guidance Council, EMS openly criticised the hesitation of the government and demanded immediate adoption of Interim Report of the Sen Committee and better coordination of rural development and panchayat departments. His criticism had immediate impact. He followed it up with a series of articles where he attempted to set an agenda for the Administrative Reforms Committee that had been appointed by the goverment. According to him the recommendations of Sen Committee on decentralisation, if implemented, would require a thorough restructuring of the entire administrative edifice of the state government. Decentralisation and grama sabhas were central to any attempt to democraticise the administrative set up (Sen Committee Report and Adminstrative Reforms, Mal., Deshabhimani, 7 to 11 October 1997).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS passed away before the issues could be clinched and the agenda for decentralisation fully carried out. But there is no doubt whatsoever that the People's Campaign for Ninth Plan is decisively transforming the administrative landscape of Kerala. More importantly it has initiated a political process of dialogue and united action cutting across narrow sectarian divisions that would contribute significantly in breaking down the two front compartmentalisation of state politics and, along with other factors, also contribute to the further strengthning of the democratic forces in the state. One is aware, that a lot needs to be done to institutionalise this whole process of democratic decentralisation in the state. And that would be a fitting tribute to the man who was instrumental in setting the progressive socio-economic agenda in the state for the last three generations.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">The Marxist<br /></span></strong>Volume: 14, No. 01-02<br />Jan-June 1998</div><div align="justify"> </div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-40119080298559938712008-12-10T17:11:00.003+05:302008-12-10T17:21:43.112+05:30EMS AS A LITERARY CRITIC AND CULTURAL ACTIVIST<div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">P. GOVINDA PILLAI</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br />When we ponder over the contribution made by EMS Namboodiripad (1909-1998) to the literary, artistic and cultural life of Kerala, and the intermittent interventions he made in the intellectual and literary controversies in Malayalam during the last seven decades or so, we are reminded of Frederick Engels' evaluation of the renaissance personalities of Europe: In his celebrated but unfinished work Dialectics of Nature, Engels spoke of them as the "giants in power of thought, passion and character, in universality and learning". After listing and describing a few of them he continues:<br />"The heroes of that time were not yet in thrall to the division of labour, the restricting effects of which, with its production of one-sideness, we often notice in their successors. But what is especially characteristic of them is that they almost all live and pursue their activities in the midst of contemporary movements, in the practical struggle; they take sides and join in the fight, one by speaking and writing another with sword, many with both. Hence the fullness and force of character that makes them complete men".</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />If we resort to our ancient Indian usage EMS was a rare combination of the "Gnana Yogin" and "Karma Yogin". Besides being a working class revolutionary, Marxist-Leninist theoretician of eminence, a party-builder he could easily switch over from under-ground to over-ground, from prison to street demonstration, from editorial desk to legislature, from opposition to treasury benches and prove his versatility as an administrator par excellence. It is with all these heavy claims on his routine and energy, that EMS made himself a vibrant and seminal force in Malayalam literary life as a critic, historian and cultural activist. But his cultural and literary activism and prodigious number of articles, tracts, pamphlets, full-scale books, reviews, columns, and addresses resulting from them were in no way a diversion from his main concerns. Like all revolutionaries in general, and socialist revolutionaries in particular, EMS was convinced, in his early social reformer stage by instinct and later political stage by deep study and experience, that culture was of decisive significance in human affairs, both for the cementing of power structure and for altering it.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />With this deep understanding of the role of culture in society and social transformation, EMS was pleasantly surprised and inspired when he discovered the epoch-making Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. Though EMS knew of Antonio Gramsci, the great Italian anti-fascist martyr and Marxist for a long time, somehow he had missed reading him thoroughly till very late in his life. So when in the early nineties, he came across Gramsci's Prison Notebooks, he was almost overwhelmed by his range and depth of thought and the significance and relevance of Gramscian thought to contemporary Marxism and revolutionary practice. True to his character EMS called for his other works and after reading them, straightaway set out to write a book on Gramsci. This writer was asked to collaborate and the result is one of his last significant books Gramscian Revolution in Thought, (1996) in Malayalam (Gramscian Vichara Viplavam).</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The reason why Gramsci so overwhelmed him is easily explained. For long decades EMS through deep study, wide experience and practice was actually groping towards the ideas and theories brilliantly worked out by Gramsci with help of his innovative concepts like civil society, political society, ideology, culture, hegemony -- or to be more accurate, with the new dimensions of meaning he invested them with. Instead of limiting the role of culture and ideology as a derivative superstructure, Gramsci seemed to confirm EMS's view of culture as a positive catalytic agent in social transformation. Though the idea of the superstructure positively acting on the basis is not alien to classical Marxism, it was Gramsci who worked out and enriched the idea in a more scientific and thorough manner, drawing from the rich experience of countries with bourgeois parliamentary systems. So EMS considered Gramscian insights particularly relevant to the Indian working class movement. This also shows how EMS's mind was alert and open to new ideas even in his mature age.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Formative Years</span></strong></div><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong><div align="justify"><br />This long process of the evolution of EMS's thought on art, literature and culture, which may be said to have rounded up with the discovery and interpretation of Gramsci, began in the twenties of this century when he was a student activist in the social reform movement in his Namboodiri Brahmin community. "Yoga Kshema Sabha", formed just a year before the birth of EMS, was the main organisation of the Namboodiris for social reform. It was in the hands of moderate conservatives when EMS and a band of young radicals like V.T. Bhattathiripad, M.R. Bhattathiripad, M.P. Bhattathiripad and others began to be active in the Sabha. Women's education, right of widows to remarriage, abolition of polygamy etc., were on the militant agenda of the youngsters. Thrissur was the centre of the young Namboodiri activists. EMS joined St. Thomas College in 1929 for his intermediate course and immediately found himself in the whirlwind of action. In the same year Unninamboodiri, the monthly organ of the Sabha, began to appear as a weekly and it was almost taken over by the young group. Though some older people were in charge, 20-year old EMS became its de facto editor and main contributor. Even before he turned 20, EMS was noted as a contributor to the magazine and so they were all very confident that this young man could fulfill the task credibility - and he did. Articles, columns, reports on activities, book reviews and literary dissertations flowed in succession from EMS's pen. EMS wrote in his autobiography that the Unninamboodiri was the workshop where he had his apprenticeship in writing and editing including literary criticism. He also said that his apprenticeship in public life was complete in the three years (1929-32) that he spent in college. Though he was a very brilliant and hard working student, winning admiration of both his teachers and class-mates, he was unable to resist the call of the civil disobedience movement raging all over India under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and left the college before taking the degree. He went to Kozhikkode and offered Satyagraha which landed him in prison. The Gandhi-Irwin pact of 1932 which brought the movement to an abrupt end deeply disappointed EMS alongwith the radical and young elements in the Congress all over India. EMS and his close colleagues like P. Krishna Pillai, A.K. Gopalan and others came out of prison very disillusioned with Gandhi and the right-wing leadership of the Congress. In Kannur central prison these young radical Congressmen had opportunities to meet a number of militant revolutionaries from Bengal, dubbed "terrorists" and a new world of Left-wing and radical thought was opened up before them.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Coming out of prison EMS found himself a famous man, distinguished much more than his age and experience would warrant. Moothiringot Bhavathrathan Namboodiripad, a well-known man of letters and very senior to EMS in age and experience invited EMS to write an introduction to his landmark novel "Uncle's Daughter" (Aphante Makal, 1933). The novel depicts the plight of younger brothers in Brahmin families due to the system of primogeniture and the emotional and legal contradictions resulting from its system of inheritance. Though EMS was not yet a Marxist, his introductory essay shows very well how he was groping towards Marxist concepts of social and literary criticism.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It is during these formative years that EMS and his young colleagues began to explore the potential of the performing arts in social and political struggle. In the same year EMS joined the college (ie, 1929) his senior colleague in the Yogakshema Sabha, V.T. Bhattathiripad wrote a play named "From Kitchen to the Arena (Adukkalayil Ninnu Arangathekku). It vividly portrayed the inequities and oppression suffered by Namboodiri women and the revolt against them. Though EMS did not venture into creative writing after some adolescent exercises in poetry, he was a live-wire organiser of drama troupes and performances. V.T.'s play was a tremendous success on stage and its successive performances created quite a stir in the community. It was followed by some others like "The Great Hell in Face-covering Umbrella" (Marakkudakkullile Mahanarakam) and the "Pubescent Girl" (Ritumathi) and others. The climax of these series of resurgent plays was K. Damodaran's "Arrears of Rent" (Pattabakki) (1937).</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Jeevat sahitya</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br />Unlike the earlier ones which dealt with social and family problems, Damodaran's pioneering play directly took up the issue of class struggle between landlords and tenants. It was preceded by the first narrative poem on the same theme by the young rebel poet Changampuzha Krishna Pillai, "The Bunch of Bananas" (Vazhakkula). This progress from VT's social classic to Damodaran's saga of class struggle coincided with the metamorphosis of the social and political climate of Kerala. The decade from 1929 to 1939 marked a crucial turning point in the history of Kerala -- we may even say that the contours of modern Kerala were drawn during this decade. In this decade of flux and ferment, the year 1937 may be characterised as the fulcrum. In 1937 the northern part of Kerala which was directly under the British rule in Madras Presidency (unlike the native princely states Kochi and Travancore in the south) had a foretaste of democracy -- Rajagopalachari formed the Congress Ministry in the Presidency under the Government of India Act of 1935. The year witnessed the formation of the first unit of the Communist Party of India with P. Krishna Pillai (Secretary), EMS Namboodiripad, N.C. Shekhar and K. Damodaran. A year before, all the Hindu temples in Travancore state were thrown open to the so-called untouchable castes and next year witnessed massive struggle of Travancore for representative government.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />To crown all these historic events, Kerala Jeevat Sahitya Sanghom (Association for Kerala's living literature), the initial form of the Purogamana Sahitya Sanghom (Progressive Writers Association, PWA) was established in 1937. The inspiration for this came from the founding conference of the Indian Progressive Writers Association under the chairmanship of the famous Hindi writer Prem Chand at Lucknow in 1936. The initiative was taken by a group of young Left-wing Congressmen including EMS, K. Damodaran, A. Madhavan, K.P.G. Namboodiri and K.A. Damodara Menon. EMS was the ideological head of the group which met at Thrissur. He published an article in the Mathrubhumi weekly (19 July 1937) titled "Jeevat Sahithyavum Soundarya Bodhavum" (Living Literature and Sense of Beauty) which served as the initial manifesto of the movement. In this article EMS replied to the criticism that progressive literature denied or at least downgraded the role of beauty. This was perhaps the first serious attempt to apply social, historical and Marxist criteria in the evaluation of art and literature in Malayalam. Both the founding of the PWA and EMS's article in 1937 were epoch-making events which served as the launching pads for the great take-off movement in Malayalam literature and arts during the next 60 years.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />In his introduction to a collection of his early articles in 1974 EMS evaluates these events and the development that followed thus:<br />"When the Jeevat Sahitya movement took shape in 1937, the central controversial issue between its founders and traditional writers was this": "Whether art is for art's sake or for the sake of social progress?" The protagonists of Jeevat Sahitya argued that the aim of literature should not be just social progress in general. The central thrust of social progress should be politics of anti-imperialism, anti-feudalism and socialism, they asserted. The other side opposed this.<br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">"Those who took initiative to form the Jeevat Sahitya Movement were actively associated with Left-wing politics and peasant and working class movements including those who participated in the civil disobedience movement of 1930-32. Later by about 1943-44 many writers of established fame joined the movement and accepted the policy of "writing for social progress" with "definite social ideals". With this changed scenario an expanded Progressive Writers Movement was formed in which both the Left-wing political activists and those who were not so active participated. (In 1944, at the instance of EMS the name of the organisation also was changed to Purogamana Sahitya Sanghom -- Progressive Writers Association -- in tune with the all-India practice -- PG)</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"By this time it may be said that the controversy around the slogan "Art for Art's sake" almost subsided. But differences again arose on the question of what constitutes social progress. These differences became still more acute after the British left the Indian shores and the regime fell into the hands of Congress". (Marxism and Malayalam Literature, 1974)<br /></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Freedom and Repression</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br />These differences developed into a furious public controversy which took overt political dimensions. The literary and philosophical attacks on Communists coincided with the reign of terror unleashed by the Congress governments against the Communists and the mass movements led by them. From underground shelters and under pseudonyms, Communists hit back at their detractors. The bloody clashes which took place in various centres in Kerala like Kavumbai, Munayankunnu, Padikunnu, Pariyaram, Onchiam and the heroic tales of the Telengana struggle gave a particularly sharp edge to the spirited response of the Communists. The political line of the CPI adopted at the 2nd Congress at Calcutta which was later to be given up as sectarian, rendered a self-righteous tone to the Communists repartees. All these led to a split in the PWA in 1949 and some of the highly respected supporters and leaders of the movement such as critics M.P. Paul and Joseph Mundassery, creative writers like Thakazhi Siva Sankara Pillai and P. Kesavadev crossed over the fence to the other side and Communists and their close associates were isolated. EMS alongwith a band of highly talented Marxists like M.S. Devadas, C. Unniraja, K.K. Warrier and others put up a stiff fight on behalf of the Marxists. Though the Communists' position was flawed on a number of points the controversy was not a futile exercise. That is why even while accepting the mistakes of those days EMS ventured to republish those articles without any correction. Though EMS was very frank and unreserved in owning up the mistakes he and his comrades committed in those traumatic years, he was totally opposed to those among the friends and foes who could see only the negative aspects and no positive elements at all. In politics as in cultural thought and practice the Communists, even when they occasionally deviated, were basically driving towards the chosen ideal. A judicious balance sheet of those years, as well as perhaps the later years, could never show the debit out-balancing the credit. EMS says:<br />"In the period 1947-52, we were participating in literary debates without fully understanding the current developments in Marxist-Leninist theory of literature. Besides, as was admitted earlier, there were serious deviations in the political practice followed by the Communist Party. These two factors contributed to the mistakes in the first four articles of this collection.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"Considering all these circumstances it might seem surprising that more mistakes and deviations did not enter these writings. There is reason for that. The reason is that Communists had a basic class approach which could not be neutralized by just a few ideological lapses and practical deviations. The socio-political outlook they held on firmly to was one based on the toiling sections of the people in general and the working class in particular. The mistakes and deviations occurred in the course of practical activities based on this outlook. Communists ought to have realised these mistakes and tried to strengthen this outlook overcoming those drawbacks. But instead of doing that there was a revisionist attempt to give up the class outlook altogether. It was this which led to the split in the Communist Party.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"This tendency became wide spread in the literary and cultural field, as it did in the practical politics. The trend of totally condemning the ideological struggle carried on by the Communists against non-Communists went to the extent of even rejecting the basic Marxist positions altogether". (Ibid)</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Contentious Issues</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br />Apart from the overt political controversies between the Communists and non-Communists, there emerged two contentious issues which were more of a literary character than political. The first of these, as we saw earlier was around the slogan of "Art for Art's sake". Though the controversy subsided to a large extent by 1943-44, when the PWA was reorganised with the widest possible participation of writers of different political and ideological persuasions, some points still remained unresolved. The post-independence period, and especially 1950s brought in a number of Marxist classics and writing on Marxist aesthetics by authors like Christopher Caudwell, Ralf Fox, Georg Lukacs, Franz Mehring and others. All these helped EMS and other Marxist critics to deepen their understanding of literary issues. Armed with these new insights and enriched by the experience of literary activism of about a decade and half, EMS introduced some new ideas in Malayalam literary criticism. These may be summarised in his own following words:<br />"That literary production should have a social ideal to realize, that the writer should write with the objective of social progress -- all these are incontrovertible. But the problem is not resolved by asserting this alone. Because, there are great men and women of letters in world literature, who were not conscious of the ideals which emerge out of their creations. But the creations of many of them directly serve the cause of social progress. But when they were composing their works they may not have been conscious of any such ideals. On the contrary, there are instances of writers who were subjectively holding views opposing social progress but wrote works which went against their subjective predilections".</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />To prove this argument, EMS relied on what Marx and Engels wrote on the great French novelist Honore de Balzac and Lenin on Leo Tolstoy. Though Balzac was a royalist and feudal loyalist, his great realistic novels depicted the degeneration of feudalism and the vibrance of the new classes of bourgeoisie and the proletariat.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The possibility of the subjectivity of a writer coming into conflict with the objectivity of his text opens up wider vistas of literary and artistic evaluation. EMS cited the examples of the outstanding Malayalam novelist Chandu Menon and the great innovator of Malayalam poetry in the 20th century, Mahakavi Kumaran Asan to prove his contention. The 19th century novelist Chandu Menon was subjectively a supporter of the joint family system and matrilineal inheritance. But his great novel Indulekha happens to be a sharp critique of these outdated and harmful practices. Kumaran Asan who revolutionized 20th century Malayalam poetry was a great fighter against the caste system, himself belonging to an "untouchable" caste. He distrusted the upper caste leaders of the national movement and gave the impression of being a supporter of the alien rulers, receiving presents and titles from them. But Vallathol, a contemporary of Asan was an ardent nationalist both in his life and poetry. It was conventional wisdom of the literary critics to extol Asan for his anti-casteism, but condemn his alleged anti-national stand. EMS did not agree with this. He pointed out that the freedom movement was a multi-faceted and multi-stream phenomenon and the anti-caste struggle was an important strand which strengthened the movement for national liberation. To under-estimate the role of the struggle of the Dalits in the freedom movement is like underestimating the role of workers' and peasants' class struggle in the fight for freedom. In fact, Gandhi and the right-wing leaders opposed such class struggles alleging that such antagonisms will alienate the bourgeoisie and landlords who could be mobilised against the British.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />This Marxist position advocated and applied by EMS helped to give a new dimension to literary criticism in Malayalam and more thorough and analytical attention to the text proper. This also paved the way for broadening the base of the united movement of writers and artists and to heal the wounds inflicted by sectarian infighting.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Form and Content</span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><br />The second important issue which in the late forties and early fifties led to furious controversies was about the relative primacy of form and content. The Left-wingers in the movement with EMS at its head argued for the primacy of content over form. Though in his land-mark article in 1937 EMS took a judicious and balanced position with regard to the question of form and content, his articles from underground with the pseudonym "P.S.", tended to take an extreme position on the decisive role of content in a work of art. The opponents under the able captainship of Prof. Joseph Mundassery who was later to be the Education Minister in the first EMS Ministry, and a powerful supporter of PWA, and the Communist movement, took an equally extreme position on "form". He coined the phrase "Roopa Bhadrata" as against "Bhava Bhadrata", "perfect form" and "perfect content" respectively. The controversy, quoting "chapter and verse" by both sides raged on for months and years.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The new political climate of the 1950s, celebrated by some historians as the "Red Decade" of Kerala, took all these controversies in its stride and it is hard to pinpoint when these controversies concluded. Actually issues did not die out and were to raise their heads again and again during the next decades.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />EMS watered down his extreme position on content and went back to his original stand of 1937 in the early fifties itself. But a final solution to the problem of form and content and the whole controversy with Mundassery and others had to wait for few more decades.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />In a series of lectures (1975) at Chennai EMS made a sharp correction of his view on the primacy of form. He borrowed the ideas in Engels' letters to Minna Kautsky (1885) and Margaret Harkness (1888) to adduce support for the correction. But it was in 1995 in course of a lecture in Perinthalmanna that he made a full assessment of the whole controversy. In it he turned upside down the very terms of the controversy as it was carried on in the late forties and early fifties. He resurrected the classic philosophical stand of Marxism and asserted the unity and complementarity of form and content and rejected as un-Marxian the dichotomy of form and content. Form is the mode of existence of content and content is what is contained in the form. Though it is quite legitimate for us to consider form and content apart for the purposes of analysis and study, it would be absurd and unscientific to tear one from the other as irreconcilable categories. Therefore, not only the "Bhava Bhadras" like himself but also "Roopa Bhadras" like Mundassery were in the wrong, EMS said. To quote him in detail:<br />"When we own up our mistakes some people interpret as if we alone were in the wrong. The fact is that just as we did, they also committed mistakes. If in the debate on Roopa Bhadrata we erred, people like Mundassery also erred equally.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"It is the fact of life that a truth emerges out of a conflict between two wrongs. The development of society is through contradictions. Thus the Roopa Bhadrata argument which arose out of our conflict was wrong, in another sense it was correct too. Evaluating the worth of literature we should never confine ourselves to content alone. Mundassery was correct in insisting that form too is to be evaluated. In his own words it is not enough to have perfect content, it must also have perfect form. That is Roopa Bhadrata. Is that not correct? Yes, it is. We accept that we were wrong on that count. Those of us who founded the Jeevat Sahitya Sanghom were political workers. We looked at literature too through political eyes. So we did not pay sufficient attention to the artistic structure of literature. That was our mistake.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"But when people like Mundassery tried to correct us, they viewed form and content as two separate categories and argued for perfection in both. That was their theory. In fact the form and content are not so separate of conflicting categories. For progressive content there must be progressive form. The progressive form is the same as perfect form. Those like Mundassery did not realize the relation between the two." (Literary Debate -- Sahitya Samvadam, 1996)</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />This argument is not hair-splitting or pettifogging. The dichotomy of form and content and evaluation of each separately is based on an unstated assumption that in order to make literary and artistic creation perfect there are some hoary rules of composition and styles of presentation and any deviation from them would be unsuitable. Such assumptions do not accept as legitimate the continuous process of change in artistic and literary forms, to suit the changing ethos and values of society, and the resulting changes in people's taste.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Stereotypes and Life</span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><br />Not only did EMS theoretically accept the concept of perfect form for perfect content. He applied these criteria in evaluating progressive literature and arts and sharply criticised works of progressive art when their form failed to do justice to the progressive content. For example, his criticism of the Communist hero in the famous play "You made me a Communist" is well-known. "You made me a Communist" was the first significant production of the Kerala Peoples Art Club (KPAC) organised by the CPI in the 1950s. It was a tremendous success on stage and people went to the extent of claiming that the victory of the Communists at the hustings in 1957 was due to the whirlwind campaign that this play conducted. The Congress government of the erstwhile Travancore-Cochin state was stupid enough to ban this play and lifted the ban when a furore of popular protest shook it to its roots.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The play was written by a well-known Communist play-wright Thoppil Bhasi. His is a name to contend within the annals of Kerala's performing arts. Inspite of all these points in favour of this play EMS with his keen eye could detect a major flaw in the characterisation of the Communist hero. EMS summarises his criticism as follows:<br />"A brief reference may be appropriate here to a particular flaw in the progressive plays staged in Kerala. A large number of these plays are acknowledged even by non-Communist critics to be of high artistic value. They are openly tendentious, conveying the message of working class or peasant struggles.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"You Made Me A Communist, for instance, took the people of Kerala by storm. All sections of the people, from the illiterate agricultural labourers to the most sophisticated intellectual, paid enthusiastic tribute to the author, producer, actors and to other artists connected with its staging. There was, however, one major defect in this particular play as well as in most other plays produced and staged by the revolutionary progressive writers and artistes in order to convey the message of the struggle of the toilers.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"In contrast to those characters in the play through whom the author succeeded in portraying realistically the various manifestations of social conflicts, the characters who present the cadres of the Communist Party are invariably lifeless. The landlords or capitalists at one end; and the oppressed agricultural labourers, tenant cultivators, industrial workers and other toiling people at the other, with their families and surroundings -- these are all portrayed true to life. The class and social struggles through which they live are realistically portrayed. But when it comes to portraying a live, active cadre of the Communist Party the author fails, making the `comrade' talk and behave in such a way that we are led to exclaim: "If the leading Communists are so boring, how did this Party take roots among the People?".</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"In other words, the thoughts and emotions of characters typical of ordinary men and women engaged in class and social conflicts in general are expressed in live images but the characters representing the cadres of the Communist Party are created not from life but out of the author's preconceived notions. The thoughts and emotions of the author regarding the Party are conveyed abstractly, not in live images.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />"Communist writers and critics must apply themselves as much to the study of the laws according to which man's capacity to imagine develops as to the study of the laws guiding the development of man's thinking capacity". (Marxism and Literature, Chennai, 1975)</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Basis and Superstructure</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br />Another important theoretical issue EMS had to clarify in defence of Marxism was the relation between basis and superstructure. From a superficial reading of Marx's class description of basis and superstructure in his preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859) a section of Marx's followers as well as opponents have come to the conclusion that the superstructure of ideology is only a derivation of the economic basis, it was no more than a lifeless mirror reflection. Such an understanding tend to deny art, literature and culture any positive role in social life or transformation. This oversimplification reduces dialectical materialism to mechanical materialism and distorts historical materialism to a deterministic dogma or a teleological construct.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Quoting Engels' letter to J. Bloch in 1890, EMS refuted this simplistic understanding for the benefit of both friends and foes. Engels clarified in this famous letter:<br />"According to the materialist conception of history the ultimately determining element in history is the production and reproduction of real life. More than this neither Marx nor I have ever asserted. Hence if somebody twists this into saying that the economic element is the only determining one, he transforms that proposition into a meaningless, abstract senseless phrase".<br />EMS frankly admits that among those who misread Marx in this fashion were himself and other comrades in the early years. He says:<br />"It would be a grievous error -- and this was precisely the error committed by us in our polemics against our non-Communist colleagues -- to think that aesthetic production is more or less an exact copy of class struggle in its economic or political forms." (Marxism and Literature)<br />Then he goes on to explain the intricate and sometimes elusive relation between class struggle and social realities on the one hand and aesthetic production on the other. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">He says:<br />"Class struggle is, of course, relevant and crucial to aesthetic production and appreciation, as it is to every other form of social activity. This is a truth worth repeating and emphasising, since it is denied by non-Communists. It should be clearly borne in mind, however, that the class struggle manifests itself in the field of aesthetic production in a way different from other fields, and that aesthetic production and appreciation have their own laws independent of, though related to, laws in other fields".(Ibid)</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Besides silencing the detractors, this clarification of EMS has helped young Marxist writers and critics to steer themselves clear of the pitfalls of crudity and easy sloganising.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">The Red Decade</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br />All these explorations, discoveries and clarifications in theory and practice of Marxism was possible for EMS and his comrades not by delving deeper into the classics alone but also from the experience of building the literary and cultural movement of Kerala. We have already seen how the PWA was born as Jeevat Sahitya Sanghom in 1937 and registered phenomenal growth in the next decade and then split into Communist and non-Communists pieces towards the close of the forties. We have also seen that the reason for the split was partly the faulty line pursued by Communists and partly the inevitable new alignments of forces after the transfer of power, mainly the split in the anti-imperialist front of pre-independence era. We have also dealt briefly with the process of introspection of self-criticism undertaken by EMS and other comrades and the series of steps taken by them in the following decades to enrich the Marxist and progressive understanding and practice of literature and arts.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />But as an organisation the PWA did not survive long after the split in 1948-49. Outstanding leaders of all-India PWA like Mulk Raj Anand, Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Kishan Chander, K.A. Abbas, and Balraj Sahni visited the state several times and spoke to young audiences. EMS with the able assistance of M.S. Devadas, Unni Raja, Damodaran, Achutha Kurup and others with the blessings of the patriarchal figure Mahakavi Vallathol carried on their ideological and practical literary campaign. All these gave a great fillip to the movement and salvaged very much the damages inflicted by the split. A new generation of young writers, poets and play-wrights like Vayalar Ramavarma, ONV Kurup, Thoppil Bhasi, P.J. Antony, K.T. Muhammed emerged on the scene. Old pioneers of the PWA like Thakazhi, Basheer, Varkey, Cherukat, Pottakkad and others who were only short-story writers blossomed into powerful novelists. A number of highly talented poets like Vyloppilly Sreedhara Menon and Edassery Govindan Nair, who were younger to the famed trio of 20th century Malayalam poetry, viz, Asan, Ulloor, and Vallathol but senior to Vayalar and ONV like Vyloppilly and Edassery significantly contributed to revolutionising the Malayalam poetic life of the latter half of the century. A new set of innovative writers like M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Madhavikutty (Kamala Das), T. Padmanabhan entered the arena of story telling. They were not associated with PWA, and were not content with the old realism of pioneers, but their innovations enriched the corpus of progressive writing.<br />Performing arts like theatre and visual arts like film and plastic arts like painting and sculpture also showed new signs of awakening in 1950s. We have already mentioned KPAC among the performing arts groups. Others which made a mark in this field in the 1950s were the Pratibha Arts Club of P.J. Antony, (Bharat Award winner for acting in Cinema) Kendra Kala Samity of K.T. Muhammed and others and Sakti group of Cherukat. In all these and the slowly growing Malayalam cinema the most influential creators and performers were all under the influence of the PWA. To crown all these developments in literary and art fields the political scene in Kerala was assuming a deep red hue.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />In 1956 the united Kerala state was formed as part of the all-India state reorganisation and in the general elections which took place in 1957 Communists came to power in the state with EMS Namboodiripad, the most articulate theoretician of and campaigner for the unification of Kerala, as the Chief Minister. No wonder some authors dubbed the fifties as the Red Decade of Kerala. With all these all-round advances in literature, arts and politics it may seem strange, but is true that, the PWA as an organisation did not take any roots. But as we have seen the movement flourished and progressive literary and artistic production increased unprecedently.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Decline and Rise</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><br />The red dawn of the 1950s began to fade by the 1960s before reaching its apoqee and the literary sky was overcast by dark clouds. This decline started from the rise and temporary victory of the anti-Communist front in getting the duly elected government of EMS undemocratically dismissed. The political anti-Communist front comprising Congress, social democrats, communalists and casteists with the support of the church and mullas, spread out to literary and cultural fields. Ex-Communist forums and anti-Communist writers associations, some with the support of the CIA-financed Congress for cultural freedom made their entry into the state for the first time.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The India-China border conflict, in 1962, the split in the Communist movement, and the consequential developments threw the Left movement into temporary disarray. Some weak-kneed Leftists and opportunists found it safe and advantageous to cross over to the right. Some Communist writers like Thoppil Bhasi and Vayalar Rama Varma found greener pastures in commercial films.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Some talented writers like O.V. Vijayan, M. Mukundan, Kakkanadan, M.P. Narayana Pillai, and Kakkad who were known for their Left-wing association adopted the socalled modernist garb and virtually adopted the leadership of hide-bound anti-Communists like M. Govindan and C.J. Thomas. The split in the Communist party and the incarceration of thousands of CPI(M) leaders and cadres were a further blow.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Though EMS was still occasionally writing on literary and cultural issues, the major share of his time and energy was claimed by other pressing duties. A large section of the Communist writers like Damodaran, Induchoodan and Devadas found themselves in the revisionist camp and were given to the intellectual pusillanimity of which EMS warned us in the name of self criticism they were even giving up the basic class positions. They sought to put all the blame for the split and decline of the progressive literary movement on the head of EMS and his followers.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The release of comrades from prison and the general elections which proved the greater mass base of the CPI(M) and the formation of the seven-party United Front government under the Chief Ministership of EMS made a qualitative change in the political as well as literary situation. Despite all his preoccupations, with Party and governmental duties, EMS set himself to pick up the broken threads of PWA and began mending the fences. The first step in this direction was to found an illustrated cultural weekly as a supplement to Deshabhimani daily. With the prospect of a serious split in the anti-Congress front in the offing, and most of the established Left writers having deserted the Marxist fold, it was a tough job to mobilise sufficient number of writers to run a regular weekly.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It is in this gloomy situation that EMS called this writer, then the Chief Editor of daily and weekly and asked to build up a team of writers around the weekly. He asked us not to depend too much upon big and established writers. Once we get on the rails and move on, the big ones would follow suit, one by one. But our anchor must be young and new writers, whom we must teach, train and promote.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Thus was born the Deshabhimani Study Circle with a dozen or so youngsters and two or three seniors like M.N. Kurup, Cherukat, E.K. Nayanar and of course EMS.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />By 1969, the Congress split into two and some allies including CPI left the seven-party front to join a Congress front. The second EMS Ministry fell and he had much more time to spare for art and literature. In the Republic Day special issue of Deshabhimani weekly in 1971, EMS wrote an important article titled "Progressive Literature and Communist Literature". It was a panoramic review of 34 years of PW movement assessing both the deviations and achievements. He also charted out a path forward to revive the movement.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />This article was widely discussed in literary circles, study circle units and debated in the columns of the weekly. As a sort of rounding up of the widespread discussions and debates, an all-Kerala conference of the activists of the circle and some invited guests not associated with the circle was held on May 27-28, 1971 at Elamkulam, the home village of EMS in central Kerala. Besides EMS's article the veteran Marxist M.S. Devadas also presented a paper. Nayanar presided over the deliberations.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />After frank and thorough debates, interspersed with self criticism and some times complacent of self-justifications EMS summed up the findings. Though the study circle was a designed as a loose organisation, with a lot of freedom for participation and dissent, central committee with the famed activist, dramalist, and novelist Cherukat as the President and poet-journalist M.N. Kurup as the General Secretary was elected. Thus the wide road was opened up for the revival and as ward of the defunch PWA.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Circle to PAAL</span></strong></div><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong><div align="justify"><br />The onward march of Deshabhimani Study Circle in the turbulent decade of 1970s was spectacular. EMS's prophesy proved correct. Alongwith a number of young writers, poets and play wrights trained and promoted by the circle a number of established writers gave their weighty support to the circle. The non-sectarian openness which was the hall-mark of the circle from the very beginning had its salutory results. Outstanding men and women of letters, who were no longer young and some of whom began their literary career as anti-Communists and critics of PWA, joined the movement and gave it wide spread acceptability. Among them may be mentioned the critic Thayatt Sankaran, M.K. Sanu, M.N. Vijayan, M.S. Menon, Erumeli Parameswaran Pillai, Parappurath Sukumar Azhikkode and many others. Though there are still criticise the movement as a Communist outfit, such critics do not have their former credibility.</div><div align="justify"><br />The role of the study circle during the suffocating oppression of Emergency Declaration (1975-77) was bold and fruitful.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The movement took the next long step forward on 14 August 1981, the seventieth birth day of Mahakavi Vyloppilly Sreedhara Menon, to transform and expand and rename the Study Circle as Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sanghom -- Progressive Association for Art and Letters, PAAL for short. Mahakavi Vyloppilly, the greatest 20th century Malayalam poet after Kumaran Asan and Vallathol was elected President. Vyloppilly, besides his poetic brilliance and progressive commitment, earned a special niche in the heart of Malayalees as a forth-right opponent of Emergency. There were not many senior writers in Kerala who can claim this title, though there were many younger ones.</div><div align="justify"><br />As the name indicates the PAAL does not confine itself to literature. Performing arts, plastic arts, music, film, architecture and all other forms of art comes under PAAL's purview. Separate camps, workshops and conferences are being held for different forms of arts. PAAL now is the most powerful and influential organisation fighting communalism and fascism in Kerala. And it is one of the heritages left by EMS.</div><div align="justify"><br />The various comments, self criticisms and the theories from EMS which we quoted were all part of the consistent campaign EMS carried on to resurrect and strengthen the PW movement. Though he was eminently successful in reviving and strengthening the movement, two items on his agenda remained unimplemented. One was to transform PAAL into a still broader body to make it a common organisation of all writers, artists, painters, actors, film-makers etc., without any sectarian barrier among them. Another, and more important ambition which was close to his heart was to build up an all-India forum of Artists and writers.</div><div align="justify"><br />Let us hope that these unfulfilled items of his agenda will get the attention they deserve from his comrades and admirers. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">The Marxist</span></strong><br />Volume: 14, No. 01-02<br />Jan-June 1998</div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-34484143829483733682008-12-10T16:53:00.005+05:302008-12-10T17:10:03.369+05:30EMS: The Marxist Pathfinder<strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong><br /><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Prakash Karat</span></strong></div><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong><div align="justify"><br />E.M.S. Namboodiripad is a striking illustration of how an individual's life and work acquires a tremendous impact when harnessed to the theory and practice of Marxism. When the individual is a person of EMS's exceptional intellectual ability and depth of vision, veritably, theory becomes a powerful force and in the hands of a creative practitioner like EMS, it produces the impulses for a powerful movement. The creative thought and practice of EMS moved the people and changed the history of Kerala in the twentieth century as no other individual has done. What made EMS a preeminent leader was his ability to stay ahead of his contemporaries in applying Marxism to the specific conditions of Kerala and India. The second unmatched capacity was his natural skill in communicating his ideas and that of his party to the people in a manner which moved them into collective political action.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />In the sphere of theorising and putting into practice the policies of the Party of the working class, EMS made an unparalleled contribution. The flowering of EMS's talents in analysis of contemporary society is evident from the point when he became acquainted with Marxist theory in a rudimentary fashion. After being profoundly influenced by the socialist politics of Jayaprakash Narayan whose book "Why Socialism" opened the window to socialist ideas for the young radical Congressmen of Malabar in 1934, EMS and his contemporaries like P. Krishna Pillai, A.K. Gopalan, K. Damodaran and others, joined the Congress Socialist Party.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Contacts with the Communist Party through the CSP and the formation of the first Communist group in Kerala in 1937 made available some books on Marxism to EMS. From here began the efforts to study theory, apply it to the conditions of Kerala society and then extend it to the development of the revolutionary movement. In the early years upto 1945 we see the promising beginnings. The analysis of Malabar agrarian society, the historical development of Kerala society and the linguistic-nationality question of the Malayalees are all utilised to shape the left movement.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />The creative vitality of EMS's political thought stemmed from the method he began applying early in life. He would study the concrete socio-economic conditions and their impact on the various classes in society and out of this analysis he would draw his theoretical conclusions which would be the guide for action.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Theorist for Agrarian Revolution</span></strong></div><p><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong></p><p align="justify">This was the method he first adopted in dealing with agrarian relations in Malabar. The result was his minute of dissent to the report of the Malabar Tenancy Enquiry Committee set up by the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1939. This document nearly six decades later still retains the brilliance of its insights into the nature of the Jenmi-landlord system in Malabar and its pernicious effects on the peasantry and society. Building on this analysis EMS provided practical guidance to the developing peasant movement against landlordism in the Malabar province. The militant anti-feudal struggles which carried on till the post-independence period made Malabar one of the strongest units of the Kisan Sabha in the country. It is based on the experience of this powerful movement, which became the spearhead of the anti-imperialist struggle in Kerala, that EMS made his contribution to the All India Kisan Sabha of which he became the Joint Secretary. When he joined the Party Centre at Delhi in end 1953, one of the responsibilities assigned to him was looking after the Kisan Front. The CC resolution of 1954 on "Our Tasks among the Peasant Masses" provided a broadly correct orientation for work on this front; EMS played an important role in drafting this document.</p><p align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Foundations of modern Kerala</span></strong></p><strong><span style="color:#000099;"><p align="justify"><br /></span></strong></p>In contrast to the one nation single culture model put out by the dominant bourgeois leadership of the national movement, it is the communists who pioneered studies on the linguistic--nationality question in India. EMS undertook the job of tracing the development of the linguistic-nationality of the Malayalam-speaking people and provided the theoretical basis for the creation of a unified state of Kerala. His publication in Malayalam titled "One and a Quarter crore Malayalees" in 1945 was subsequently revised and developed into a full-fledged study published in English in 1952 as "The National Question in Kerala. This was the first concrete application of the Marxist-Leninist approach to the nationality question to a specific nationality in India. His advocacy of "Aikya Kerala" was similar to the works which appeared on the formation of Vishalandhra by P. Sundarayya and Natun Bangla by Bhowani Sen, but the significance of EMS's work lay in the deep historical insight into how the socio-economic formation in Kerala developed at different stages upto colonialism. This provided the basis both for championing the formation of Kerala as a linguistic state merging Travancore, Cochin and Malabar, and also getting rid of antiquated socio-economic relations and fetters on production necessary for the emancipation of the people from feudalism and imperialism. <p align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Class analysis of caste</span></strong></p><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong><p align="justify"><br />The same approach can be seen in the manner in which EMS tackled the caste question in India. After studying the role of caste historically in ancient Kerala society upto the time the British colonised India, EMS concluded that the feudal system in Kerala consisted of a jati-janmi-naduvazhi medhavitwam (landlord-upper caste-chieftain-domination). Having been an active participant in the anti-caste and social reform movement and then moving forward to the building of class based movements and the Communist Party, EMS with his intellectual abilities was able to synthesise this early experience and formulate the correct position on class-caste relations. The basis on which he advocated tackling the question of caste by the working class movement has an abiding relevance in the contemporary period where caste divisions are acute in society.</p><p align="justify"><br />EMS spelt out the basis of the Marxist approach to caste and class. He wanted the working class movement to identify and channelise the aspirations of the most oppressed castes particularly the dalits, in their struggles for social emancipation and an end to caste oppression. Studying Kerala society, in the forties he had shown the close correlation between caste, class and property relations and underlined the vital importance of harnessing the anti-caste revolts to the democratic and agrarian revolution. While doing so, he resolutely worked for the building of the class organisations and the unity of the oppressed sections of all castes and communities. While being supportive of the struggles of the lower caste organisations against upper caste domination, the Communists in Kerala gave priority to the united movements and organisations of the working people.</p><p align="justify"><br />EMS talked of the two-front struggle that had to be waged:<br />"We had then and still have to fight a two-front battle. Ranged against us on the one hand are those who denounce us for our alleged "departure from the principles of nationalism and socialism," since we are championing "sectarian" causes like those of the oppressed castes and religious minorities. On the other hand are those who, in the name of defending the oppressed caste masses, in fact, isolate them from the mainstream of the united struggle of the working people irrespective of castes, communities and so on." (Once Again on Castes and Classes, p.184, Selected Writings, Vol. 1)</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />Throughout EMS maintained: "Our Party and myself as one of its activists have thus been basing ourselves on the Marxist theory of class struggle and subordinating the problem of caste oppression to the needs of uniting the exploited against the exploiting classes, irrespective of the caste to which each belongs." (Ibid, p.190)</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />He noted that with the development of capitalism and the breakdown of the old order, sections of the upper castes who were property owners had become pauperised and joined the ranks of the urban and rural proletariat. At a later stage, he pointed out that sections of the backward castes (or Other Backward Classes) had also benefitted from the socio-economic changes and gone up the ladder either through access to education, jobs or improved economic conditions. It is this understanding which EMS first put forward in the report of the Administrative Reforms Committee that he headed when he was Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957. In this report it was recommended that reservation continue for other backward classes and that the elite sections from these classes be excluded from the benefit of reservation. Much before the "creamy layer" issue became a controversy, three decades before that, EMS had already formulated such an approach. The stand on reservation which EMS elaborated after the Mandal Commission Report was implemented in 1989 was based on the above class understanding which stressed the importance of the unity of all sections of the working people. But within this mass of the working people, Marxists should recognise that there are some sections who are historically and socially disadvantaged and oppressed by the caste system. This oppression has not been eliminated even after decades of capitalist development and political independence. It is in order to draw these masses into the common movement and to eventually break down caste barriers that reservation is supported by the Marxists as a concept for a period of time with limited aims. EMS firmly took on upper caste chauvinists who oppose reservations and also warned the Party of the working class not to "allow itself to be turned into a tailist hanger on of the bourgeois-landlord elements growing with the 'backward' communities."</p><p align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Women's Movement: Emancipatory vission</span></strong></p><p align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong><br />EMS made an original contribution to the development of a correct perspective for the democratic women's movement. In his first public activity against the hidebound orthodoxy of the Namboodiri community, a major issue was the status of Namboodiri women. The young EMS who participated in the social reform movement focussed on the oppression of Namboodiri women who were even deprived of the right to marriage and had to observe a form of purdah. The emancipation of Namboodiri women from gender oppression in a feudal set-up was the theme of the early writings and the plays prepared by EMS and his colleagues in the Yogakshema Sabha.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />Later in the development of the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggles in Malabar, EMS paid particular attention to the increasing participation of women in the democratic movement. Writing in 1942 about this aspect, he noted that rights were accorded to women in most communities in traditional Kerala society unknown in other areas. He hoped this tradition would be renewed in the modern contest which would enable them to play an equal role with men in the social transformation of society. When he was first working at the Party Centre in the period 1954-56, EMS was responsible for guiding the work on the women's front. At that time, he set out the broad outlines of the nature of the women's organisation. It should encompass all sections of women belonging to different classes as they all suffer from a common gender oppression, at the same time, women coming from the working class and the peasantry would constitute the bulk of the membership as they suffer from the double oppression, both class and social.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />Later, in the leadership of the CPI(M), drawing from experience, he set out the basis for the building of a powerful democratic women's movement. He pointed out three aspects that have to be taken into account. Firstly, of women as women who irrespective of their class status suffer from gender oppression in a bourgeois and semi-feudal society; secondly, women as workers who suffer from the class exploitation given their position as agricultural or industrial workers and thirdly, women as citizens who have to struggle alongwith men for democratic rights, democracy and a just society. It is these three aspects combined together, which provides the correct orientation to draw in all sections of women in the struggle for women's equality and against class and gender exploitation.</p><p align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Perspective on parliamentary activity</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></p></span></strong><strong><span style="color:#000099;"><p align="justify"><br /></span></strong></p>EMS held a unique position as far as communist participation in parliamentary democracy is concerned. Having been the head of the first elected communist ministry in the country in 1957, he had the direct experience of working within a constitutional set up where real State power did not rest with the state governments but with the Centre. <p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />The 28 months of the first communist ministry in Kerala headed by EMS saw policies being implemented which had far-reaching implications. The first act of the government was to issue an ordinance banning evictions of tenants. This was followed by the Agrarian Relations Bill which provided for fix.. of tenure, lower rents and right to buy ownership for the tenants; for the landless labourers security of tenure on homestead land and distribution of surplus land was proposed.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />While the legislation on land reforms and the education bill are well known and became the focus for the landlord and reactionary interests to gang up and topple the government, there was another policy measure which is equally significant. This was the police policy adopted by the EMS ministry. For the first time in post-independent India a government proposed a democratic police policy. The essence of the policy was that the police had no role to play in labour disputes or in disputes between landlords and peasants. The police was not an instrument for capitalists and landlords to break up the struggles of workers and peasants. The police intervention should come into play only if there was a problem of law and order created with any side trying to take the law into their own hands. Explaining this policy, EMS wrote:<br />"The crux of that policy is that it is not the job of the police to suppress the trade union, peasant and other mass activities of any mass organisation, or a political struggle waged by any political party; it is the job of the police to track down and punish those who commit ordinary crimes." (Twenty-eight months in Kerala, p.134, Selected Writings, Vol. 2)</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />This policy which could not be fully put in place by the first EMS government was developed further by the CPI(M) when the United Front governments took office nearly a decade later in the 1967-70 period.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />The "Kerala way" advocated by a reformist view of the electoral advance in Kerala was refuted by EMS much before the 1964 split in the Party. He did not believe, having seen the dogged pursuit of the ruling class interests by the Nehru-led Congress, that any parliamentary road to power had opened up. There would be no successive Kerala-type victories leading to power in Delhi. Instead he foresaw increasing electoral success of the Communists resulting in intensification of the class struggle.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />The experience of the first Communist ministry was explained by EMS as follows: "If the "experiment" in Kerala showed anything, it is this: The struggle in the parliamentary arena, including the formation of state governments when a majority is secured, is one specific form of class struggle in which the struggle on the parliamentary arena would have to be subordinated to, though being integrated with, the extra-parliamentary struggle." (Reminiscences of an Indian communist, p. 177)</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />It is this experience which helped the CPI(M) subsequently in formulating its tactics regarding participation in the state governments within a bourgeois-landlord system. When the 1964 Party programme was formulated, as pointed out by Harkishan Singh Surjeet, a paragraph defining the participation in state governments was included at the instance of EMS. Subsequently, the Central Committee in its document "New Situation and Tasks" (1967) elaborated on the nature of this participation with regard to the formation and functioning of United Front governments headed by the CPI(M) in West Bengal and Kerala in 1967. After becoming the Chief Minister of Kerala again in 1967, EMS was instrumental in formulating the tactics of administration and struggle while being in the state government. The idea being that participation in the state government should be utilised to initiate and implement policies which will help the development of the mass movements and democratic struggles. At that time this slogan was opposed by the CPI. EMS countered this by defending the concept of using the state government headed by the Left as an instrument of struggle.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />It would be wrong however to limit EMS's understanding on participation in parliamentary forums to just this role. He had a more fundamental understanding of how the Communist Party should work in the parliamentary system clarifying and defining the role of the Party which participates in governments where it has popular mandates while continuing to keep its major focus on developing mass movements and the struggles of the working people. The work of the Party at all levels in elected bodies whether it be legislatures or other institutions in society should be part of the overall strategy and tactics of developing the democratic movement.</p><p align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Tactics of fighting communalism</span></strong></p><strong><span style="color:#000099;"><p align="justify"><br /></span></strong></p>EMS's mastery of political tactics was a result of his remarkable ability to grasp the essence of the changes that were taking place both in relation to the immediate situation and long term strategy. There was none to rival him in foreseeing the line of development once a political phenomenon appeared and he was able to analyse it in class terms. This became evident time and again when he formulated the next stage in a tactical line or, initiated a change in the existing tactics. Very often, his colleagues and the Party took time to come abreast with his changing understanding. A good example is how EMS translated the understanding of the growing danger of the communal and divisive forces formulated by the Party in the Vijayawada Congress to the concrete situation in Kerala. He was in the forefront as the General Secretary of the Party in leading the struggle to break links with communal parties who were till then part of the united front politics practiced by the Party. The break with the AIML (a splinter group of the Muslim League) came about in 1985 as a result of the firm struggle initiated by EMS who understood that any concession to a communal based party in Kerala would compromise the all -India struggle against the forces of majority communalism and other divisive forces. The 1987 assembly elections saw EMS conducting an intensive campaign, posing the basic question before the people of Kerala that caste and communal politics should become an anachronism and should find no place in modern democratic Kerala society. The victory of Left and Democratic Front and the Party line in these elections was one of the finest moments in EMS's political career. <p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />On the question of communalism, EMS made another important contribution. At the national level when he was the General Secretary of the Party, the danger of majority communalism grew rapidly in the latter half of the eighties. The rise of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement targeting the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, the spate of communal riots organised by the RSS and its allied outfits and the growing aggressiveness of the Hindutva forces alerted EMS to the new threat to secular democracy. Well before many of his contemporaries in the secular camp, EMS traced the growing assertiveness of the BJP to the backing of the RSS and the Hindutva ideology which ran counter to the whole orientation and traditions of the anti-imperialist freedom struggle. The communal threat which existed before independence and its revival again in post-independent India in a big way after four decades was related by EMS to the class nature of the bourgeois-landlord system which compromised with the very forces which sustain such ideology. Therefore, EMS saw the BJP-RSS combine not as a communal force alone but also in class terms as representatives of right reaction in India.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />It is this clear understanding which enabled EMS to provide the firm leadership to the Party Central Committee and Polit Bureau to pursue a two track policy. Firstly, to target the BJP-RSS-VHP combine as a threat to the secular democratic fabric of the country and to work for its isolation; secondly, together with the Left to unitedly strive to gather all the secular opposition forces so that the wider unity of the Left and secular opposition could be forged to fight the Rajiv Gandhi government at that time and also to demarcate from and isolate the BJP which was seeking to intervene and join the anti-Congress struggle. EMS firmly led the struggle of the Party to foil all efforts to build an "all-in opposition unity" inclusive of the BJP to head the rising mass discontent against the Congress. When the National Front was being formed, initially some of the bourgeois parties wanted to include the BJP. Efforts were made to unite with the BJP on specific issues like support to Giani Zail Singh against Rajiv Gandhi. In all these questions the political stand and intervention of the Party expressed through EMS played a major role in demarcating the National Front from the BJP and laying the foundations for cooperation between the National Front and the Left.</p><p align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">For proletarian hegemony</span></strong></p><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong><p align="justify"><br />Another sphere in which EMS made a distinctive contribution was in articulating the role of the Left as a distinct force in Indian politics, tracing its roots from the anti-imperialist struggle. Having been an active Congressman in his early political career, then a leading Congress Socialist Party worker and eventually a Communist leader, EMS sought to put the whole experience of the anti-imperialist movement in a systematic manner in which the role of the Left could be delineated at every stage of the development of the anti-imperialist movement. The struggle within the Congress between the Right and the Left, from the Lucknow session when Nehru became president in 1935 to the Tripuri session when Subhas Chandra Bose won the elections; the role of the fledgling Communist Party; the impact of the October revolution and later the anti-fascist struggle; the formation of the AITUC and other class and mass organisations ---- these events were put together to provide a coherent narrative of how the proletarian/Left stream developed in the freedom struggle vis a vis the bourgeois dominated movement.</p><p align="justify"><br />Here again there was no mechanical analysis or simplification. While characterising the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi as essentially bourgeois in class terms, EMS made sophisticated and insightful analysis of the role played by Gandhi in the national movement. The Mahatma And The Ism first published in 1958 was a product of a number of articles written in the New Age monthly in the period 1955-56. It was the first serious attempt by a Marxist leader to analyse the crucial role played by Gandhi in developing the Congress-led mass movement for freedom. Gandhi's positive role and its serious limitations were seen not in individual terms but put within the framework of the overall interests of the national bourgeoisie. The unique tactics adopted by Gandhi such as individual satyagraha and civil disobedience were understood in this context. While acknowledging the greatness of Gandhi and his contribution, the book also sets out the divergent approaches to the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal tasks which the Communists and the bourgeois leadership of the Congress had.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />From this seminal work, which EMS himself recognised as one of his major works, the idea of the two streams, bourgeois and proletarian, within the freedom struggle, complementary to the overall aim of fight against imperialism but divergent in its class interests was worked out. Thus began the quest for constructing the proletarian challenge to the hegemony of the bourgeois political forces. Tracing the heritage of the Left in the anti-imperialist struggles and demarcating from the bourgeois and petit bourgeois trends of the Congress leadership, EMS subsequently paid a great deal of attention to the whole question of countering the ideological hegemony of the ruling classes. Not by economic struggles and political slogans alone can the ruling classes domination be countered. EMS right from the beginning of his revolutionary career recognised the importance of the role of the media, culture and intellectual work to project an alternative Left perspective. His lifelong and fruitful assoication with media and cultural activities was nurtured by this comprehensive understanding of a proletarian movement.</p><p align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Socialist internationalism</span></strong></p><strong><span style="color:#000099;"><p align="justify"><br /></span></strong></p>It is not necessary to dwell at length on the internationalist outlook of EMS which he shared with the collective leadership of the CPI(M). A characteristic feature of this outlook, as distinct from the CPI stream, was the adherence to proletarian internationalism which was not circumscribed by loyalty to any particular communist party in working out the international understanding and application of Marxism-Leninism. While defending socialism from the onslaughts of imperialism whether it be in the case of the Soviet Union or China, the CPI(M) leadership, of which EMS was an integral part, firmly stood for an internationalism which was partisan towards socialism and unremittingly hostile to imperialism. However, it also refused to accept any direction or guidance on how the communists should work out their strategy and tactics in India. To EMS fell the difficult task of putting out the principled communist position in 1962 during the Indo-China border conflict and in 1965 during the Indo-Pakistan war when most of his colleagues were in jail. He became the spokesman for the Party for a line which opposed national chauvinism and which stressed peaceful solution of disputes with both the neighbours. <p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />His understanding of the socialist countries and the international working class movement had two distinctive trends in the later period -- after the splits in the international communist movement and in the post-Soviet Union era. In the first instance, while opposing revisionist and sectarian manifestations in the communist movement, he firmly maintained that each country and the revolutionary party there will have to find its own path to socialism and this cannot be strait-jacketed into any single model of revolution in the name of Marxism-Leninism or proletarian internationalism. Thus he could appreciate the immense contribution of the Chinese revolution and urge a more serious study of Mao Zedong's contribution to the theory and practice of Marxism, while at the same time, resolutely opposing any move to mechanically transpose them to Indian conditions. It is this consistent approach which led to the naxalite movement and Maoist ideologues in India targetting him for attack in the late sixties and early seventies.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he began the process of looking back at the whole experience of building of the Soviet Union in order to come to some deeper understanding of this first experiment of a socialist society. In a number of articles he stressed the necessity of going back to the period of Lenin and the New Economic Policy (NEP) and to then trace the roots of dogmatism and revisionism in the Soviet model. He was in this context sympathetic to the Chinese efforts to reform the economy so as to avoid the mistakes made in the Soviet Union. He did not agree with the view that the reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping were primarily a negative development for the future of socialism in China.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"><br />EMS in his last years urged the Party to undertake a thorough reappraisal of the experience of the building of socialism in the Soviet Union and the causes for its downfall and integrate it with a contemporary and comprehensive approach to the development of the international working class movement and the struggle for socialism. He felt the Party had not been able to move forward on these lines after the important beginning made in the form of the ideological resolution adopted by the Fourteenth Congress in 1992. This is a major task which needs to be undertaken by the Party in the spirit of EMS's quest for a renewal of the worldwide socialist project and its concomitant ideological work within India.</p><p align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Dialogue with the masses</span></strong></p><span style="color:#000099;"><strong></strong><p align="justify"><br /></span></p>Unmatched by any other Communist leader, EMS was the most successful communicator of ideas giving practical guidance to the mass of the people. This was a unique phenomenon basically confined to Kerala where EMS could use the mass media of the Party as the vehicle for his dialogue with the masses and for polemics with rival political circles. Even when he was based in Delhi he would intervene in the political debates raging in Kerala through the medium of his columns and articles. The prodigious output which he sustained till the end of his life through daily articles, weekly columns, editorials, review of books and cultural events constitutes a chapter in the public life of Kerala which will be unique in the annals of the Indian communist movement. No other political thinker in post-independent India could acquire this stature and access to the people which EMS had. This was possible because his was a political thought and practice which exemplified the best Marxist synthesis of theory and practice. <p align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">The Marxist<br /></span></strong>Volume: 14, No. 01-02<br />Jan-June 1998</p><p align="justify"><br /></p>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-36328327579661410672008-12-10T16:37:00.002+05:302008-12-10T16:49:48.438+05:30Inauguration of the academic activities of the EMS Academy<div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Thiruvananthapuram,</span></strong> <span style="color:#000099;">Nov. 11, 2001</span>: Noted intellectual Noam Chomsky inaugurated the academic activities of the EMS Academy in Thiruvananthapuram. M.A. Baby, Central Committee member of the CPI(M), and Dr. K.N. Panikkar, historian and Vice-Chancellor of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady also present in the occasion. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Chomsky's lecture, titled 'Globalisation and Human Survival: The Challenges after September 11', on November 11 provided an exciting start to the activities of the EMS Academy. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The Academy, to be developed as an alternative centre for learning and research, has been instituted in the memory of E.M.S. Namboodiripad, one of the greatest intellectuals of Kerala and India. Many walked several kilometres to attend the event. Members of the audience, a large number of whom failed to find seats inside the hall, heard him in rapt attention throughout the one-and-a-half-hour speech. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Later, one of the first questions that Chomsky fielded, soon after he delightfully acknowledged autograph hunters, was on "what he would have done after the September 11 attacks, had he been the President of the United States." Chomsky said: "Exactly the same thing as President George Bush. It is an institutional reaction and had I been the President, the reaction would have been the same." Chomsky added that it only showed that what need to be changed are institutions, not individuals.<br /> </div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3356464026993157454.post-86201755464883285162008-12-10T16:33:00.001+05:302008-12-10T16:36:42.629+05:30Inaugural Address by Harkishan Singh Surjeet at the EMS Academy<div align="justify">March 19, 2001</div><div align="justify"><br />At the outset, I would like to recall with pride that the EMS Academy has come a long way since I laid its foundation stone. This memorial built in honour of one of the most outstanding exponent of Marxism of our times is a fitting tribute to his memory.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />On this occasion, I also recall the overwhelming response to the call for funds for the setting of this institution. It testifies to the reverence with which EMS was held by Malayalees cutting across party lines. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The contributions made by EMS are not limited to his writings. EMS has dealt with wide-ranging subjects like politics, philosophy, history, economics, sociology, literature, culture and education with reference to Kerala.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />He was a political leader who had complete command over the written and spoken word. His political career commenced with the fight against social evils within his own community. This was to seem him advance towards the struggle for independence and later on find himself in the communist movement. He not only put new scientific ideas in a popular way but also actively participated in the struggles. The inedible mark that he made as the first Communist Chief Minister of any state in the Indian Union earned him respectability amongst all democratic minded people of the country. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />It would not be an exaggeration to state that no other person in Kerala has contributed so intensely in bringing about profound changes in the life of the people of the state in the last century. All through his life he communicated with the people, especially of Kerala, through his various columns and articles in various periodicals and books. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Comrade EMS Namboodiripad was the founder General Secretary of the Congress Socialist Party. He was one of the founders of the All India Kisan Sabha. Gradually he gravitated towards the then illegal Communist Party of India. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />After the third Congress of the Communist Party of India, he started working at the all India Centre of the Party. He became the editor of the central organ of the Party, and officiated as the General Secretary when the General Secretary was away. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />As General Secretary of the CPI(M), a responsibility he came to acquire later, he left an inedible imprint both inside the party and outside. Even after he had to leave the Centre, owing to ill health and relinquished the responsibility of General Secretary, he made immense contribution to the movement. His commitment was so unwavering that even when he breathed his last he was writing for the Kerala Party’s daily, Deshabhimani. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />He fought against alien tendencies and put forward the Marxist standpoint to various problems facing Kerala and the country. His in-depth study of Kerala society, its past and present saw him presenting new insights and in his books on the subject.<br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Ever since my association with him began in 1953, I have seen him always deeply immersed in work. He was either reading or writing. When at work, he remained detached from everything else and concentrated singularly on it. He was a voracious reader whose thirst for knowledge remained insatiate. He would devour any book that came his way at the first opportunity.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Even while building a Party He with a mass following and increased membership he always emphasised that becoming a member of the Party and accepting its programme does not mean that one had become a communist. To become a real communist, Com. EMS stressed that one needs to comprehend the basics of Marxism-Leninism. Com. EMS always pointed out that there is no alternative to study. Study and deeper study alone, he said gives one the capacity and sagacity to comprehend and face difficult and adverse circumstances. That is why when faced with an hostile situation in the aftermath of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the setbacks to socialism, when many a communist party and its members abandoned their goal, Com. EMS and the CPI(M) stood steadfast rededicating itself to building socialism. The CPI(M) rightly concluded that the setbacks and reverses were not because of the flaw in theory but were entirely due to its erroneous application. Each country has to adopt its own style and form depending on the correlation of forces, the development of productive forces etc. It has to be concretely applied to the concrete conditions prevailing in each country. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The communists in India have made tremendous sacrifices both during the course of the freedom struggle and after. However, at the same time we should not hesitate in admitting our failure in to assume the leadership of the national movement as in the case of China and some other Asian countries. The failure lies in our application of the Marxist understanding to the then prevailing Indian situation. In independent India, hundreds of our cadres have sacrificed their lives in the struggle to build a better future, to defend and advance the rights of the workers and peasants, to defend the unity and integrity of the country etc. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Comrade EMS Namboodiripad was a leader par excellence, who combined his deep theoretical understanding with practical work -- coming up with newer solutions and venturing to take risks; he deeply felt for the poor and the underprivileged and they in turn identified with him; he was a colleague who respected the views of others; he was like a saint to many and always lent an ear to anyone who approached him. These qualities of Comrade EMS made him stand apart from the vast spectrum of political leadership in the country. It is comrades like P. Krishna Pillai, A.K. Gopalan and EMS Namboodiripad who laid the strong foundations for the Communist movement in Kerala and the country as a whole. For generations of Communists and patriots, Comrade EMS was more than an inspiration. His life and work remains as a guide for future generations. Simple living, dedication to the cause he cherished, spirit of self-sacrifice, theory and practice -- all these are qualities that the generation of today has to learn from him. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />The EMS Academy is a tribute to his life long commitment to the cause of the revolution. The curriculum at the academy, I am sure, reflects the wide spectrum of intellectual pursuits of Com. EMS. The courses that would be conducted, the proposed cultural centre and museum apart from the library and other research facilities, I am sure will attract research students and scholars in large numbers. EMS had always emphasised and encouraged study and came up with newer understanding and solutions to problems. This Academy, I am sure will encourage this tendency.</div><div align="justify"><br />Thank you.</div><div align="justify"> </div>AJOY DASGUPTAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06353118047589741058noreply@blogger.com0