The DECLINE OF COMMUNISM IN KERALA: An Analysis
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| A Communist memorial |
Indian Politics is a crazy world where mostly the trashiest of persons reach the top of the pyramid. I can't imagine any other countries electing the likes of Lalu Prasad Yadav and shunning the likes of Dr Shashi Tharoor who is an intellectual. I used to be a Communist sympathiser throughout my college days mainly due to some of my teachers who had a major influence in shaping my political views then. Politically I have become neutral nowadays, as I do not have much trust in any political parties. I like individuals but no parties or even ideologies. Now I do not get carried away by tall claims of politicians as I have learnt to objectively look at things, be it Congress, BJP, Communists or AAP.
But the current state of Communist Party in Kerala which has become sort of the last bastion for them, also seem to be on the decline. The Communist Party has had long-lasting popularity, particularly in Kerala. Kerala was the first State where a Communist majority government came to power through an election, under the comradeship of E.M. Shankaran Nampoothirippad. The Party had some charismatic leaders throughout their history but the current crop does not inspire much confidence. There used a time when Kerala Communist voiced the problems of the common man and tried to find solutions for it. Even though they are an atheist party they took part in religious festivals and tried to promote harmony.But the current trends in State politics shows this previous popularity is dipping. Now the leaders are too busy making dubious statements like 'Christ was a Communist', 'Sri Narayana Guru was not a Hindu saint' etc. The recent clownish efforts by the party to gain Hindu votes in Kerala has backfired in an epic way, as widely reported in social media. I am disgusted by the present day 'comrades' who acts more like goons than anything. This Party has degraded to such abysmal level where they allegedly have murdered their own follower named T.P. Chandrashekharan which has rocked the State. The turning point for me was the U-turn taken by V.S. Achuthanandan in the aforementioned murder, that too for winning more seats in the election.
Recently I had read up on the rise of Communism in Kerala. Before 1956, Kerala was divided into 3, namely Travancore (current Southern Kerala & some parts of current Tamil Nadu), Cochin and Malabar(British Malabar in Pre- Independence times). I found that even the genesis of this party itself is by making false claims about their supposed opposition in the form of 'Punnapra-Vayalar Uprising' against the Independent Travancore proposition, made by the last Maharajah of Travancore, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma in 1947. The Communists had claimed that the Uprising was against the said proposition and to save Travancoreans from the despotism of then Prime Minister, Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer! The reality is that the Uprising took place in 1946 and the 'Independent Travancore' announcement came in 1947! When this claim was debunked by historians, there came the next one that 'Punnapra-Vayalar Uprising' was actually a struggle for Independence as 'the Travancore Maharajah was a "British Agent"! Kerala historian, Prof. Sreedhara Menon, rubbished this claim by calling it "far-fetched" and also point out the fact that India's Independence was already achieved even before the Uprising. This was the major lie with which Party gained a major foothold in the State politics. I came across a document published in a newspaper, a report submitted by the Communist leaders to the Indian Central leaders in Delhi that the Uprising was "aimed at ensuring freedom for provincial states to remain sovereign if they wanted to". But according to T. K. Varghese Vaidya, a participant in the uprising said it was "a rehearsal for a larger revolution with the ultimate objective of establishing a Communist India."!
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| The Maharajah of Travancore with the Maharajah of Cochin |
Besides, I came across documents after documents of the development that took place in the Princely States of Travancore and Cochin which was accomplished by the then Royal regimes. The last Maharajah of Travancore, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, spend 40% of GDP on the promotion of education. In 'modern' India it is a piteous 2%! The credit of education was given to missionaries but if we observe missionaries were working all over India yet they could not create any effect in other parts of India, not even in British Malabar. The last Maharajah of Travancore was referred to as the 'Father of Industrialization' by Prof. E. Sreedhara Menon. There was an increase in industrialization; 20 mega industries were begun by him in Travancore which was successfully closed up or bankrupted by trade unions under the aegis of Communists. The Maharajah of Cochin even sold his wife's jewellery to fund a railway project in his Kingdom! Yet all this was twisted, hidden and distorted to spread Communist propaganda here.
My paternal grandfather, a Nampoothiri (Kerala Brahmin), was a Communist too who went against the then social norms and married his lady love officially and gave up all his claims on his Illam's (ancestral house of a Nampoothiri) properties. My father a lifelong Communist was shocked to read about all these lies and has become disillusioned about the Party. I too have developed a severe hatred to this ideology itself whose basis here were lies and propaganda. The Party has now reduced to a group of hooligans who murder, pillage and destroy the State assets. The violence in northern districts, especially Kannur, is unsettling and the Party leaders going to meet convicted criminals is even more frightening. Kerala Communists has a legacy of conducting strikes against new technology. When the computer was first introduced here, the Communists went to strike stating "it will reduce jobs in the State"!
I don't believe Communism has a place in this modern world, dominated by technology. I have now lost all faith in this Party and has lost faith in their ideology as well. There was a time when I foolishly thought that Communism can only do a good deed or all the good things I see around me was the contribution of Communism. Now I am ashamed to even have the remotest link to this party or their ideology. This might seem like a rant by a disillusioned Mallu (Malayali) but my opinions are being proven right by the current Leftist politicians.
Multiple political parties are necessary for democracy as it should not become a 2 party race as it is in Kerala. Here both Communists and Congress know that their parties will come to power alternatively which has led them to take the citizens for granted. There should be a strong opposition which has beliefs in constructive criticism rather than becoming disruptive. There should be more political outfits competing and people deserve wider choice while voting. The current Communist Party should not be even involved in State politics as all they are promoting is violence, nepotism and absolute intolerance.
Kerala deserves a new breed of political outfit that will deal with the issues of the State rather than parrot some outdated ideologies that are not suited to this country.
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Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Thank you.