Comrades should pray they don’t come to power next time in Kerala, says K Satchidanandan

Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran poet and Kerala Sahitya Akademi chairman K Satchidanandan stated that comrades (of LDF government in Kerala) should pray that next time they do not come to power as it would pave way for the end of the party in the state. He made the remarks in Express Dialogues of ‘The New Indian Express’. 

When asked about the increasing policing under the LDF government and Maoist killings, Satchidanandan opined, “I feel that this is not something a Communist government should do. There have been mistakes. However, there exists a corrective force in Kerala, with the masses ensuring that no party gets too big for its boots. Even two terms can make a party arrogant and three terms can destroy, as we saw in West Bengal. I keep telling my comrades, pray that next time you don’t come to power. Because that would be the end of it.” 

The writer further added that one cannot blame a leader alone in case of idolisation of leaders at the Centre and State and said, “One needs to understand the psychology behind idol worship. You get to see it across the spectrum. I agree that such a scenario never existed in Kerala before. Personality cult is very harmful, especially in a Communist movement, as we saw in Stalin’s time. If the Marxist party does not criticise Stalin and Stalinism, there is this danger of personality cult coming up in various forms.” 

“Kerala’s leanings towards the right is happening right under our noses. Probably not marching along the highways, but it is creeping in through the bylanes. It is trying to reinterpret our myths and rituals, including terming Onam as Vamanapooja, which has Brahminical connotations, creating divisions among communities and casteist organisations that often refuse to take a principled stance. Not taking a position can also prove extremely dangerous,” he said.