HVK Archives: History puts CPM on the defensive
History puts CPM on the defensive - The Pioneer
Shubhadeep Choudhury
()
12 August 1997
Title: History puts CPM on the defensive
Author: Shubhadeep Choudhury
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: August 12, 1997
History has become embarrassing for Kerala's Marxist Government in the
run-up to the golden jubilee celebrations of the country's independence.
First it faced an uproar when historian A Sreedhara Menon resigned from a
panel appointed by the State Government to write a book on the freedom
struggle in Kerala.
The controversy gave the Communists' rivals the opportunity to criticise
then for their stand during the Quit India movement and at the time of the
country's partition.
On August 9, on the occasion of the anniversary of the launch of the Quit
India movement, the Communists' rivals again raised the issue of the
'well-known betrayal of the 1942 movement by the then CPI".
For Chief Minister E K Nayannar, a member of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) (CPI-M) Politburo, who the chief guest at a fuction organised by
the State Government, it was a moment of hestitation and embarrassment.
Mr Nayanar, however, managed to overcome his initial hesitation and
retorted, "some quarters have been hurling baseless allegations against the
Communist Parties for the CPI stand against the Quit India movement. We
took the stand because we felt that fascism was more dangerous than
American imperialism. "It was then the turn of Congress leader A K Antony,
who presided over the function, to speak. His speech was filled with
references to history.
"It is indeed gratifying to note that the Communists of India have
finally recognised the. value of the Quit India Movement and freedom from
British rule. But as the Communists reassess their earlier view of such
events, they should not distort historical facts to glorify their own role,
he said.
Mr Nayanar was quite embarrassed and preferred not to answer. On the same
day Mr P Parameswaran, a senior RSS functionary and director of the
Bharatiya Vichara Kendra told a public meeting in Kochi that the Communists
had played a negative role during the Quit India movement, leading to their
isolation in India.
He said the Communists they rid realised their mistake during the freedom
struggle and were now trying to distort history to carve out a niche for
themselves.
The allegation of "distortion of history", levelled by both Mr Antony and
Mr Parameswaran, against the Marxists, goes back to the earlier debate in
June.
On that occasion Mr N Sreedhara Menon, a nationalist historian and author
of a couple of text books, resigned from a panel formed by the State
Government to author a volume on the freedom struggle in Kerala in
consultations with EMS Nambodiripad. Politicians from the Marxists' rival
camps, as well as Mr Sreedhara Menon himself, expressed doubts about the
State Government's motives.
They said it might just be part of an attempt by the LDF Government to
glorify the Communists' role in Kerala's anti-colonial struggle by
distorting historical facts. It was an attempt to provide a basis for the
CPI(M)'s latest political goals in the state, Prof Menon said. The State
Government has since decided to abandon the idea and instead bring out a
picture album for children on the freedom movement in Kerala as part of the
special programmes to celebrate fifty year of independence.
Meanwhile, Mr Sreedhara Menon released his book titled "Kerala and the
Freedom Struggle" in the Panchayat Association Hall here on August 9, the
day the Quit India movement was announced by Gandhiji.
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