FROM AKG TO M.A. BABY ,A Promise In Crisis(Politics- India-Kerala)

FROM AKG TO M.A. BABY ,A Promise In Crisis


THE DOWNFALL IN THE STATURE OF THE LEADERS IS AS PROMINENT AS THEIR UNBECOMING PERSONAL LIFE STYLES. IN KERALA, THE ERA OF PEOPLE’S POLITICS IS FACING GRAVE EXISTENTIAL CRISIS . DRILLED FROM WITHIN, THE POLITICS OF THE MASSES IS CLEVERLY WEAKENED. THE CHALLENGE IS TO RE-POLITICISE DISCOURSES AND REVERSE THE REGRESSIONS. TAKING A TRIP THROUGH THE HISTORY OF COMMUNIST MOVEMENT IN KERALA BY HIGHLIGHTING THE POLITICALLY RETROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION IT UNDERWENT.

VINOD CV


It seems almost like the end of a fascinating imagination that captured and illuminated a society’s aspirations and ideals for around 75 years. The sacrifices and legends it left in the trail, is the stuff of folklore. The history of communism and the magnitude of the grip it had in the psyche of an average Malayali is the delight of a political scientist. That it underwent tragic erosion both in terms of popular support and as a belief system is a painful reminder to the selfish cocoon to which a society like Kerala withdrew. But it has a lot to do with the unwelcome fall and unhealthy decadence in the ideological underpinning of the party and the consequent disgraceful departure of the leaders and cadre, from the simple and typical left way of life.

Nothing reflects the decline of commitment and integrity of leadership, than the pathetic standards of personal life to which the leadership of communist parties have fallen. For an observer, what was once a dividing line between a leader of a communist party and an allegedly bourgeoisie party, no longer exists. Though they claim otherwise, and rubbish this as the propaganda of capitalist media, this painful truth of homogenisation or standardisation of the tastes, attitudes and opinions of the leaderships across the spectrum is becoming more and more evident. But for the honourable exceptions of some first generation leaders still alive, one can safely conclude that the difference expected from a left leader or cadre, fuelled by the fervour of political conscience and consciousness, is a thing of distant past now.

Of late, the style of life they lead and the kind of culture they subscribe to, is safely disconnected from the tears and sweat of masses. In the case of Kerala, the thickening of middle mass in the structure of society left the poor bottom as a thin and weak entity, which doesn’t have threshold strength or power in numbers, to alter the democratic decisions in an electoral system that follows the first past post method. The utter neglect the Dalits and Adivasis underwent in the recent years is a classic example of the weakening or non-existence of the democratic pressure they can apply. Thus the politics of the deprived was given a smart pass by, by political parties.

In this scenario, a true communist like some body from AKG’s generation would have jumped in to articulate the needs and aspirations of the unfortunate masses. One doesn’t expect that selfless commitment from a generation of leaders whose peer escapades and involvements even extends to stealthy dealings with infamous rackets, which forced even family suicides. Right or wrong, what is noted is that civil society’s confidence in communist leaders and party is so low and weak that media dared to discuss in hushed tones the names of some leaders and their kith and kin in relation to some of the shocking sex scandals. There was a time, even as late as 70s or 80s, when nobody would venture to do this kind of analysis, though the insidious decaying of the standards were well present then too, albeit at a lesser level.

As an aside, even a casual observation of some modern day communist leaders makes one wonder how their body contours exactly resembles some middle town business men who love to spend their evenings at a nearby beer parlour. Though it sounds trivial, men who are ready to endure the agonies and crosses by upholding people’s politics shouldn’t and couldn’t have a physical structure of a middle-aged businessman or a typical Abkari contractor. The politics and physical look indeed has a connection. It can be an enticing sociological study to link physical morphology with ideological affinities.

Disjunctions from the concerns of the toiling class were clearly visible in many of the actions of the left leadership of Kerala during the last Nayanar regime. The much-celebrated Manaveeyam was one in that category. An AKG, Chadayan Govindan or C. Kannan wouldn’t have justified smoking up money, as it happened in the case of Manaveeyam. The financial resources, focus and energy which is to be redirected for the welfare of luckless millions was appropriated and abused for celebrating the elite and even non-existing sensibilities of pretentious middle and upper classes. One shall remember M.A. Baby’s democratically unaudited and unsolicited presence in the whole episode. A communist leader is expected to put forward the idioms of the excluded, and narratives of the silenced, not the snobbish sensitivities of the well-heeled.

For that matter, it is not right to find fault with individuals. The cardinal point is the false priorities and agendas of a leadership, which has lost both focus and politics. Individuals symbolise the disease that the new, self-financing- generation leaders are infected with. That is why the distance covered by history when travelling from A.K Gopalan to M.A Baby is the history of a downfall on which a politically charged society can only painfully ponder.