Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, escorted by his ministerial colleague, Kadakampalli Surendran recently visited the 'Vivekananda Udyanam' in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram and garlanded the statue of Swami Vivekananda. The person who'd conceived the idea of installing the life-like bronze statue in the garden at Kowdiar was the RSS idealogue, late P Parameswaran. Wherever he is, he must have been amused when the chief minister chose it as the venue of the inauguration of the 'Vivekanandasparsam' - the 125th anniversary of the patriot saint's visit to Kerala. The same day, his culture minister had paid a literary tribute to Swami Vivekananda through the edit page of the party organ.
The interesting bit is that the anniversary of the patron saint's Kerala visit coincides with the 200th birth anniversary of Karl Marx, the 150th anniversary of the publication of Das Kapital and the centenary of the October revolution. A left government officially celebrating epochs related to a Hindu reformer is interesting and to understand this, one needs to go back in history!
The party's late leader, EMS Namboodiripad found Swami Vivekananda unacceptable from a secular perspective. Many still remember that the Kerala government was the only one which refused to cooperate with the historic efforts to put up the rock memorial at Kanyakumari. The late Eknath Ranade and the visionary behind the Vivekananda Kendra, has recorded his bitter experiences on meeting with the then chief minister, EMS Namboodiripad with regard to the cooperation and donation by the state government. It never ever cooperated with the rock memorial project.
And another interesting fact was when Ranade approached Jyoti Basu, the then chief minister of West Bengal the latter had questioned, "How dare you come to a communist government for Vivekananda memorial?" However, he was directed to meet Mrs. Basu by the chief minister himself who saw to it that the government gave the donation!
The CPM, belatedly, has come to the conclusion that Swami Vivekananda was indeed a revolutionary and not a reactionary! But will this change of heart help it in its ideological battle with the BJP?
*Adapted from an article on the subject.
Tailpiece.
Mohanachandran's medical bulletin.
"His condition is steadily improving. The movement in his right limb has picked up and is an encouraging sign". From K Vipinachandran.
The interesting bit is that the anniversary of the patron saint's Kerala visit coincides with the 200th birth anniversary of Karl Marx, the 150th anniversary of the publication of Das Kapital and the centenary of the October revolution. A left government officially celebrating epochs related to a Hindu reformer is interesting and to understand this, one needs to go back in history!
The party's late leader, EMS Namboodiripad found Swami Vivekananda unacceptable from a secular perspective. Many still remember that the Kerala government was the only one which refused to cooperate with the historic efforts to put up the rock memorial at Kanyakumari. The late Eknath Ranade and the visionary behind the Vivekananda Kendra, has recorded his bitter experiences on meeting with the then chief minister, EMS Namboodiripad with regard to the cooperation and donation by the state government. It never ever cooperated with the rock memorial project.
And another interesting fact was when Ranade approached Jyoti Basu, the then chief minister of West Bengal the latter had questioned, "How dare you come to a communist government for Vivekananda memorial?" However, he was directed to meet Mrs. Basu by the chief minister himself who saw to it that the government gave the donation!
The CPM, belatedly, has come to the conclusion that Swami Vivekananda was indeed a revolutionary and not a reactionary! But will this change of heart help it in its ideological battle with the BJP?
*Adapted from an article on the subject.
Tailpiece.
Mohanachandran's medical bulletin.
"His condition is steadily improving. The movement in his right limb has picked up and is an encouraging sign". From K Vipinachandran.
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