"Hindus wear dhoti towards the right, while Muslims wear it towards the left. Cow dung is sacred for Hindus while it's not for Muslims. How can people who have such drastically different beliefs co-exist? It's impossible! That's why Muslims need a separate nation, he explained! I was deeply disturbed. Right then I felt a kind of repulsion towards them (the Muslim League). Otherwise how can someone born in Malappuram become a Communist?" he quips.
Now 96 years old, Paloli Mohammed Kutty, a two-time minister who led many landmark initiatives including Decentralisation and People's Planning in 1996, was sharing with The New Indian Express his initial days as a party worker in the 1940s.
A couple of speeches that he chanced to hear as a young boy changed the course of life for veteran Communist leader. The first time was when in second form (Class VI), he heard a public address by KM Seethi Sahib, a prominent Muslim League leader who later went on to become the Speaker of the Kerala Assembly.
"In those days, politics had an altogether different aura at the time. I went for a meeting at Kottappady maidan in Malappuram, curious to hear the leaders speak. Seethi Sahib was addressing the masses. I can still recall vividly what he said. 'If ever India gets freedom—we have no compulsion that India should—the rulers will be Hindus. Muslims will not be able to live under Hindu rule.' The reason he cited is enough to make people mock us: He was actually asking how people who have such drastically different beliefs co-exist in one country. It's impossible, he reiterated! That's why Muslims need a separate nation apparently. The revulsion that I felt well up within me was instinctive," reminisces Paloli, as he walked down memory lane.
Paloli was too young to delve deeply into the subtle nuances of religion. As a child, he used to play with boys from other communities. He was dimly aware of some kind of sentiment against such mingling.
"I grew up listening to such things. I started to resent Muslim League. Otherwise someone born in Malappuram usually ends up with the League, not the Communist Party. Because the entire district had only the League back then," he explains.
A speech by Communist veteran EP Gopalan was what made him join the party. Hailing from a middle-class agrarian family in Malappuram, the social scenario around him played a crucial role in shaping the politician in him.
"Of the 100-odd houses in any panchayat, 50-60 would have poor families. Farming was the only source of livelihood. The returns from agriculture used to end up with the landlord as lease. It was stark poverty and starvation on most days. People used to come asking for a piece of jackfruit, which would be consumed by a family over a couple of days. Tenants used to be consistently under the threat of eviction. I've seen poor families being evicted and forced to live on streets and verandas; extremely painful memories.
"It was 1946; I was just 16. One evening, while returning from school, I came across a procession. I followed them to Kottappady Maidan. First AK Gopalan addressed the meet. His speech was pure politics. I was not old enough to comprehend it fully. EP Gopalan spoke next. He elaborated on the perils of the farmers and how the landlord's goons kept inflicting great miseries on them. I first thought he was drunk. Later I realised that was his signature style. That's how I got attracted to Communism. The British were still the rulers. Next year i.e. 1947, I was part of party processions. In 1948, I got party membership and by the end of the year, I was active with party work including underground activities," recalls the veteran.
Joining the Communists was not at all a choice that was appreciated. Neither the family nor others supported his decision.
"No support from home. No support in the locality... the government keen to suppress the movement. We were so unwelcome. Being Communist meant you were anti-Islam...that's how we were portrayed. Going out meant two people against a hundred-odd crowd. We were treated like wretched beings. We could do nothing but swallow all the insults and humiliation." He goes quiet, as the memories turn bitter. In fact once the bridegroom, who came to meet his sister, backed out citing Paloli's Communist connections.
A particular experience in 1948 stands out in his memory. Untouchability was widely prevalent in Kerala society at the time.
"People belonging to the so-called lower castes were not even allowed to enter tea-shops. They had to stand at the margins, have their tea, wash the glass and leave. One day, it so happened the tea-shop was empty. A person called Njalikutty went and sat on the bench. Before he could finish his tea, a group of upper-caste men came and kicked him out. He was brutally beaten up. After about six months, we convinced him to go to the same teashop. Nine of us went and sat on the bench. It led to a major fist-fight, which we ultimately lost. I broke my shin bone, leaving me bedridden for six months," says Paloli almost emotionless, as he shows the scar on his leg.
Paloli is known for leading the much-appreciated People's Planning initiative in Kerala. It was the 1996-2001 EK Nayanar government—Paloli was the Local Self Government Minister—that introduced people's planning. Inspired by Communist ideologue EMS Namboodiripad, the Left government paved the way for decentralized development. A bunch of highly dedicated bureaucrats like SM Vijayanand and Sarada Muraleedharan led the movement.
According to Paloli, it was the demand for a bridge across a canal to connect two panchayats that triggered the movement. In Ernakulam, two panchayats were separated by a canal. Local body officials approached the government seeking construction of a bridge.
"When officials from Avoli panchayat approached me, I told them to go ahead with the project. Shortage of funds was the biggest hurdle. I met finance minister T Sivadasa Menon who finally agreed to provide Rs 5 lakh. But the estimate came to a total of Rs 18 lakh including land acquisition. We called a meeting where one individual suggested that the work could be finished in Rs 15 lakh. That's when another came forward. He offered to provide all the iron rods for the bridge. Another offered to bear the cost of cement. A youngster stood up saying he had nothing to offer other than physical labour. A truly unforgettable experience," he says.
People's planning laid the foundation for a movement where the common man got a say in developmental projects. Paloli however feels that nowadays the initiative is not followed in its truest sense.
He's one of the very few surviving leaders who has seen the Communist party and the Left movement in India go through a most tumultuous era. Paloli witnessed Communists make a mark in Kerala's socio-political spheres, the birth of the first-ever elected Communist government in Asia, the infamous split in 1964 that led to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), factional feuds that haunted the party for close to decades, the rout of Left movement at the national level and the disastrous setbacks faced by the Left in West Bengal and Tripura.
Seven long decades in politics. Looking back, how does it all seem to him? "Left is the only option and the electorate in Kerala knows it well," reiterates the veteran with a confident smile.