CHENNAI: Writer Jayakanthan never wished or expected any awards for his writing. But he had a dream — the ideals of Gandhism and Marxism should come together in India to create wonders, said PS Kuppusamy, a close associate of Jayakanthan for over five decades.
“At a time when the word spirituality was getting alienated here, he wished to blend it with Marxism. He hailed Marx and Engels as Maharishis (great saints). Lakhs of those who could not lean towards any ‘isms’, wished that Gandhism and Marxism should come together,” he reminisced. Speaking at a public meeting organised by Desiya Murasu Vaasagar Vattam at the Satyamurti Bhavan, he said, “The blend of Gandhism and Marxism was a dream of great men who strove for the country. Tamil scholar Thiru Vi Ka considered Gandhism as the soul and Marxism and body, and both could create wonders if they came together. Jayakanthan wished to see a Tricolour and red flag hoisted together (blending of Gandhism and Marxism).”
Kuppusamy further said Jayakanthan’s dreams got shattered when Communists termed Jawaharlal Nehru an ‘agent of imperialism’. Of course, they corrected themselves later. But had the Communists embraced Nehru as a socialist leader and worked with Nehru, the history of India would have been different. DMK MP Kanimozhi said though Jayakanthan was highly critical of the DMK, he had always been a kind-hearted person towards leaders like M Karunanidhi. TNCC president EVKS Elangovan, T K Rangarajan, CPI leader K Subbarayan, writer S Ramakrishnan and A Gopanna also spoke.