KOCHI: It seems at least a section of journalists in Kerala might soon start taking classes in Hebrew. For the agriculture minister has indicated that he would like even journalists to be taken to Israel to learn the new farming methods of that country.
Even as ripples continue of a ‘missing’ farmer who was part of a state-led delegation which went to the Middle East country to learn new farming methods, the minister was heard harping about the farming practices of the world leader in agricultural technology.
Addressing the media on Wednesday at a presser, he indicated his yearning for journos, too, to be part of his entourage to Israel. P Prasad believes that adopting new scientific agri-practices of Israel could transform Kerala.
The Kerala delegation’s Israeli visit has been part of political discussions for some time now. Going by the grapevine, Prasad had evinced his desire to lead the delegation, but the party’s political leadership was not apparently convinced. According to reports, it was none other than Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself who intervened to prevent the minister from leading the delegation.
Meanwhile, discussions and deliberations within the CPM and the CPI over the Israeli visit are yet to die down. Despite interventions by the central leaderships of both parties, the issue has remained a bone of contention within the Left. That’s when a few Left leaders managed to find a political angle to the whole issue.
The argument was simple. How can a Left minister visit a country like Israel, over which Left parties have always harboured serious reservations? Both the CPM and the CPI are ardent vociferous supporters of the Palestinian cause.
It is in such a backdrop that a CPI minister, ironically, wants to go to Israel to study agriculture. Let them first grasp the Left political culture; agriculture can wait, critics felt. Many of them do recall Israel’s close links to Communism in the past. The Israeli Communist Party, commonly known by Maki its Hebrew acronym forms part of the political alliance known as Hadash. It was in 1943 that the Palestine Communist Party (PCP) split. In 1945, some former members of this party came together to set up the Hebrew Communists.
The party was operational till 1948, the year Israel gained independence. Later on, the party merged with the National Liberation League to form Maki. Whatever be the history, it’s a fact that neither CPM nor CPI is part of the Israeli fan club.
Coming back to the present, the sudden disappearance of Iritti-based farmer Biju Kurian is not a good omen for the LDF government. The agricultural minister may now be a harried man. He must be extremely thankful to the CM for preventing him from leading the delegation.
With reports spilling out about many pilgrims to Israel going missing, it is time for the state to adopt a vigilant approach to the whole issue. If left unchecked, Israel will soon be home to quite a big contingent of missing mallus. What now remains to be seen is whether Biju would manage to make an entry into Maki to maybe propagate a reverse learning process of imbibing Kerala’s Communist achievements in the long run.
Pen-pointing
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