The CPM state committee on Saturday organised a remembrance meeting here to condole the death of Marxist ideologue P Govinda Pillai.
Presiding over the meeting, State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan remembered PG as one of the great intellectuals the state had ever produced. He said PG has left behind an imprint of his own in every sphere of life he had ventured into.
‘’P Govinda Pillai who was a multifaceted personality was also successful in practical fields. His long stint as editor of Deshabhimani was instrumental in making the paper one of the major communist dailies in the world,’’ he opined.
He recalled that PG, due to ill-health, could not be active in contemporary politics. But he chose to help make Malayalees aware of international affairs through his writings and speeches. He continued to perform his duties as a communist ideologue till his last days making AKG Centre his centre of activity. Pinarayi also said that PG could excel as a legislator in the Kerala Assembly.
Speaking on the occasion, Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan said PG who was inspired by the nationalist movement for freedom struggle initiated his public activity by becoming part of the Quit India movement. Since then, he had been active in disseminating the communist and socialist ideology to the common people. “He passed away with the firm belief that the ultimate victory will be for socialism and communism,” he added. Former Speaker G Karthikeyan said the society in general in Kerala had accepted PG as a true communist and his demise was a great loss to the entire state.
Congress leader and former Speaker V M Sudheeran said that Govinda Pillai, despite being a disciplined communist, at certain times acted according to his conscience for a more wider cause of the society. During the Emergency period, when Opposition politicians were facing untold hardship, PG offered shelter to Naxalite leader K Venu. During the Silent Valley agitation held under the aegis of the environmentalists and Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, Govinda Pillai had refused to go by the party stand and instead stood by the agitators to ensure that the evergreen forest was conserved. When thousands of students were killed at Tiananmen square in China by the Chinese Army, he had the courage to deviate from the party stand and strongly condemn the massacre.
The former Speaker also said PG had taken legislative activity in a serious manner during his stint as a legislator. He had effectively intervened during the discussion on Autonomy for universities, Education Bill and matters related to art and culture. ‘’In fact it was PG’s resolution on the necessity for setting up of Lalithakala Academy which prompted Joseph Mundasseri to set up the Academy,” Sudheeran said.
He also expressed the view that PG’s abilities had not been utilised to its maximum for the benefit of the society. CPI state secretary Pannian Ravindran said it was the ginger group led by PG which effectively confronted the attack against the first communist Government led by EMS in 1957-58 period. Earlier, CPM district secretary Kadakampally Surendran presented a condolence resolution.