Reports said that an organisation in Kerala, packed with leftist intellectuals, had decided to observe ‘Ramayana month’ during the monsoon month of Karkidakam. It involves the ritual reading of the Malayalam version of the Ramayana, translated by pioneering Malayalam poet Thunjath Ezhuthachan, at home for a period of 30 days starting on July 17 this year.
Noticing that the Ramayana reading was immensely popular, the Left too jumped on the bandwagon. The avowedly atheist Marxists had already been lampooned for taking out processions to celebrate Sree Krishna Jayanti in the past few years.
Now, after the CPM was again ridiculed, top CPM leaders denied that the party had any role in the Ramayana rendering. Perhaps the Marxist bosses, who are also leading the state’s Left coalition government, did not want to give the impression that the party cadres were beginning to come under the influence of religion, even as Karl Marx’s assertion 150 years ago that religion is the opiate of the masses was being quietly dropped by the party.
The background of this religious ritual that is haunting the ruling Marxists is in fact interesting. In Kerala, the monsoon months of the year see the land drenched in almost continuous downpour that virtually paralyses most of the outdoor activities.
Thunjath Ezhuthachan was a 16th century poet who not only wrote the local version of the Ramayana, but also contributed a lot to Malayalam and standardised the language, creating an alphabet system equivalent to Sanskrit. Ezhuthachan is revered in Kerala as the father of the local language and the giver of the Malayalam Ramayana. His translation is called Adhyatma Ramayana thereby emphasising not only the literary, but also the spiritual value of his text.
Though in the 20th century, the anti-Hindu and Left movements eroded the epic’s spiritual regeneration aspect, there has recently been a revival of the practice of this epic being read by the head of the family (usually a grandmother) and at some places even explained to the younger generations present at the reading.
The revival of the Ramayana family readings has caused concern among die-hard Marxists and many anti-Hindu forces masquerading as ‘rationalists’ in the state. They apprehend that such a revival might begin to tip the scales in favour of a Hindu renaissance and finally benefit the BJP.
The Kerala economy was once known as a money-order economy when migration was largely within the country; now it is known as a remittance economy. One outcome of the remittance economy has been a reassertion of religious identity and public demonstration of religious rites among all communities. Thanks to money from abroad, including the Gulf, the number of various denominations of churches too has multiplied in the last few decades.
Meanwhile, prosperity among Muslims has been accompanied by an increasing radicalisation of a section of the community and its share in the total population of the state has also been rising, while that of Hindus and Christians has declined.
The share of Hindus has dropped from nearly 69 per cent in 1901 to 54.73 per cent in 2011. During 2001-11, Muslims in Kerala have grown by 12.8 per cent, Hindus by 2.2 per cent and Christians by 1.4 per cent. Muslims in Kerala do not lag behind other communities in literacy, urbanisation or prosperity.
The Left has been dishonest on the issue of religion. In the name of promoting ‘rationality and scientific temper’, it has come down heavily on Hindu rites and practices. In contrast, several radical Islamic outfits have enjoyed the overt and covert support of Communists of various hues in the state.
The creation of the Muslim-majority district of Malappuram in 1969 by the then CPM government is an example of such divisive politics. Such blatant duplicity on the part of the established political parties in the state practiced over decades has obviously created a backlash among other communities, particularly Hindus, cutting across ideological and party lines.
With the BJP in power at the Centre, many Hindus are no longer apologetic about their religious identity and practices. In a state where Marxists had an early grip, this return to religion is a strong challenge to their anti-religion pretensions and consequently to their political influence, power and income. Even greater than this fear is the weakening of the party’s grip even among traditionally Marxist households if religion re-establishes itself as the anchor of politics.
Despite the Marxist contamination, the devotion of Hindus to their texts and temples, rites and festivals, have continued to receive mass support. In their heart of hearts the Marxists seem to realise the growing devotion to religion would also deflect the mass of Hindus from devotion to foreign ideology to more native thoughts. The attempt to co-opt the reading of Ezhuthachan’s Ramayana is a sure sign of this change.
That explains the internal apprehensions in the ruling Marxist party. After all they know how the Russians overturned the Soviet regime and drove the Communists out of power after more than 70 years of indoctrination.
Balbir Punj
Former Rajya Sabha member and Delhi-based commentator on social and political issues
Email: punjbalbir@gmail.com