THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chalachitra Academy chairman Kamal on Wednesday admitted lack of vigilance in his letter to Cultural Affairs Minister A K Balan seeking regularisation of service of four temporary employees at his office. The letter which said that the regularisation will help “maintain the Left nature of the academy” had come under severe criticism from Opposition parties.
“I wanted to convey the need to resist Sangh Parivar from gaining control of cultural institutions as has happened at the national level. But the wordings were taken out of context and blown up as a political controversy. I’m not blaming anyone because the assembly elections are near. I wasn’t vigilant enough,” he told TNIE. He claimed that the letter was personal and the recommendation was rejected by the minister outrightly. Kamal said his wordings weren’t against the Congress party. “At the national level Congress is viewed as a left-ofcentre party.
Hence they should in fact stand with the move to oppose the Sangh Parivar,” he said. The chairman said he handed over the personal letter to the minister directly. “He then said the proposal cannot be considered. That was a closed chapter,” he said. “That wasn’t an official communication. If it was so, it would have been sent by the academy secretary to the Cultural Affairs Secretary and then to the minister,” he said.
The minister’s office on Wednesday clarified that the chairman’s proposal was rejected by the academy secretary later. On whether the Sangh Parivar was trying to gain control over cultural institutions in Kerala, Kamal said: “Not so far except for some indications. Certain campaigns on social media point to that move. I’m not naming them,” he said.