THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sixty-odd people are sitting in a circle at an open courtyard in front of a house at Munnurkodu in Ottapalam’s Pookkottukavu panchayat. Kottilingal Rajan, the house owner, too is part of the crowd.
There are no microphones or loudspeakers; neither are there any tables nor chairs. No banner to introduce the speakers. Just a poster sporting two bearded men — Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels — looking at each other, with a caption Randu Thaadikkar.
Ever heard of Communists going in for such a ‘round-table’ during their party conference — without the conventional and hierarchical party ceremonies, deafening music playing revolutionary songs as backdrop?
In a novel move to reinvent itself and reach out to the masses, CPM’s Sree Krishnapuram area committee has organised discussions on 22 subtly titled topics.
Marx mass aanu mone (based on EMS’s Marxism, a textbook), Marxism okke polinjille sare? (Terry Eagleton: Why Marx was right?), Pennum anum mattullavarum (The Origin of the Family, Private Property And the State by Friedrich Engels), Kanni moolayil kakkoos vannal (about science, pseudoscience and obscurantism), Ambani kalyanathinu ayyaayiram kodi’ (Indian Constitution and inequality), Ethra Ramayanagal (based on A K Ramanujan’s Ramayana studies), Mrigasalayile kurangan manushyan aavumo? (Theory of Evolution), Vedi kondavanum, konnavanum (based on the book ‘The Story of Hindutva politics’ by P N Gopi Krishnan).
The list goes on. It could be the first-of-its-kind initiative where a political party conference is conducted in an organic manner, with local populace in attendance. The 22 discussions will be held at as many houses before the area conference on November 17-18.
At the meeting at Rajan’s house, local leader and organising committee chairman K Jayadevan was the first to speak. Sitting beside the people ‑ many of them non-party members — he started slowly. Jayadevan showed the picture of playback singer Rimi Tomy, and asked those around to identify her. Everyone knew the answer.
Then he displayed the photo of television anchor Ranjini Haridas. This time too, the spectators had no qualms in identifying her. Next was a photo of Manaf - the truck owner who was in the news in connection with the landslide at Shirur. Everyone answered in a chorus.
Then came the picture of Jawaharlal Nehru. About 80% of the crowd could not identiify him. When a picture of EMS Namboodiripad was shown, only 50% recognised him.
When a photo of B R Ambedkar was shown, there was pindrop silence. No one in the crowd could recognise him. That’s when Jayadevan started narrating about the leaders and the way they strived to emancipate the poor and the discourse gradually touched Marx, Engles and finally, on to the Communist Manifesto!
“Unlike conventional meetings held as part of party conferences, we decided to chart a new course,” Jayadevan told TNIE. “This is a time, when the CPM is fighting a strong campaign and negative propaganda.
There is also a campaign that the people have lost faith in the idea of equality. Hence, we thought that we will hold a mass education move at the grassroot level. Around 100-150 people participate at each of the 22 venues. They include people affiliated to other political parties too,” he said.
Observing the change and the response the move brought in, CPM state secretary M V Govindan termed it a positive sign. “According to each locality’s characteristics, they can bring in innovative ways. This is a good step to politicise the masses through popular methods,” he told TNIE.
The programmes ahead of the area conference kickstarted on October 10 with ‘Talavadyam’ led by Peringottu Chandran, in which artists from all castes took part. It was organised to send out a clear message, as casteism still prevails in art.
The novel approach is winning the hearts of party critics too. “The spirit of Marxism is equality among humans. The path is different in different periods of time. These people are reconstructing Marxism with originality like the subject Marx maas anu mone. They have blended it with contemporary scenarios,” political commentator N M Pearson said.
The local leadership has also decided not to approach the business houses to meet the expenses of organising the conference. “We have placed a small hundika at 1,500 houses in Pookkottukavu and told them to contribute according to their capacity,” CPM area secretary P Aravindakshan said. “We are addressing the issue of caste by discussing Kumaranasan’s Chandalabhishuki.
There will also be discussion on the changing labour sector,” he said. There will also be a competition to produce a reel on the subject Oraam, Charithram, Keralam. On November 2, there will be a women’s night walk from 8pm to 9pm in the panchayat.