KOZHIKODE: Left ideologue M N Vijayan wrote an article titled ‘Aravum Kathiyum’ (File and Knife) on the eve of the 18th state conference of the CPM held in Malappuram in 2005, which sought to present the revolt within the party led by V S Achuthanandan as an ideological struggle. Ironically, the faction led by VS suffered a jolt at the conference with all his candidates who contested to the state committee tasting defeat.
But the communist leader didn’t stop there, and continued his fight against what is termed as the ‘right deviation’ in the party. It was Vijayan who lent an ideological dimension to the struggle and prevented the fight from stooping to the level of mere rivalry for power.
“Communists hold conferences not to listen to eulogies, but to sharpen their weapons and to open eyes with ideological debates,” wrote Vijayan in the Mathrubhumi article, which the party found very embarrassing. “It is not the communists alone but the mankind as a whole who will be the losers if the party takes a right turn…
The left-secular forces in Kerala wish that CPM, which has a large mass support, does not lose its character,” it added. Like many others, Vijayan also thought that VS was fighting the battle to preserve the real communist trait of the CPM. A die-hard Freudian, Vijayan’s journey to CPM started with his talk on ‘Marx and Freud’ at Government Girl’s High School in Thalassery in 1985. Till then, Vijayan was confined to psychoanalytical studies that provided deep insights into the worlds of writers including Kumaran Asan, Vyloppilli, Basheer and Changampuzha.
Soon, he emerged as the main ideologue of the CPM and even backed the party during the dark days of political violence in Kannur. Vijayan became the president of Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangam and later the editor of Deshabhimani weekly. His contemporary M Leelavathy lamented that the greatest achievement for the CPM was to cage a lion like Vijayan.
But the bonhomie didn’t last longer. Vijayan felt that there was a colonial agenda behind the people’s planning project, a darling initiative of the CPM. He slowly drifted away from the official faction in the party and started ‘Padom’ magazine with the support of people like S Sudheesh, which became the platform for the ideological battle against Pinarayi Vijayan faction in the CPM.
Vijayan’s intervention helped a large section of ‘romantic revolutionaries’ in Kerala, who felt suffocated by the organisational strictness of communist parties, to align with VS.
His argument was that the organisational structure of the party was meant to work for the people. Vijayan felt that the organisation and the people are moving in opposite directions. And he found in VS ‘the oracle of people’ who genuinely aired their concerns.
Vijayan and VS shared a deep personal relationship. VS had telephoned when Vijayan resigned as the editor of Deshabhimani weekly. What transpired between them remained a secret because Vijayan didn’t reveal it to anyone.