THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the early 2000s, CPM stalwart E Balanandan wrote for DYFI mouthpiece Yuvadhara on the “ideological phase of the Fourth World theory and anti-Communism”. Though printed, the issue was never published after the CPM state leadership cold-shouldered the Politburo member’s article.
The episode exposed simmering ideological dissent and sparked a wider inner-party debate, eventually culminating in the expulsion of M P Parameswaran, a Communist theorist and nuclear scientist who died at 91 in Thrissur on Tuesday.
MP, as he was affectionately known to friends and admirers, leaves a distinctive mark on Kerala’s socio-political landscape. A pioneer of the people’s science movement, MP popularised science through the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP), notably with its widely popular smokeless stove, championed the literacy movement at the national level and campaigned for decentralisation and People’s Plan initiative.
A key leader of the Silent Valley movement, Parameswaran championed a new vision of development rooted in environmentalism, challenging the conventional notions of progress. But his ‘Fourth World theory’ and the ideological debates it triggered would remain his most consequential contribution to Kerala’s political discourse.
MP had kept a low profile in recent years owing to age-related health issues. His funeral will be held at the Paramekkavu Santhighat in Thrissur at 1 pm on Wednesday. He is survived by wife Pullur Manaykkal Bhavani and sons Arun, who is based in the US, and Vipin, who lives in Mumbai. An accomplished writer and educationist, MP wore many hats during a life marked by intellectual and ideological evolution.
Born in Thrissur in 1935, he began his career as a nuclear scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, where he spent nearly two decades. In 1975, he left nuclear science to become a people’s scientist, embarking on a remarkable journey through people’s campaigns and the science movement.
Expelled after an ideological battle
A founding member of the KSSP, he helped take the people’s science movement to the national level through initiatives such as the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha and played a key role in establishing the All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN). A prolific author, he wrote on radioactivity, atomic science, astronomy and mathematics, besides politics, social science and ecology.
MP was committed to Communist ideology for decades before searching for an alternative social order. His book ‘Naalaam Lokam–Swapnavum Yadharthyavum’, which advocated decentralised democracy and challenged orthodox Marxist thought, triggered an ideological debate within the CPM.
The controversy became intertwined with the factional battle between conservatives and reformists in the Kerala CPM—the prolonged feud between V S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan that dominated the party for nearly two decades. MP’s ‘Fourth World’ theory faced resistance from orthodox Marxists, including Achuthanandan, Balanandan and ideologue M N Vijayan, particularly over its questioning of concepts like class struggle. The opposing camp, labelled revisionist, was led by then state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and included M A Baby, Thomas Isaac and Paloli Mohammed Kutty. The ideological battle ultimately led to MP’s expulsion from the CPM in 2004.
