I Accuse…!".
Thus screamed history's most celebrated and scathing open letter, penned by a famed writer to an authoritarian state. The writer was Emile Zola, the illustrious French novelist and public figure, and the year, 1898. The letter, published on the front page of a newspaper, was addressed to Félix Faure, President of France, accusing his government and the French army leadership of authoritarianism and antisemitism. It spoke against the wrongful life imprisonment and exile of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army accused of espionage by an army court blinded by antisemitism. Zola's letter created a stir in and out of France.
Prosecuted and convicted for libel against the President, Zola fled to England to escape imprisonment. In 1906, a reinvestigation exonerated Dreyfus of all charges, but Zola, who died three years earlier, could not see himself vindicated. The incident went down in history as the"Dreyfus Affair," and Zola's letter- "J' accuse..!- became a reference to the conscientious intellectual's resistance against a prejudiced, sectarian, and authoritarian state and its agencies.
Malayalam's most celebrated living author, MT Vasudevan Nair, whose explosive speech in Kozhikode in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will go down as our own "I Accuse" moment in history. The nonagenarian, arguably Kerala's only voice today commanding respect cutting across all divides, ignored his advanced age and ailments to speak like a prophet against the growing intolerance, concentration of power, and the increasing personality cult around the leader. As a man of few words who has largely kept away from Kerala's highly politicized cultural sphere, MT's candid speech created a huge uproar in the state. His words also filled the vacuum created by the passing away of icons like VR Krishna Iyer and Sukumar Azhikode, who represented Malayali’s collective conscience. MT's words of wisdom and warning are to enter history like Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon's anguished poem -Minduka Mahamune!- (Speak up, silent sage) calling Chief Minister C Achutha Menon to break his silence on the custodial death of P Rajan during the dark days of the Emergency.
Just as Zola's letter did to the French society, MT's remarks divided Kerala public opinion. Expectedly, critics of the present LDF government found them to be a veritable castigation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPM. For them, nothing was more evident given the increasing concentration of power in the Chief Minister's hands, the intolerance towards the opposition, the personality cult of leader worship, and the ridiculous levels of sycophancy growing around him. According to them, the examples MT cited, of the collapse of the Soviet Union or EMS Namboodiripad as the antithesis of power-mongering leaders who relished inself-idolatry, only underscored that his target was the present Left leadership.
Examples of sycophancy abound every day. The mega Thiruvathira accompanied by unashamed paeans for Vijayan; a pathetic song likening him to a roaring lion, a high-flying eagle, and many more; his recent glorification by Minister Vasavan as a "gift of god"; references to him by LDF convenor EP Jayarajan as a hero like Thacholi Othenan or as a blazing sun by party secretary MV Govindan. It could be forgiven had such hyperbole come from ordinary admirers, time servers, or lower-level ranks. But when veteran Marxist leaders, brought up on years of ideological schooling, indulge in unabashed toadyism, it's a clear sign of hollowing out of the organization.
But CPM and its supporters immediately dismissed the argument that MT targeted them or Vijayan. For them, the man in the writer's mind was Narendra Modi. Excise Minister MB Rajesh pointed out that MT was only reading the lines he wrote in 1998, first published in 2003. Govindan asked, "Why did the media not find then that MT was speaking about the then Chief Minister A K Antony? It is yet another move by the rightwing, corporate media to vilify Pinarayi Vijayan."
Kudos to the CPM for researching and unearthing that the lines were from a past speech. Nonetheless, a question remains. Why should he feel compelled to repeat them today, especially in the Chief Minister's presence? Wasn't it because he thought they were eminently relevant today? However, it is a fact that MT's criticism was neither against Pinarayi alone, as Pinarayi-bashers swore, nor against Modi alone, as Pinarayi devotees claimed. It was demeaning to equate with the sundry observers populating the evening news debates. Like all great writers, MT was dwelling simultaneously upon the universal and the local. All the ominous trends he cautioned about have been on the rise globally. He was also talking about all of us or the "fascists in all of us," as Foucault said, who mire in power and flattery.
The Chief Minister and the present LDF government have set new benchmarks for concentration of power, flattery, and intolerance. Yet, how could anyone fail to note that they pale compared to the dark clouds looming large on the national level that cut at the roots of our democracy and the very idea of India? Moves are afoot to institutionalize an increasingly theocratic state that would destroy the fundamentals of our secular republic and the Constitution. It's clear from the open association of members of government from the Prime Minister onwards with matters of one particular religion, like the coming consecration of the new temple in Ayodhya. Multiple legislations are underway to smother freedom of expression and the independent functioning of institutions like the Election Commission. Muslims, who constitute nearly 15% of the Indian population, are systematically being ejected from every position of power as indicated by the Union ministry or the treasury benches in the parliament and increasingly in state legislatures being bereft of Muslim representation, for the first time in history.
CPM leaders like M. Swaraj ask their critics how one could equate this perilous national situation with what's happening in Kerala. But they look the other way when one points out that CPM forfeits its political authority and moral right to take on the BJP's politics when it indulges in authoritarianism and intolerance, even to a lesser degree than their rivals. There is an irony regarding the growth of personality cults, and leader worship in the CPM.
Though today they appear closely linked to Pinarayi Vijayan, these phenomena in the party had initially taken deep roots against him and in favor of his factional rival, V S Achuthanandan. None of the legendary Communists ranging from EMS Namboodiripad or AK Gopalan to C Achutha Menon or EK Nayanar had enjoyed the kind of idolization that VS enjoyed after he entered the twilight of his political career. The mass media and a large section of civil society joined hands to forge a binary under which VS was elevated as the paragon of all virtues as opposed to Pinarayi, who was portrayed as the dark lord personifying all the vices. However, it's common in power struggles for yesterday's villain to turn today's hero and vice versa. Most surprisingly, Pinarayi, who doesn't spare words even against his own people, has not uttered a word yet against his so-called fans, who, in effect, are his foes.
To be fair to Pinarayi, he has never been spared by critics, unlike Modi. In fact, no political leader in Kerala has faced as many brickbats in the past quarter century from nearly all quarters- the media, intellectuals, political parties ranging from extreme Left to Right, and organizations attached to every religion. Pinarayi's 18 years as CPM state secretary and seven years (and counting) as Kerala's longest-serving Chief Minister have been marked by unending allegations leveled against him and also his family members, which his supporters call a witch hunt. Compare this to Modi, who has almost the entire national media and most other institutions eating from his palm.
Seeing that MT's words have inspired more writers to speak truth to power is gratifying. It's also relieving to see the CPM, notwithstanding its initial protestations, openly saying it would closely examine MT's words and do the necessary introspection. It's long since such words of sanity and modesty have been heard from CPM.
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