The
Marxist
Volume: 14, No. 01-02
Jan-June 1998
REMEMBERING EMS NAMBOODIRIPAD
Harkishan
Singh
Surjeet
Many
commentaries
have
been
published
on
the
life
and
work
of
EMS
Namboodiripad
after
his
death
on
March
19,
1998.
The
more
one
reads
about
his
multi-faceted
contributions,
the
more
one's
respect
and
administration
grows.
He
was
an
outstanding
Marxist,
who
dedicated
his
whole
life
to
the
Communist
movement.
All
his
life
and
energies
were
spent
in
the
cause
of
national
independence
and
socialism.
This
issue
of
The
Marxist
is
dedicated
to
his
memory.
EMS
penned
thousands
of
pages
on
a
host
of
subjects.
They
dealt
mainly
with
the
rise
and
the
development
of
the
national
movement,
the
impact
of
socialist
ideas
in
our
country
and
on
various
aspects
of
Marxist
philosophy,
political
economy
and
the
social
sciences.
All
these
were
intended
to
help
and
guide
the
revolutionary
movement
of
the
working
class;
to
enable
it
to
make
a
concrete
analysis
and
chart
out
the
correct
course.
EMS
Namboodiripad
was
born
into
a
upper-caste,
landlord
family
of
Namboodiri
brahmins.
At
a
very
young
age
he
began
reacting
to
the
environment
in
which
he
lived
--
the
caste-ridden
Kerala
society
and
began
advocating
social
reforms.
Very
soon
he
was
drawn
into
the
national
liberation
struggle
as
a
young
student.
He
was
able
to
see
that
the
oppressive
social
order
was
being
protected
by
the
British
imperialists
and
their
stooges
the
local
princes.
This
was
the
period
when
Gandhi
had
already
emerged
on
the
national
scene.
A
big
upsurge
had
begun
after
the
adoption
of
the
Lahore
resolution
in
1930
calling
for
complete
independence.
This
slogan
was
able
to
draw
the
peasants,
workers,
students
and
youth
into
the
national
movement.
EMS
also
plunged
into
the
movement.
It
was
a
time
when
Shaheed
Bhagat
Singh
and
his
colleagues
were
on
their
way
to
martyrdom
in
1931.
In
his
final
testament,
Bhagat
Singh
renounced
terrorism
and
expressed
the
belief
that
the
socialist
revolution
was
the
only
path
for
the
liberation
of
mankind.
This
announcement
had
a
big
impact
all
over
the
country.
Two
years
later,
the
withdrawal
of
the
civil
disobedience
movement
caused
great
disillusionment
among
the
people,
particularly
the
young.
Congressmen
who
were
influenced
by
socialist
ideas
decided
to
form
the
Congress
Socialist
Party
in
1934.
EMS
was
one
of
the
organisers
at
that
time
alongwith
Jayprakash
Narain,
Acharya
Narendra
Dev
and
others.
EMS
headed
the
Kerala
unit.
The
Meerut
prisoners
were
released
by
that
time
and
the
Central
Committee
of
the
Communist
Party
had
started
functioning
openly.
EMS
came
in
contact
with
the
Communists
working
in
the
Congress
Socialist
Party
and
began
studying
Marxist
classics.
By
this
time
the
All
India
Kisan
Sabha
was
also
set
up.
In
this
move
too,
EMS
was
one
of
the
initiators.
The
Seventh
Congress
of
the
Communist
International
made
corrections
to
the
approach
to
be
adopted
by
the
Communist
Parties
towards
the
bourgeois-led
national
liberation
movements.
The
Sixth
Congress
had
taken
a
sectarian
approach
and
the
Communists
as
an
organised
forced
remained
outside
the
national
liberation
movements
led
by
the
bourgeoisie
and
was
critical
of
them.
In
India,
however,
in
the
absence
of
an
organised
Communist
centre,
at
many
places,
communists
were
active
inside
the
Congress.
In
1935
there
was
a
total
change
in
the
orientation
of
the
Communists.
They
started
working
inside
the
Congress
Party,
while
side
by
side
developing
mass
and
class
organisations
of
workers,
peasants,
students,
youth
etc.
Though
Nehru
had
agreed
for
the
direct
affiliation
of
these
organisations
to
the
Congress,
Vallabhai
Patel
and
others
seriously
objected
and
finally
this
could
not
come
about.
Madras
was
a
composite
state
at
that
time
and
comprised
the
bulk
of
the
present
Tamilnadu,
parts
of
the
present
Andhra
Pradesh
and
the
Malabar
area
of
Kerala.
Units
of
the
Communist
Party
had
been
formed
in
some
places
in
Madras
province
at
the
initiative
of
P.
Sundarayya.
Amir
Haider,
a
dock
worker
from
Western
Punjab
(who
died
a
few
years
ago
in
Pakistan)
took
the
initiative
to
develop
contacts
with
Communist
workers.
He
was
in
touch
with
Ghate
and
P.
Sundarayya.
Com.
EMS
working
alongwith
the
Communists
inside
the
Congress
and
the
All
India
Kisan
Sabha
became
one
of
the
organisers
of
the
Communist
Party
in
Kerala.
In
the
beginning
four
comrades
joined
the
illegal
party
in
1937.
They
were
P.
Krishna
Pillai,
N.C.
Shekar,
K.
Damodaran
and
EMS.
This
was
a
turning
point
in
the
life
of
EMS.
He
had
by
his
own
experience
and
study
come
to
be
influenced
by
the
October
Revolution
and
had
begun
to
study
Marxist
books,
which
were
not
readily
available
in
those
days.
His
study
of
historical
materialism
inspired
him
to
undertake
an
in-depth
study
of
the
history
of
Kerala
society.
This
study
further
convinced
him
of
the
necessity
for
a
socialist
revolution.
It
is
this
deep
conviction
which
helped
him
to
take
the
whole
Kerala
unit
of
the
CSP
alongwith
him
to
join
the
illegal
Communist
Party.
When
the
ban
on
the
Communist
Party
was
withdrawn
in
1942
and
the
first
Congress
of
the
CPI
held
in
1943,
Com.
EMS
was
elected
to
its
Central
Committee.
He
made
a
big
contribution
during
this
period,
paying
particular
attention
to
the
study
of
the
agrarian
question
and
formulating
the
policies
of
the
Party
in
this
respect.
The
post-war
period,
was
a
bad
time
for
the
Party,
due
to
certain
political
mistakes
committed
by
it.
However,
in
Kerala,
the
Party
was
able
to
win
over
more
and
more
sections
of
the
people
and
emerge
as
a
political
force.
The
Left-sectarian
approach
damaged
the
Party
a
lot.
The
functioning
of
the
mass
organisations
also
became
difficult
in
this
period.
The
Kerala
unit
of
the
Party
led
by
EMS
constantly
emphasised
on
the
need
to
build
the
unity
of
the
working
class
and
the
peasantry
to
carry
forward
the
agrarian
revolution
to
success.
During
the
anti-imperialist
struggle,
this
linkage
was
never
overlooked.
As
a
result,
the
Kerala
Communists
concentrated
on
developing
the
peasant
movement
and
later
in
post-independent
India
on
organising
the
agricultural
labour.
The
agricultural
workers
movement
is
the
strongest
in
Kerala
today.
Comrade
EMS
was
one
of
the
pioneers
who
launched
the
struggle
for
the
reorganisation
on
linguistic
basis.
The
Aikya
Kerala
movement
led
by
him
was
successful
in
uniting
the
Travancore-Cochin
princely
states
into
one
whole,
Kerala.
The
Congress
party,
which
had
during
the
course
of
the
freedom
struggle
promised
organisation
of
states
on
a
linguistic
basis
and
had
even
formed
its
provincial
committees
on
this
basis,
went
back
on
its
commitment.
The
Left
took
the
lead
in
developing
a
powerful
movement
for
the
linguistic
reorganisation
of
states.
This
forced
the
Central
Government
to
set
up
the
States
Reorganisation
Commission.
It
was
this
tireless
work
by
EMS
and
his
comrades
in
Kerala
that
saw
the
Party
emerging
victorious
in
the
first
ever
elections
held
to
the
Kerala
Legislative
Assembly
in
1957,
soon
after
the
Kerala
State
was
constituted.
When
EMS
became
the
Chief
Minister,
he
proved
himself
to
be
an
able
administrator.
Many
measures
particularly
the
land
reforms
legislation
and
education
bill
became
a
source
of
inspiration
all
over
the
country.
The
impact
that
this
government
had
on
the
people
of
Kerala
and
in
the
rest
of
the
country
can
be
gauged
from
the
fact
that
the
Congress
ruling
at
the
Centre
undemocratically
dismissed
his
government.
When
EMS
toured
the
whole
country
after
the
dismissal,
the
mass
response
was
immense
with
the
democratic-minded
people
in
the
whole
country
condemning
this
action
of
the
Centre.
Comrade
EMS
was
elected
to
the
Polit
Bureau
in
1953-54
at
the
third
Congress
of
the
CPI.
Subsequently,
he
became
editor
of
the
CPI
organ
New
Age
and
also
became
General
Secretary
of
the
Party
after
the
death
of
Ajoy
Ghosh.
In
the
struggle
against
revisionism
within
the
CPI
which
began
in
1954
and
which
culminated
in
the
formation
of
the
CPI(M),
EMS
while
disassociating
from
the
revisionist
position,
was
apprehensive
whether
the
fight
against
revisionism
would
take
the
party
on
to
the
sectarian
path.
Thorough
discussions
with
comrades
convinced
him
that
in
the
interests
of
the
Indian
communist
movement
the
split
had
become
inevitable
and
he
decided
to
take
up
the
fight
against
the
class
collaborationist
line.
After
that
he
played
an
important
role
in
building
and
developing
the
CPI(M)
in
the
country.
History
has
confirmed
the
line
pursued
by
the
CPI(M)
to
be
by
and
large
correct.
Today
it
is
the
biggest
force
amongst
the
Left
in
the
country.
EMS
was
the
General
Secretary
of
the
Party
from
1977
to
an
important
phase
in
the
34
year
old
history
of
the
Party.
He
was
an
excellent
campaigner
and
agitator.
In
1965,
during
the
Indo-Pakistan
war,
when
most
of
us
were
in
jail,
and
the
Party
advanced
the
slogan
of
peaceful
solution
of
the
problem,
it
was
EMS
who
conducted
the
campaign
throughout
the
country.
When
the
agitation
against
the
Mandal
Commission
recommendations
was
going
on,
he
wrote
a
booklet
on
the
need
for
reservations.
It
dealt
in
depth
about
the
need
for
reservations
in
a
caste-ridden
society.
At
the
same
time
he
opposed
the
concept
of
providing
reservations
to
the
"creamy
layer"
among
the
backward
castes.
There
was
no
subject
which
he
did
not
deal
with,
whether
it
be
Marxist
philosophy,
political
economy,
Indian
philosophy,
literature
or
culture.
He
never
underestimated
the
importance
of
culture
in
developing
the
democratic
movement
in
the
country.
He
was
always
emphasising
on
the
study
of
concrete
conditions
prevailing
in
each
state
and
formulating
policies
and
slogans
on
that
basis.
As
General
Secretary
of
the
Party
he
used
to
pay
special
emphasis
on
developing
the
mass
and
class
organisations
and
stressed
on
their
democratic
functioning
and
independent
role
by
making
them
more
broad
based.
Throughout
his
life,
particularly
after
he
joined
the
Communist
Party,
EMS
wrote
innumerable
articles
and
books
on
a
variety
of
subjects.
Notable
among
his
works
are
Kerala
Society
and
Politics,
The
Mahatma
and
The
Ism,
History
of
the
Indian
Freedom
Struggle,
Indian
Planning
in
Crisis
and
Nehru,
Ideology
and
Practice.
His
selected
writings
printed
in
English
in
two
volumes
covers
the
whole
gamut
of
his
ideas
in
the
sphere
of
culture,
philosophy,
economy
and
politics.
He
also
wrote
an
outline
history
of
the
Communist
Party
in
Malayalam.
Even
during
his
last
days,
despite
his
failing
health,
he
used
to
contribute
regularly
to
the
party
dailies,
weeklies,
theoretical
organs
and
ofcourse
to
the
Polit
Bureau
and
the
Central
Committee.
It
was
an
exceptional
capacity
that
very
few
possess.
His
work
was
ceaseless
and
he
kept
a
strict
schedule.
His
simple
style
of
living
was
a
source
of
inspiration
for
everyone.
His
whole
life
was
a
life
of
selfless
sacrifice
in
the
cause
of
the
Party
and
the
working
class.
He
gave
the
entire
money
from
the
sale
of
his
ancestral
property
to
the
Party.
When
he
was
arrested
in
1963,
his
wife
had
no
house
to
go
to.
Their
residence
used
to
be
in
the
Party
headquarters
in
those
days.
His
life
was
a
model
to
be
emulated
by
other
revolutionaries.
All
those
committed
to
the
cause
of
the
working
people,
who
wish
to
advance
the
socialist
ideas,
will
learn
and
draw
sustenance
from
his
life
and
work.
Hopefully,
this
issue
of
The
Marxist
will
contribute
to
that
effort.