Idea that power gives better opportunity to serve people long gone: MT

Kozhikode: The renowned and front-running Malayalam novelist MT Vasudevan Nair said on Thursday that the understanding that being in power gives a better opportunity to serve people has been long forgotten. Politics is stooping to fresh lows day by day, MT, also a renowned screenwriter and director, said.

Addressing a gathering, which was attended by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas, the 90-year old writer said that a true leader would be fearless and willing to spare all his energy to liberate the oppressed while uplifting the society as a whole.

MT said that the degradation of politics is often attributed to the lack of qualified people. Engaging in political activities is just a way to gain power for many, and this power sometimes gives way to dominance and even authoritarianism, the celebrated novelist said.

He said that a place in the cabinet, assembly or parliament provides such leaders with an opportunity to dominate others. There could be some who believed that everything would be fixed when the first communist government came to power in Kerala. But what made EMS Namboodiripad a great communist leader is that he used the opportunity to lay the foundation for a great organisation that will work towards transforming people into responsible citizens. Unlike today's leaders, EMS took the opportunity to elevate the lives of the people who rallied in support of the party, and therefore, he was a true leader.

On Friday, however, author N Sudhir clarified MT's statement that he wasn't targeting the state government or even the Central government. MT told him after his address that he was stating a fact. But MT also added that if his words prompted anyone to self-criticism, then it is better.

Meanwhile, a report in Madhyamam.com Malayalam has cited an article MT wrote 20 years ago titled 'A historical need' from which the text of the entire speech is taken,  except for the introduction and the conclusion to suit the occasion.  The same was made part of his work 'Selected Essays' published by Current Books.