Observing 50 years of EMS government's fall in Kerala

All parties in Kerala are observing the fall of the EMS Namboodiripad government 50 years ago. The Congress and other groups are evoking memories of the “liberation struggle” that toppled the first elected communist government. The Catholic Church is even organising programmes to commemorate the fall of the 28-month-old EMS government on July 31, 1959.

Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference secretary and Thrissur archbishop Andrews Thazhath, a vociferous critic of the Left government, said on Saturday that, “The Church would interfere in politics whenever there is an assault against democracy. EMS government fell because it deviated from democratic means, infringed minority rights and worsened law and order situation.”

The Syro-Malabar Church even called the recent Lok Sabha polls, in which the LDF lost 15 sitting seats, a “silent liberation struggle”. A pastoral letter from Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil said, “It’s doubtful if the party recognises multi-party democracy. They negate the Constitution and challenge the courts.” “The current LDF government’s reforms in the education sector are a negation of faith and moral values,” the Cardinal said.

The Church went on the warpath after the education department tried to regulate the self-financing professional education sector and reform primary education sector. The Church, the Nair Service Society and several Muslim groups ganged up to defend their privileges and openly campaigned against the LDF in the parliamentary polls.

The CPI(M) affirms that the 1959 revolt was inspired by the American CIA. At a party seminar in Kochi, party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said, “It was a revolt against a democratically-elected government. It is wrong to call it liberation struggle.” MV Raghavan and KR Gowri, sidelined communists who formed their own parties, too, lambasted the struggle though their current partner Congress is trying to take advantage of the church’s ire.

The church has exhorted its flock to pay tributes to the seven people killed in police firing on June 13, 1959 in Angamali. The firing was one of the incidents cited as an example of the failed law and order situation in Kerala. When the opposition Congress joined forces with the church and similar communal organisations, then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was forced to dismiss the government.