M.N.Vijayan under Siege: Intellectual as Liability?

by Shabeer Vakkom

Prof. M.N. Vijayan, the noted writer and left intellectual who recently bid farewell to the CPI (M)-led progressive camp, continues to be the object of uncharitable public disparagement - mostly from his erstwhile colleagues and fellow comrades. The vilification campaign initiated in the party mouth organs such as Deshabhimani and Chintha reached a critical point with comments bordering on character assassination. Among those who attacked him in the party organs included R.S. Babu, C.P.Narayanan, Joseph and G.P.Ramachandra, Eyancode Sridharan, Rajeev et al. Even as this campaign has been underway, some others also have come up with weird arguments against Prof. Vijayan. One such instance is a piece by J. Reghu in Pachakuthira, a monthly published by DC Books. The April issue of the magazine, which carried Reghu's article, depicted Prof. Vijayan as representing the brahiminical/upperclass tradition of the CPI [M] who "skillfully concealed the more subtle microlevel exploitation of the lower class/subaltern sections" by blowing up the macro level issues such as globalisation, imperialism etc. Reghu calls this as a typical "diversionary tactic" of the left intellectual. Similar attacks have appeared in other publications also. Unfortunately, Prof.Vijayan, who has spent more than three decades for the left cause in Kerala, is now under siege and the civil society of Kerala remains a passive spectator. More