KERALA NEWSLETTER

THE ruling Congress led UDF of Kerala is experiencing a spate of open dissensions among the partners on questions of its education and liquor policies. The mindless policies of the new education minister have, apart from making the UDF a laughing stock among academicians, attracted severe rebuff from none other than former UDF education minister E T Muhammed Basheer. He has questioned the sinister designs of the powers that be to rob off the children of Kerala one of the most effective and meaningful education pattern that was initiated during his tenure and continued most effectively by the LDF. He has challenged the critics of the old policy to present their criticism in an objective way without resorting to the practice of maligning a well thought-out programme in vague and ambiguous terms. All campaigns, according to him, against the previous system are mysterious and coloured with bad intentions. He appealed to all concerned not to be carried by unfounded criticism against a meaningful and farsighted scheme of development in education.

The cleavages are so deep and so open that it is not easy to place a cover-up.

How is it possible for a front that won a landslide victory, people wonder, become so unpopular as the UDF has become now? Their tall claims of people’s mandate are falling down to the ground without any support from any quarter including the ones that supported them in the election.

And the latest development in the field of education in Kerala is that the present education minister Sooppy has solemnly pledged before the media that he is not a person to be carried away by impulses and whatever he does is done after careful study and thinking. Therefore, he said he has directed the concerned authorities to teach the VIII standard children a few things from the new syllabus and a few other things from the old (out-dated) syllabus. What a beautiful compromise from a studying and thinking education minister!

The much-acclaimed UDF campaign of dissolving the toddy cooperative societies is facing a severe attack from within the UDF itself. The christian church is in an all out war against the move to dissolve the societies. Former speaker and member of parliament V M Sudheeran has staunchly criticised the move to disband the societies. The trade unions affiliated to UDF partners have criticized the move. Above all K Karunakaran has declared his opposition against the dissolution of the societies. The only person in the cabinet who is in favour of the dissolution is Sankara Narayanan, the finance minister. The only person outside the cabinet interested in dissolution of the societies is Vellappilly Natesan, the DNDP leader, who is also a famous (or notorious) liquor baron of the state. He has also pulled up the Antony government for acting according to the dictates of the christian lobby. What he means by the term is to be explained by himself. But he is the leader of a movement started by Sree Narayana Guru who advised his people: "do not tap toddy, do not sell toddy, do not drink toddy". But that is quite characteristic of Natesan who has a minimum understanding of the lanes and paths through which the leader has attained the present stature.

In another development the Kerala Congress Mani Group is set to split. One more party in the name of Congress has almost become a certainty. Mani has sidelined P C Thomas MP by amending the constitution to accommodate his lieutenant K F Thomas to become the president of the party and at the same time continue as a minister in Antony's government. The earlier constitution did not permit anybody to hold the two posts together. With this Skaria Thomas the confidant of P C Thomas has been suspended from the party. The offence of these two is said to be their torpedoing the chances of Mani’s son becoming a legislator. Of course these are kitchen gossips of a party. However along with this gossip comes out certain shocking stories, which hither to Mani and others in his party were denying. P C Thomas has said that there is an understanding between the Kerala Congress and the BJP and this was done with the approval and nod from K M Mani. He has also said that the BJP has benefited from this understanding while the Kerala Congress got the maximum benefit. That is why, says P C Thomas, he is trying to unify the scattered single members of the Lok Sabha into a federation or confederation to support the NDA government at the centre and this would benefit the party in the sense that he, P C Thomas, would perhaps be made a member of the Vajpayee ministry. P C Thomas has also launched all-India peasant movement to challenge Mani. However the ways of this party founded on the split of the Congress in the 1960’s are mysterious. An evil effect that the new split may have on the state is that one more minister will have to be accommodated in the already jumbo cabinet of Kerala, to placate the P C Thomas group.