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Kerala politicians fight over EMS' statue

Kerala is unwittingly mired in another controversy, this time over the site selected by the government to erect a statue of the late Marxist veteran E M S Namboodiripad.

Parties for and against the project agree that the controversy is unfortunate as it revolves round 'a great person like EMS,' but none are willing to budge an inch from their positions.

There seems to be no difference about erecting a memorial for the Marxist leader, who died in March. It is the site that is creating tension.

The Marxist-led E K Nayanar government had, a few months ago decided to erect the statue near the MLA quarters at Palayam. The state cabinet sanctioned Rs 1.2 million for the project.

There was no murmur over the government's decision till two weeks ago. Hell broke loose one morning with reports that the government intended not only to put up a statue, but also to construct a memorial encompassing the surrounding areas extending till the Martyrs' column, metres away.

What followed was a steady stream of demonstrations, dharnas, hunger-strikes and public meetings.

The objections are mainly on three counts: 1) it inconveniences the public who will be deprived of the existing parking space 2) it will reduce the importance of the Martyrs' column and 3) it will create hardships to the devotees coming to the adjacent mosque.

Pinarayi Vijayan, the newly-elected secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, said he doubted whether the ongoing anti-statue movement was due to rivalry about EMS' political ideas.

He reminded those concerned about the role Namboodiripad played for the development of Kerala. The EMS square was a project finalised by the state government, and not by the party, considering the fact that he was Kerala's first chief minister. The government had already made it clear that it had no intention to cause any hardship to the public or believers of other religious faiths.

Vijayan said the CPI-M was vigorously pursuing its own prestigious project, the EMS academy, for which contributions totalling Rs 42 million have been mobilised. The effort to identify suitable land for the academy, which would be "a model memorial in all respects," was progressing.

UNI

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