Congress leader’s request to Amartya Sen, Romila Thapar: Don’t attend Kerala conference ‘aimed at legitimising authoritarian govt’

Congress Working Committee member and former Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala, has urged eminent personalities and intellectuals to reconsider their participation in a conclave hosted by the Kerala government next week.

The ‘International Conference on Development and Democracy’ is scheduled to be held on February 15.

In an open letter addressed to Professor Amartya Sen, Professor Romila Thapar, Dr Sakunthala Thilsted, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and Lok Sabha member Kanimozhi, Chennithala said that considering approaching Kerala Assembly elections, “The conference appears less an academic forum and more a carefully choreographed effort aimed at reclaiming moral legitimacy for an incumbent government whose record on democratic freedoms, institutional integrity, and public accountability is under sustained criticism and increasingly viewed as authoritarian.”