RSS sees red in varsity move to honour EMS

The idea of the lecture has provoked the wrath of the Sangh parivar here. RSS idealogue and director of Bharatiya Vichar Kendra P Parameswaran has opposed the decision on two grounds. Firstly, EMS was vehemently opposed at every stage to the creation of the Sanskrit University, which he feared would aid and abet hindutva forces. Secondly, EMS had publicly expressed his contempt for the philosophy of Adi Sankara and held Sankararesponsible for the "all round degeneration" of India.

Decrying the university’s decision in a public statement issued yesterday, Parameswaran said, "The institution of a lecture by the Sankaracharya University to perpetuate the memory of a person who denigrated Sankara all through his life is an affront not only to Adi Sankara but also to EMS."

There are any number of speeches and writings by Namboothiripad to back Parameswaran’s claim, which also illustrate his opposition to the creation of the Sanskrit University and his contempt for Sankara’s philosophy.

To quote but a few, in an interview to Malayalam daily Kalakaumudi (issue dated January 8, 1995), EMS had remarked: "The creation of a Sanskrit University is a political gimmick. When there is a separate department for Sanskrit in Kerala and Calicut Universities, there is no need for a Sanskrit University here. Such a university would help only to aid and abet Hindu communalism."

In yet another instance, delivering the key-note address atthe 1,200th birth anniversary celebrations of Adi Sankara at Kaladi — in the presence of then President of India Sankar Dayal Sharma — Namboothiriopad had said: "The cultural history of the world is marked by a relentless conflict between materialism and idealism. In India, Sankara preached idealism and succeeded in suppressing materialists. While materialism succeeded in Europe and contributed to its material and scientific advancement, idealism won the day in India under the influence of Sankara. This was responsible for the backwardness and lack of scientific progress of India. Sankara’s advaita has become an outdated philosophy."

Considering this uninspiring background, small wonder then that the University’s decision to honour EMS has raised eyebrows. The Sangh parivar circles feel that the decision to institute an annual lecture in EMS’ memory was taken at the behest of some highly placed persons in the university with known Leftist leanings. As the university is entirely dependent on theKerala Government for meeting all its financial liabilities — including payment of salaries to its staff — prevailing opinion is that the decision on the EMS memorial lecture was probably prompted by considerations of remaining on the right side of the ruling establishment in the state.

Meanwhile, university authorities are trying to project an unambiguous stand. "Institution of a lecture in the memory of someone is only to honour that person and it does not mean that the university is committed to the ideology of that person," said K G Poulose, registrar of the university.