Thiruvananthapuram | Former Kerala minister and CPI(M) leader Saji Cheriyan on Friday criticised the UDF government's decision to cancel the allotment of land for the proposed P Krishna Pillai Memorial at Nooranad in Alappuzha district, alleging that it showed "disrespect towards history" and ignored the welfare of artists.
On Wednesday, the government decided to allot 1.73 acres of Health Department land at Nooranad on a 99-year lease to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for setting up the first Kendriya Vidyalaya in the state.
The decision taken by a meeting chaired by Health Minister K Muraleedharan also cancelled a January 23, 2023 order of the previous LDF government that had transferred five acres of the Nooranad Leprosy Sanatorium land to the Cultural Affairs Department for the proposed P Krishna Pillai Memorial.
In a Facebook post, Cheriyan described the move as "highly condemnable" and urged the government to reverse its decision.
"The government's decision to take back the land allotted for the P Krishna Pillai Memorial is highly condemnable," he said.
Cheriyan said the memorial project was conceived by the previous LDF government as "the first comprehensive initiative of the Kerala government" to address the plight of artists who are left without support in old age.
"The project was conceived as a humanitarian mission to ensure protection and a life of dignity for artists who become economically and socially isolated in old age," he said.
Krishna Pillai was a founding leader of the Communist movement in Kerala and one of the pioneers of the Communist Party in the state, known for organising workers and peasants and advancing social reform.
According to Cheriyan, the previous LDF government had allotted five acres of land belonging to the Nooranad Leprosy Sanatorium in Alappuzha in 2023 to build not only a memorial but also "a cultural welfare centre that would serve as a refuge for elderly and destitute artists."
Calling the government's decision to reclaim the land "an act of disrespect towards history and neglect of the artistic and cultural community", he said the government "must not withdraw from its responsibility to preserve the cultural memories of a people and ensure the livelihood security of artists." Cheriyan said the proposed memorial was not meant for any political party alone.
"Comrade P Krishna Pillai's memorial is not the memorial of any one political party. It is a historical remembrance of his immense contributions to Kerala's social progress, the workers' and peasants' movements, and the ideals of equality," he said.
He alleged that scrapping the project amounted to political vendetta.
"Undermining such a project of public benefit in the name of political rivalry is not consistent with democratic values. This decision once again demonstrates that the present government is pursuing a politics of retaliation by cancelling the historic decisions of the previous government whenever power changes hands," he said.
While welcoming the government's move to facilitate a Kendriya Vidyalaya, Cheriyan questioned the need to cancel the memorial project.
"Establishing a Kendriya Vidyalaya or finding land for educational institutions is a welcome step. However, withdrawing land that has already been allotted in the larger public interest can never be justified. When the government is capable of identifying other suitable sites for educational purposes, targeting the P Krishna Pillai Memorial project itself reflects a mala fide approach," he said.
He urged the government to "withdraw this decision immediately and take steps to realise the P Krishna Pillai Memorial and the welfare project for artists." "Honouring artists is not merely about celebrating their artistic creations; it is also about standing by them and supporting them in the evening of their lives," Cheriyan added.