Gandhian ideals regain relevance, says Hassan

Those who once dismissed Gandhian ideals as outdated are now beginning to recognise their relevance, senior Congress leader M.M. Hassan has said.

He was inaugurating a memorial meeting for Kalpatta Balakrishnan, who was a prominent presence in the State’s academic, cultural, and literary spheres for decades, here on Saturday. The event was held at the M.T. Hall of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi and presided over by writer and orator P.V. Krishnan Nair.

Mr. Hassan said that at a time when writers like poet K. Satchidanandan and many others did not view Gandhi as a progressive thinker, Kalpatta Balakrishnan had the courage to stand alone and assert that Gandhi was right. “When Gandhian philosophy had little representation in Malayalam literature, it was Kalpatta who took the initiative to highlight it,” he said.

Mr. Hassan added that Gandhi and his ideas are being discussed more today. Since the change of regime at the Cenre in 2014, there have been attempts to push Gandhi into obscurity. Now, even those who once opposed him are starting to realise the value of Gandhian principles, he said. This is the time to rise above political differences and implement Gandhian ideals collectively.

The Dr. Kalpatta Balakrishnan Memorial Awards were presented to K. Raghunathan, N. V. Janardhanan, and Vishwajith. Former Speaker Therambil Ramakrishnan, former Director of the State Institute of Languages M.R. Thampan; P. Balachandran, MLA; and T.V. Chandramohan, former MLA, spoke.