Govt. cuts history to size

By C. Gouridasan Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT. 20. "History of a State, a society or a people cannot be viewed in isolation. It is dependent on and influenced by many other factors outside their domain, contributing to the establishment of the larger mosaic. The true aim of historical research is establishing these linkages and throwing up comprehensive findings for the proper understanding and appreciation of the present," wrote the President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, while congratulating the Government of Kerala for its decision to constitute the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) `by transforming the State Gazetteers Department into an autonomous institution'. Now he can write an epitaph for the institution that he so enthusiastically welcomed just a few months ago.

Through a decision of questionable legal validity, the Government has cut at the root of the nascent institution. From available indications, it has done so falling prey to sectarian political considerations and machinations by vested interests who had all along raised the `Marxist bogey' to see that the KCHR does not succeed, as the President had hoped, in realising its professed objectives which included formation of a forum of professional historians committed to the promotion of historical research and for exchange of ideas on historical knowledge, creation of a comprehensive database for research on Kerala History undertaken in India and abroad and publication of source materials and studies, which would facilitate historical research.

The decision to disband the KCHR, the first such initiative by any State in the country, also raises several questions, some of them legal and some political and ethical. As the President himself has noted, the KCHR was formed by an order of the Government on March 8 this year `transforming the Kerala Gazetteers Department' into the new entity with a Patrons Council, an Advisory Council and an Executive Council. The members of the Patrons Council are the Governor, the Chief Minister, the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, the Culture Minister and the Chief Secretary.

The members of the Advisory Council, besides members of the Executive Council, are three senior historians or social scientists, four MLAs, president of a district panchayat, chairpersons of any two municipalities and presidents of any six grama panchayats. The KCHR is the only autonomus institution under the State Government with such a large representation for elected representatives on any of its policy planning bodies, the idea being that such an institution should be answerable to the people. Besides officials, the Executive Council has the KCHR chairman, director and nine historians as its members.

Detractors of the KCHR has from the beginning accused it of being a pro-Marxist outfit and the present move to disband it has its origins in this perception. Headed by the renowned historian, Dr. K.N. Panikkar, the KCHR has as its Executive Council members some of the best names in the field of historical research in this part of India such as Dr. P.M. Rajan Gurukkal, Dr. M.R. Raghava Warrier, Dr. S.M. Muhammed Koya, Dr. Kesavan Veluthat, Dr. K.K.N. Kurup, Dr. K.S. Mathew and Dr. K.N. Ganesh. Efforts had been made to make Dr. M.G.S. Narayanan, Prof. A. Sreedhara Menon, Dr. M. Gangadharan and Dr. K.K. Kusuman as members of nine-member Council, but they refused to associate with the KCHR because of its origins under a Marxist dispensation.

Wednesday was, otherwise, a good day for the KCHR. Barely an hour or so after the Chief Minister, Mr. A.K. Antony, told reporters about the Cabinet decision to disband the KCHR, the Council received a communication from the University of Latrobe in Australia agreeing to its proposal for a joint conference on the theme of `Globalisation and the State' and seeking its bank account details for transferring money to meet part of the cost of holding the conference!

Almost at the same time, and unaware of the Cabinet decision, the Director of the KCHR, Dr. P.J. Cherian, was at the residence of Ms. Indira Ramakrishna Pillai, daughter of the legendary freedom fighter of Travancore, Barrister G.P. Pillai, securing her consent to take over Pillai's rich collection of books by the KCHR! And the Council has been at work to collect documents relating to Kerala from the India Office Library, forming part of the British Museum, for the last one month. But, apparently, those who have been eager to see the end of the KCHR could not wait to see how it performs before they pronounced their judgment.

Three different interest groups appear to have worked behind the scene to finish off the KCHR: the Hindutva brigade with their subtle stratagems and new-found clout at the Centre, a myopic political establishment and individuals hoping to secure a role in the scheme of things that would emerge once the KCHR vanishes from the scene. From what one could gather from the departments concerned, the decision to disband the KCHR was taken at the top level.

Now comes the question about the legal validity of the decision. The KCHR has been formed under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Act of 1955. The Act does not provide for dissolution of such an institution unless otherwise decided by three-fourth members of the organisation decides so. The Government argument is that there were several irregularities in the formation of the KCHR and all that it is trying to do is to right a wrong. The LDF Government could be said to have facilitated the present development by initially trying to constitute the KCHR through an Ordinance and later bringing it into being through an executive order. But that is certainly not going to nullify the possibility of a political furore over the Cabinet decision to disband the KCHR.

"If it is us they wanted out, every single one of us would have quit without a murmur. The Government has not cared to hear us out before taking the decision to disband the KCHR. Whatever our critics may say, we have been trying to cultivate the KCHR into a democratic space. I only hope that the Government would review its decision," said Dr. Cherian when contacted for his reaction to the development.

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