Janayugam, the mouthpiece of the CPI has come down heavily on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for omitting the name of former Chief Minister C Achutha Menon from his speech during the golden jubilee celebrations of the Land Reforms Act, held on January 1.
In an editorial published on Friday, the daily says that the Chief Minister has deliberately rejected historical facts.
The Land Reforms Act that eliminated the feudal system in the state was a move to give land for the landless people.
Late CPI leader Achutha Menon is a doyen in Kerala politics. He held the chief minister’s post for two terms from 1969 to 1970 and from 1970 to 1977. He was instrumental in coming out with scores of initiatives that still remain as a landmark in the development of the state.
The subsequent land reforms bills were passed in 1960, 1963 and 1964. However the Land Reforms (Amendment) Act was passed by the Achutha Menon government.
"The Chief Minister is reluctant to accept realities. History is not a myth or legend. At a phase when the national political environment is tensed with distortion of facts and misinterpretations without showing an iota of honesty to history, the attitude of being hesitant to approve the historic realities is not admirable for the Left politics," the mouthpiece says.
"No one would think that the CM could have forgotten to mention the name of C Achutha Menon in his speech, instead it's a deliberate rejection of historical facts. This questions the Left approach to history," the editorial concludes.
While Pinarayi omitted the name of Achutha Menon, he heaped praise on CPI(M) leader and the first Communist CM of the state, EMS Namboodiripad and KR Gowri Amma, who later parted ways with the CPI(M) and floated her own political outfit.
CPI is the second largest constituent of the Left Democratic Front after the CPI(M).
The CPI executive meeting on Wednesday itself had entrusted Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan to convey the party's resentment over it. The CPI will organise a programme in Thrissur on January 4 to commemorate the golden jubilee of the Land Reforms Act.