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P. Govinda Pillai (23 May
1926 – 22 November 2012) was a veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and
ideologue from Kerala, India, and former Chief Editor of Deshabhimani.
Pillai was born on 23 May 1926 in Pulluvazhi, Perumbavoor, the son of
Parameswaran Pillai and Parukuttyamma. He graduated with BA Hons. He was
elected as a member of Thiru-Kochi Assembly in
1951 and later as a member of the Kerala Assembly 1967–70. He was the Kerala Press Academy Chairman 1981–82. He died on 22
November 2012 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Pillai has written and spoken widely on the subject of fine
arts and served as the Chairman of Kerala State Film Development
Corporation and also as the founding Director of the Centre for Development of Imaging
Technology (C-DIT).
A familiar face on Kairali TV, Pillai commented on
national and international events. His unfavorable critical remarks about E.M.S. Namboodiripad on various issues have invited
fierce backlash from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo. The
party saw it as "grave indiscipline" and "publicly
censured" him on the issue. However, in 2010, he received the Janasevana Praveen from the V. Sambasivan Foundation
THE
HINDU TODAY'S PAPER
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, November 23, 2012
P. Govinda Pillai is no more
: Marxist litterateur,
scholar, and orator P. Govinda Pillai is no more.
‘PG’, as he was known,
86-year-old Mr. Pillai breathed his last around 11.15 p.m. after battling
age-related ailments for over a week now. He was admitted to a private hospital
on November 14 with urinary infection and was under intensive care with signs
of multiple organ failure. His condition took a turn for the worse by Thursday
evening. The body was taken to his home in the city by midnight and would be
cremated at the electronic crematorium here at 4 p.m. on Friday.
A man of encyclopaedic
knowledge, Mr. Pillai had been in the forefront of the Leftist ideological
battle in Kerala, alongside the likes of E.M.S. Namboodiripad. Even as he
fought for the Leftist cause, Mr. Pillai also remained independent in his
judgement of individuals and events, manifest most strikingly when he gave
refuge to Naxalite leader K. Venu when he was being hunted down by the police
and spoke his mind on the events at the Tiananmen Square. He invited punishment
for his words and action from the party, but remained steadfast in his
commitment to the cause to which he had dedicated his life from early
adulthood.
Born on March 25,
1926, Mr. Pillai’s journey in life was from asceticism to revolutionary
fervour.
From 1939 to 1941, he
was a disciple of Agamananda Swamikal at the Sankaracharya Ashram at Kalady.
But, once he hit the path of academics at the U.C. College, Aluva, Mr. Pillai
embraced the path of revolution. He was arrested in 1942 for his participation
in the Quit India0 movement. The stint at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, that
followed made him a confirmed Leftist.
He joined the
Communist Party in 1946, was arrested and remained behind bars till 1951. At
25, he got elected to the Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly. He had two
more stints as a lawmaker in the Kerala Assembly, during the turbulent days of
1957-59 and 1967-69.
When the Communist
Party split, he opted to be with the CPI(M) and became the Chief Editor of
party organ Deshabhimani from 1964 to 1983.
All along, he remained
a voracious and avid reader, writing extensively on global politics, culture,
and philosophy and speaking at numerous seminars, meetings and study classes,
something that he continued to do till age and ailments caught up with him.
State bids farewell to P. Govinda Pillai
STAFF REPORTER
Hundreds of people pay their last respects to Marxist thinker
and scholar
A unique reading room in the world of books fell vacant,
permanently, on Friday as the State bade farewell to P. Govinda Pillai, a
Marxist intellectual and a scholar whose reading had no particular political
shades attached.
The 86-year-old ‘PG’, as he was known, breathed his last around
11.15 p.m. on Thursday after battling age-related ailments for over a week.
Last journey
Mr. Govinda Pillai’s last journey, from his residence at Subhash
Nagar here to the AKG Centre and from there to VJT Hall, before the final leg
to the electric crematorium, saw people from all walks of life, ranging from
representatives of the State government and political parties to libraries,
theatre groups, media, and students, paying their last respects.
Several hundreds lined up by the sides of the road as the
funeral procession wound its way from VJT Hall towards Thycaud in the
afternoon.
The respect ‘PG’ commanded from one and all was visible. People
with different political persuasions poured in to pay their final tributes
right from the morning. Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary
Pinarayi Vijayan, Left Democratic Front convener Vaikom Viswan, CPI(M) district
secretary Kadakampally Surendran, and former Minister M. Vijayakumar stood by
the body throughout the day till he was consigned to flames at Shanti Kavadam,
while more, including Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, CPI(M) Polit
Bureau members S. Ramachandran Pillai and M.A. Baby, Communist Party of India
State Secretary Pannian Ravindran, CPI leaders Veliyam Bhargavan, K.E. Ismail,
and C. Divakaran, former Ministers T.M. Thomas Isaac, G. Sudhakaran,
Kadannappally Ramachandran, K.P. Rajendran, E. Chandrasekharan Nair, and P.K.
Sreemathy, CPI(M) leaders M.V. Govindan, Anathalavattom Anandan, A.
Vijayaraghavan, and C.S. Sujatha, RSP leaders T.J. Chandrachoodan and A.A.
Azeez, to name a few, were present at various points of the final journey that
began at 11 in the morning.
Speaker G. Karthikeyan, Deputy Speaker N. Sakthan, Ministers
Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, P.K. Kunhalikutty, and V.S. Sivakumar, poets
Sugathakumari, Puthussery Ramachandran, and Ezhacheri Ramachandran and senior
Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran were also among the hundreds who paid their
tributes.
No emotional outbursts
There were no outbursts or outpouring of emotions at VJT Hall,
where PG rested for about four hours before starting for Thycaud. The only
moment that the silence was disturbed was at Shanti Kavadam at 4 p.m. when
official honours were extended and the customary gun salute came.
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