“Can a land inhabited by people who lynch a hungry soul in search of a meal be called culturally reformed? It is a question that we should be asking ourselves. Only then will the darkness surrounding us be removed,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, referring to the killing of the tribal youth Madhu in Attappady a few days ago.
Inaugurating the maiden government-sponsored Krithi International Book Fair, organised by the Sahithya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society (SPCS), here on Thursday, Mr. Vijayan said extreme vigil should be maintained against efforts to denude Kerala of the cultural reformation it had attained.
“It is widely known that Kerala has set itself apart from other States in terms of literacy, health, and cultural refinement thanks to the wave of renaissance it has witnessed. But the glory is being marred by certain things like the return of superstition and unsavoury customs. There is a move to take it back to an era of darkness, which should be viewed seriously and resisted. Culture entailed a deeply felt concern for fellow beings,” he said.
The Chief Minister added that books and cultural festivals such as Krithi sought to make a key intervention to tide over crises fomented by forces that would not allow free or independent creative expression to take place. In times when voices of dissent faced elimination and critical expression smothered, such interventions held tremendous significance.
He asked the SPCS, arguably the only writers’ cooperative in Asia, to attain self-reliance and exploit the latest possibilities offered by technology to reinvent itself. “It is because of such an institution that book publishing has not become something like a blade company. It has resisted writers being exploited by publishing barons,” he said.
Earlier, critic M.K. Sanoo termed it a book festival that was not profit-oriented and in keeping with the humanitarian programmes undertaken by the State government.
Industrialist M.A. Yusuf Ali offered ₹11 lakh as donation to the ‘one student one book’ programme that seeks to make books worth ₹1 crore available to over a lakh students. Mayor Soumini Jain inaugurated the programme by presenting the first copy to a student.
Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran handed over Charithra Rekhakal brought out by the Archives Department to Mr. Vijayan. Sahithya Akademi President Vaisakhan read out the festival message.
The book fair will be under way till March 11.
Autism stall opened
The Autism Club stall at the Krithi International Book Fair features anthologies of poetry by six autistic children. Co-operation Minister Kadakampally Surendran inaugurated the stall. Club president Biju Issac presented him a copy of the quarterly publication, Autism Voice. The stall also has books on autism.
