ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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Interrogating Populist Tendencies within the Left Rhetoric in Kerala

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there has been an increasing shift from class-based politics to politics based on mobilising “people” within the left-wing political praxis and rhetoric. Such tendencies are visible even within the left rhetoric in Kerala. In the particular context of Kerala, this process is enmeshed with sub-nationalist sentiments and concerns around vikasanam (development). It is possible that this tendency can metamorphose into different directions, depending on the tactical priorities of the left in Kerala.

Tebhaga–Telangana to Naxalbari–CPI(ML)

Even as the Naxalbari uprising was quickly crushed, the revolutionary communists painstakingly spread the movement and founded the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries and the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist). Naxalbari differed from the Telangana uprising, which did not spread to other provinces and left no immediate trail after the setback mainly because no all-India party was built for the purpose. The movement–party dialectic is explored to better understand the radical communist movement in India.

Neither Moral Nor Policing

The police surveillance on young people in Kerala seems to have risen to new heights with active monitoring of youth lifestyles, which the police perceive to be linked to youth crime. These micro-fascisms only reveal the growing weakness of the pillars of 20th century Malayalee social disciplining. It is up to the politicised youth, however, to turn this into an opportunity for democratic transformation.
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