MT took an uncompromising stand against communal forces: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

Culture department organises event at Tagore theatre to pay tributes to the writer

Secular Kerala will always be grateful to writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair for his uncompromising stand towards communal forces and for using his writings to move the society forward progressively, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. He was speaking at an event organised by the Culture department at the Tagore theatre here on Tuesday to pay tributes to the writer who passed away last week. Political leaders, writers, cultural figures and the larger community of readers came together to share memories of MT.

“Immense pressure was exerted on MT to open the doors of Thunchan Parambu to communal forces. Though there were even threats on his life, he never compromised and maintained secularism as the lifeblood of Thunchan Parambu. His statement that he might not have been able to make a film like Nirmalyam in the present times was his way of holding up a mirror to the changed social situations in India. Films like Nirmalyam and Olavum Theeravum are important in times when propaganda films are used to spread lies about Kerala,” he said.

Reminiscing about his interactions with MT as Chief Minister, Mr. Vijayan said that the writer never brought up any of his personal matters, but he had much to say on Malayalam language, Thunchan Parambu and his concerns on whether the language will be lost to future generations.

“MT was a person who expressed profound thoughts about death in short words through writing. He wrote that death is the shadow that accompanies us from birth and that one day it will turn its back on us. However, we cannot comprehend the death of the writer who wrote this way. MT will continue to be an invisible presence in our literature, in our films and in our social sphere. He will be remembered as long as Malayalam language survives,” he said.

Writer N.S. Madhavan said that MT was someone who discovered the next generation of writers, with him being one among them. Poet and lyricist K. Jayakumar said that MT was a writer whom different generations of readers, of tastes varying from modern to post-modern literature, adored.

Filmmaker Shaji N. Karun, chairperson of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), shared his experiences of working as the cinematographer in MT’s films including Manju, Nakhakshathangal and Panchagni. Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian presided over the function.