KSSP bid to regain stature

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Taking a serious view of the erosion of its credibility among the general public which had held it in high esteem till recently, Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishat (KSSP) has started efforts to restore its pride of place in the minds of  people.   As part of these efforts, the parishat leadership  organised an interactive session with senior journalists in  the capital on Wednesday. Admitting that the parishat had been facing a serious erosion of credibility and loss of confidence among the public, parishat leaders said that some of their past deeds and its identification with CPM had added to the problem.  Speaking on the occasion, KSSP president K T Radhakrishnan and general secretary T P Sreesankar said that the parishat had to face the brunt of attack from the public and media for none of their faults.   They lamented that in spite of their earnest efforts to intervene in various issues plaguing the state, this had                                                                                                                                              not received proper media attention. When pointed out that there was a time when parishat had a large following among  intellectuals, students and the general public and it was the compromise in Parishat’s principles and role due to loyalty to the CPM which led to the erosion of support, the leaders said it was a fact that majority of its members were pro-CPM .  ‘’The parishat as such had no affiliation to the CPM. But it was a fact that CPM fraction was there in the parishat,’’ they said. However, they admitted that the parishat had failed to understand that the very character of CPM had undergone a sea change.  Mediapersons felt that it was too late for the parishat to get rid of the tag of CPM-sponsored organisation and uphold its individuality as an organisation with a broad Left platform to accommodate people with liberal views.  The session underscored the importance of  taking up serious issues and offering effective solutions. It underlined the need for the parishat to adopt modern tools to reach out to the public, especially the younger generation. The parishat leaders said their year-long campaign called ‘Venam Mattoru Keralam’ would focus on the need for evolving social control over land use, giving priority to native workforce, stress on productive economic activities, women participation  in all sectors, decentralisation of power, fight against neo-liberal reforms, developing education, health and infrastructure sectors to meet the developmental needs of the state.Parishat’s former presidents T P Kunhikannan, R V G Menon and executive member Harilal also  spoke.