Marxist ideologue and former Chief Editor of Deshabhimani, P. Govinda Pillai passed away

Marxist ideologue and former Chief Editor of Deshabhimani, P. Govinda Pillai passed away at KIMS Hospital here at around 11 pm on Thursday. He was 86. He was fondly called PG. A lively figure in the social, political, scientific, literary and intellectual fields of Kerala, Govinda Pillai was admitted to the hospital on November 14 following age-related diseases. He was born on 25 March 1926 at Pulluvazhi village, Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district as the eldest son of M.N. Parameswaran Pillai and K. Parukuttyamma. By the time PG joined for his pre-graduation course in the Union Christian College, Aluva, he had developed a serious interest in politics and social affairs. He joined Congress as a student worker and was in the forefront of the Quit India movement which rocked the country in 1941. He became formal member of Communist Party of India in 1946. PG actively participated in All India Student Federation’s activities in Mumbai and courted arrest.

G’s father sent him to the elite St Xavier’s College in Mumbai for graduation. His father’s dream was to see his eldest son as a barrister or an ICS officer and he had plans to send PG to London after his graduation. But after arriving in Mumbai he started associating with the CPI even as he had enrolled for BA (Hons) in Politics in the St Xaviers. The CPI was banned during the time and at the time of university examinations, PG was inside the Arthur Road prison arrested in connection with certain agitations. Later he was moved to Yervada jail in Pune where his prison mates included Balraj Sahni who subsequently became a prominent cinema actor, Y S R Chari, a top lawyer later, S.S. Mirajkar et al. It was his first arrest and on his release after 16 months PG returned as per party instructions to Kerala without the university degree for which his father sent him to Mumbai. The split in the party occurred in 1964 when PG was in Delhi and he stood with the CPI (M) even though his close relatives like M.N. Govindan Nair and P.K. Vasudevan Nair remained with the CPI. He was elected as a member of Thiru-Kochi Assembly in 1954 and later as a member of the Kerala Assembly from 1967-69. As a journalist, PG worked with New Age, CPI organ in New Delhi in 1954-55. He was the Editor of Peoples’ Publishing House, New Delhi during 1963-64. From 1964 to 1983, he served as Chief Editor of Desabhimani daily, a CPI (M) organ. He was the Kerala Press Academy Chairman from 1980 to ’83. He also served as Editorial Board Member at Chintha weekly during the 1990s. PG was dropped from the CPI (M) State Committee in 1993 for his sensational interview published in Bhashaposhini in which he made some critical remarks on EMS and the party. He was also divested of his post as general editor of the Collected Works of EMS. PG 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 founder Director of Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT). His major works include Isangalkkappuram, Viplavaprathibha, Keralam: Oru adhakrtha Samsthanam, Sahithyavum Rashtriyavum, Marxist Soundarya Sasthram: Uthbhavavum Valarchayum, Viplavangalute Charitram, Sahityam: Purogathiyum Adhogathiyum, Poonthanam muthal Simon Vare, Charitrasaasthram; Puthiya Manangal, Bhagvad Gita-Bible-Marxism, Mahabharatham Muthal Marxism Vare, Mar Gregoriosinte Mathavum Marxisavum, Svathanthryathinte Sarvadesiyatha, Agolavalkkaranam, Samskaram, Madhyamam, Kerala navothanam: Mathacharyar, mathanishedhikal, Frederich Engels: Snigdhanaya sahakaari, varshtanaya viplavakari, EMSum Malayala Sahityavum, EMS: A Biography, Mulkraj muthal Pavanan vare. He has won Sahitya Akademi Award, Swadesabhimani Award, Sankaranarayanan Thampi Award and Press Akademi Award. PG was a major foreign affairs analyst on television as he used to anchor a popular weekly programme called ‘PG and World’ on the Kairali television channel besides being a regular face on other channels. PG’s son M.G. Radhakrishnan and daughter R. Parvathi Devi are both journalists. M.G. Radhakrishnan is Special Correspondent at India Today in Thiruvananthapuram. R.Parvathy Devi is working as the Public Relations Officer of Kudumbasree Project in Thiruvananthapuram. His son-in-law V. Sivan Kutty (Parvathy Devi’s husband) is a CPI (M) leader and legislator from Thiruvananthapuram East and daughter-in-law A. Jayshree is a scientist with the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the Indian Space Research Organization. He has three grandchildren: Govind Sivan, Tejaswini and Mukulika. PG’s body was brought to his house at Perunthanny at 12.30 am. The body will be kept there till 12 noon and will be brought to VJT Hall at 4 pm on Friday for the public to pay homage. The body will be cremated with full state honours at Shantikavadam, Thycaud in Thiruvananthapuram at 4 pm on Friday.