Kerala   

A slice of history re-enacted

Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

DOWN MEMORY LANE: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan inaugurates a web site devoted to the 1957 Government in the State, before the commencement of a simulated session of the then Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

The recreation of historic events and proceedings of the first Assembly of unified Kerala in the old Assembly Hall in the Secretariat on Monday offered a unique, multi-dimensional experience.

The Information and Public Relations Department organised the programme to mark the 50th anniversary of the E.M.S. Namboodirpad Government’s coming to power after the elections held following the reorganisation of the State. Select students from institutions in the capital and Kollam acted as the members of that Assembly, some of them donning the roles of Speaker, Chief Minister, Ministers and Leader of the Opposition.

The audience could get a feel of that historic day of April 27, 1957, when the first MLAs of unified Kerala met for their maiden session to lay the foundation stones for democratic governance of the State. Witnesses to the re-enactment were some of those MLAs and their present-day counterparts, including Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs M. Vijayakumar, and senior officials.

The students did not have to do much of acting. The organisers had made it clear that the intent of the programme was not to imitate anyone either in attire or style of presentations.

But there were some stray attempts to copy dress styles. For instance, the student who donned the role of the then Governor, B. Ramakrishna Rao, wore a kurta and Gandhi cap, while the one playing the part of Pattom A. Thanupillai, was seen in a shawl characteristic of the Praja Socialist Party leader. The youth in the role of C.H. Muhammed Koya sported a fur cap.

The session started with the Governor’s Address, followed by the moving of the Motion of Thanks to the Governor; debates on the address and on the amendments to the motion; reply speech by the Chief Minister; moving of calling-attention notices; adjournment motions; introduction and discussion of the Education Bill and the Agricultural Reforms Bill; and a concluding session.

As pointed out by Mr. Achuthanandan, the event became a rare occasion for the younger generation to have a peep into the eventful days of the State’s formation.

T. Ramavarman

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