Thrissur: The language of politicians in Kerala has changed, unfortunately not for the good. Congress leader V D Satheesan blames it on what he calls 'the dark age' we live in, while CPI's Kanam Rajendran says it is part of the ill-effects of globalisation. A third view, shared by BJP's V Muraleedharan, is that the changes in the political diction is only a reflection of the shift in society's aptitude.
The three major leaders, representing rival ideologies, shared their views during a panel discussion at Manorama News Conclave 2022 here on Saturday.
“I often say that we live in dark times. All the problems of the milieu has fallen on politicians also. But we can control it. Politicians still use a vocabulary from 40-50 years ago. Cliched usages are used to communicate a point. It's high time we dumped all such outdated usages,” Satheesan, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly, said.
He reiterated that politicians should pay attention to avoid politically incorrect remarks in their statements.
The discussion brought back the recent controversy over some insensitive remarks made by CPM MLA M M Mani against RMP's K K Rema in Kerala assembly. Mani was forced to withdraw the remarks after Speaker M B Rajesh issued a ruling against making remarks that sound barbaric in a progressive society.
“When Mani made that remark, I asked if the Communist party believed in the concept that one becomes a widow due to her fate. I believe the party changed its stand on the issue based on that point. We should be convinced not to use politically incorrect usages. We land in trouble when we go for punch dialogues,” Satheesan said.
Kanam Rajendran, the CPI state secretary, had a historical approach to the issue of bad language in politics. “Post globalisation, human beings have become self-centred and this is reflected in politicians' life also. Like media, politics has also become negative. Earlier, political leaders used to share a camaraderie beyond politics. That has changed now,” he said.
Rajendran was vocally critical about the trends in visual media which he said fuelled controversies. “If you stop evening debates on TV channels, half of the problems will be solved. There should be some restraint. You should discuss only matters over which you have some powers,” Rajendran said, citing the M M Mani episode. He was critical of the fact that three TV channels chose to discuss his remarks that Speaker should have the final say on the controversy.
Both Satheesan and Muraleedharan also had their share of media criticism though in a lesser degree. While Satheesan complained that media give undue space for controversies, Muraleedharan said media and some politicians change as per society's aptitude.
The Union Minister of State flagged political criticism becoming personal attacks too often.
