Now, it is EMS's turn to slam Arundathi Roy!

Autobiographical? Symptomatic of the hep new writing in English, coming from Indians?

Whatever. For veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader E M S Namboodiripad, Arundhati Roy's novel The God Of Small Things is nothing more or less than anti-Communist propaganda.

In his latest column in Frontline, an English fortnightly, Namboodiripad argued that the "unrealistic presentation" of the Communist movement in Kerala by the author was indicative of her antipathy to the movement.

And this, says EMS, is the main reason why the book has been appreciated across the world -- since the ideology of 'world literature' was basically anti-Communist.

'Anybody who attacks Communists anywhere in the world will be welcomed by the captains of the industry of bourgeois literature in the world', the veteran communist leader argues.

Agreeing with Marxist critic Ajaz Ahmed that Roy's description of himself as a landlord in Kottayam area whose ancestral home had been converted into a modern hotel amounted to 'libel and defamation', EMS said he did not care a hoot for the criticism, but did take issue with her description of three Communist leaders, of which the only real-life one was he himself, as grossly caricatural in nature.

Referring to the character in the novel who goes under the name of 'Comrade Pillai', EMS said there was no one in his party who remotely resembled that character -- and if there were one, he would by now have found himself thrown out, the leader added. "Ours is a party that grows stronger and stronger as we take determined action against those who violate the code of Communist conduct. The degeneration that has affected all bourgeoise parties is something alien to us", the Marxist leader said.

The leader goes on to argue that his party's role in the promotion of literature, arts and other forms of culture, as well as its fight against casteist/communal forces had won plaudits even from Opposition parties, and that at a time when the bourgeoisie fell prey to moral and cultural degeneration, the Communists were not only free from it, but actively engaged in fighting it.

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