KOZHIKODE: Vagbhatananda, the great social reformer in British India, could speak against idol worship because the RSS did not exist then. Or else, he would have been killed the very next day of his preaching, opined Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He was presenting the first Vagbhatananda award to writer MT Vasudevan Nair at a function held at the headquarters of Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society here on Saturday. The award consisting of Rs 1 lakh, memento and a citation has been instituted by the ULCCS. Mr Vijayan said that M.T. Vasudevan Nair could film Nirmalyam because RSS was non-functional then.
If he had done it now, he would have been knocked down by the saffron brigade. “Luckily, his work still exists and is talked about. MT is the most deserving person to receive the award instituted in the name of Vagbhatananda,” he said. Award committee chairman Prabha Varma said that at a time when the secular fabric of the society was facing threat from communal forces, MT’s works are significant. The other members of the committee were writer Alamkode Leelakrishnan and journalist R. Parvathi Devi.
