Thiruvananthapuram, February 8 Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has appealed to several prominent figures to reconsider their participation in an international conference to be organized by the Kerala government later this month.
In an open letter, Chennithala urged them to refrain from attending the event – "International Conference on Development and Democracy" – scheduled to be held here on February 15, according to a statement.
The letter was addressed to experts, including Amartya Sen, Romila Thapar, Dr Sakunthala Thilsted, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, and DMK MP Kanimozhi, it said.
In the letter, Chennithala stated that he was writing not as a partisan political voice, but as a concerned citizen and legislator who has long admired their scholarly, public contributions, and commitment to democratic values.
Chennithala noted that under ordinary circumstances, such an invitation would merit appreciation, as democracies are strengthened through intellectual engagement, and governments should be subject to scrutiny by independent scholars and public thinkers.
However, he argued that the present political context in Kerala was far from ordinary.
With the Assembly elections approaching, he contended that the conference appeared less an academic forum and more a "carefully choreographed effort".
It was aimed at reclaiming moral legitimacy for an incumbent government whose record on democratic freedoms, institutional integrity, and public accountability was under "sustained criticism and increasingly viewed as authoritarian", he alleged.
In the open letter, he further warned that the participation of globally respected intellectual figures, irrespective of intent, was likely to be projected as an endorsement of the incumbent regime.
According to Chennithala, images, selective quotations, and curated excerpts would be circulated to create the impression that leading global minds approve of the government's claims on development and democracy, thereby masking the lived realities experienced by people of the state.
Chennithala said the political utility of such participation lay in generating moral validation and campaign material for the ruling dispensation's re-election effort.
Referring to Kerala's democratic legacy, he said the state had a long-standing reputation for a robust democratic culture where dissent was respected as an essential component of public life.
However, he pointed to an alleged perceptible shift over the past decade towards treating dissent as a threat rather than a democratic right.
The letter referred to corruption-related allegations involving entities linked to the family of the incumbent Chief Minister, which have entered public discourse.
Chennithala also highlighted controversies surrounding cooperative sector institutions in the state and financial dealings involving politically influential networks.
Concerns regarding law and order were also cited with Chennithala referring to politically sensitive incidents that triggered allegations of partisan or inconsistent policing.
He said even the perception of "politically calibrated policing" undermined public trust in governance and the rule of law.
He argued that conferences on development and democracy should confront uncomfortable truths, but said the timing and manner of the event suggested an attempt to manufacture consensus rather than encourage genuine scrutiny.
Chennithala said participation in the conference would be interpreted not merely as academic engagement but as moral endorsement of an increasingly authoritarian dispensation.
However, he added that if the invitees still chose to attend, he hoped they would insist that their full remarks be placed in the public domain without editing, and that issues of civil liberties, institutional independence, and accountability be addressed openly.
The leader also concluded the letter by stating that declining participation, in what he described as a last-minute attempt to manufacture legitimacy, may better safeguard the independence and credibility associated with their life's work.
The government is yet to respond to the open letter issued by the senior Congress leader.
