The Nair Service Society (NSS) on Thursday lashed out at the Kerala Sahitya Academy for excluding Mannathu Padmanabhan in the list of reformers published in its diary.
In an official statement, NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair termed the attempt as an effort to dishonour the contributions of Mannathu Padmanabhan. Though the NSS had noticed news reports about the controversy a couple of days ago, it abstained from responding despite realising it as a deliberate move.
“However, we have decided to respond upon seeing an explanation by the academy secretary, which appeared in some publications. With his explanation, it has become evident that the academy has dishonoured Mannam by deliberately excluding him from the list. To dishonour Mannam in the name of the academy is indeed an indefensible mistake,” Mr. Nair said.
The controversy pertained to exclusion of Mannam’s name in the list of 32 reformers published under the title of ‘Keralam Orma Soochika - 2019’ in the Academy’s diary. Following this, academy secretary came out with an explanation that Mannam was not excluded deliberately and the list was not an inclusive database of entire reformers.
