The Centre’s move to bring all public libraries in the nation under its control is a part of its plan to implement the Hindutva agenda, says a statement issued by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretariat here.
The move is part of a conspiracy to take over public libraries and fill it with the books brought out by the publication wing of the Sangh parivar. It is also an organised attempt to keep scientific temper and progressive thoughts away from libraries, it alleges .
The announcement that public libraries are to be brought under Central control came during the Festival of Libraries organised by the Union Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
What is being contemplated is bringing public libraries, which come under the State-controlled entities according to the 7th Schedule of the Constitution, under the concurrent list.
The CPI(M) statement says once the Central government starts interfering in the affairs of public libraries, the regional decision-making rights of the State and the libraries will disappear. Once the autonomy is lost, there will be continuous impingement on what books should be read and how it should be read. The regional context and requirements will soon be lost and libraries will become a vehicle and instrument for the Centre’s propaganda and imagination, CPI(M) fears.
Libraries have played a crucial role in the socio-political and cultural renaissance in Kerala. Libraries have functioned as cultural centres in Kerala, which was the first State in the country to set up a public library in 1829 in Thiruvananthapuram.
Libraries were always at the forefront, taking all progressive ideas and the spirit of the freedom movement to the people. A massive popular protest should come from society against the Centre’s move to destroy the autonomous and democratic manner in which libraries have been functioning, the statement says.
The library movement sowed the idea ‘Read and Grow” in Kerala. Any attempt to bring communal or religious colour to this movement should be resisted at all cost, it says.
The CPI(M) also views the move of the Centre to bring all public libraries under unitary control as a move to destroy the federal system.
It recalls that the Centre had formed a Ministry of Cooperation even though the cooperative sector was under the State. Similarly, even though agriculture was a State subject, the agriculture laws and policies brought in by the Centre had evoked nationwide objections.
The CPI(M) called for popular protests against the Centre’s attempt to impose its will on States, ignoring the federal laws.
