Magsaysay Award and the party's stand 

In the early 1980s, during Indira Gandhi's tenure as Prime Minister, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MGR got hospitalized in critical condition after suffering from a kidney ailment. Indira Gandhi visited MGR in the hospital in Tamil Nadu. However, MGR was not in a condition to speak. When the Prime Minister talked to the doctors at the hospital, a group of doctors told her that if he were rushed to America for treatment, it would hurt the pride of the country and that all the necessary treatment could be given here. Indira Gandhi categorically said that MGR's life was the most valuable to the country and should not be confused with national pride. MGR was soon rushed to the US for treatment on a special flight arranged by the central government. After the first stage of treatment, he continued to serve as the Chief Minister for a few years. The practical principle to be learned from this story is not to look to the past in embracing the best of the world. The Communist Party has also adopted a stand that agrees with this at many stages. When VS Achuthanandan went to England for treatment, no communist philosopher said that it was wrong to take him to the country that had ruled India for more than two hundred years. USA's capitalist background did not prevent Kodiyeri and Pinarayi from being taken to America for treatment. That's how it should be. Because their lives are bigger than theories.

The fact that EMS was born in a feudal landlord family did not stop him from becoming the leader of the world's first communist cabinet that came to power through the ballot box. The party never took the stand that only a person born into a working-class family should be the Chief Minister then or since then. Magsaysay is one of the most recognized awards in the world after the Nobel Prize. The CPM leadership decided that former minister KK Shailaja should not accept this award named after the reactionary Magsaysay, who suppressed the communist rebels in the 1950s. Even the leaders at the party's helm could not see that by receiving this award, not the person ShailajaTeacher, but the brilliant work of the CPM cabinet in the field of health is being recognized all over the world. They are not able to realize that the party is getting its fame and pride through this.

This is the party that squandered the chance of Jyoti Basu becoming Prime Minister in 1996. In India's situation, if the people want to benefit from anything, they must come to power. The relevance of the party remains unchanged in Kerala only because it comes to power alternately. KK Shailaja was considered for this award due to her exemplary work during her tenure as the minister. The party, not Shailaja teacher, became smaller by rejecting the award on the basis of the doctrine of the past. Don't impose theories by looking at the person's face.