Society needs people who question, says writer Santhosh Echikkanam
Writer Santhosh Echikkanam on Wednesday said knowledge creates a society which asks questions.
“Questions such as why there is bombing in Gaza, why there is religious polarisation in the country, why was Babri Masjid demolished to raise a temple remain uncommittable, and those who ask such questions are not liked by anyone, especially the patriarchal government. What is the use of remaining timid in this age? The country should have dangerous people who read and ask questions. This is why poet Ayyappa Paniker called libraries dangerous. They instigate people to acquire knowledge which makes them ask questions – questions that trouble governments,” Echikkanam said at a Reading Day event organised by the Malayalam wing of Maharaja’s College and the college parent-teacher association.
He said the land exists as it is because there are a few people living dangerously, asking questions.
Echikkanam also shared his experience of seeing illiterate youth mobbing an old man in a village, the only literate person in the village, to fill their applications for things like ration card. In contrast, Kerala is where it is because of literacy as the mission launched by P.N. Panicker form Neelamperoor village spread across the State in the form of the State Literacy Mission.
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