MP Parameswaran (1935-2026)
It was with a heavy heart that we learnt of the passing away of MP, our dear friend and respected mentor. He was in a coma in July, but like a miracle, he came around, and on July 19, KK sent us the good news that “though he is not able to speak, he is understanding everything. Today I told him that his anthology is coming out soon… he responded with a loud ‘yes’.” We were so hopeful about his recovery. On Aug 7, the final manuscript of MP’s Anthology was emailed to him and to KK. But four days later, the sad news came that MP left us.
MP was a Gandhian communist of integrity and audacity. A utopian thinker and a pragmatic activist. As a Fellow of ARENA and a Founding Member of Global University for Sustainability, he has participated not only in the People’s Science Movement in India, but also Asian and global intellectual movements. Global University has published two books that MP wrote, and both books are being published on the Chinese social media (in Chinese) in serial form. Dreams without an Expiry Date, MP’s autobiography, started publication on June 13 this year, three times a week, and today was featured the 29th episode. The Rurban Republic started weekly publication on April 30, and the last episode, the 28th one, will appear on August 27. One episode had a readership of 14,000; its title was “Capitalism is not sustainable, the Soviet model has also failed. Is there a third road for humanity?” Through his writings, the Chinese readers come to learn about the life and thought of an Indian/globalist activist intellectual.
Dai Jinhua and us discuss how we can carry forward the legacies of the 20th century, the 20th century of wars and revolutions, of despairs and hopes, of betrayals and fidelities. We feel the legacies are embedded in the thoughts and deeds of thinkers like MP, Samir Amin, Francois Houtart, Vinod Raina, Gustavo Esteva, and others, who lived their lives to the full, dreamers who persisted in bringing utopia to fruition, militants who would not recoil from whatever difficulties or frustrations. Hence, we have embarked on compiling anthologies of these great activist thinkers. On 16 October 2022, we proposed to MP to compile his anthology in English, as much of his writings was in Malayalam or Hindi. MP came back to us with 13 digital books of his English writings put together by his niece. KK Krishna Kumar and Kin Chi started to go through the volumes, selected dozens of articles, edited out repetitions, and then solicited the help of Ashley Dayman in co-editing. The final manuscript is 536 pages, 136,636 words, 48 articles. How we had hoped that MP could be present at the book launch! Our only solace is that MP received the final manuscript before his departure. He has left us an invaluable legacy.
Below are MP’s books and videos on the Global University website for revisiting his thoughts.
Books