THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following complaints that poet Mullanezhi Neelakantan, who died on Saturday was not accorded state honours, the government has decided to introduce guidelines for according such honours at funerals. Culture Minister K C Joseph announced this in the Assembly on Tuesday. Purushan Kadalundi and Geetha Gopi raised the issue through a submission in the House. Joseph admitted to unintentional lapses in honouring Mullanezhi. “But the government had not shown disrespect towards the writer,” he said. Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty and Cooperation Minister C N Balakrishnan had placed wreaths on behalf of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.“There was a communication gap though. The Chief Minister and myself were at the National Development Council meeting in New Delhi where mobile phones were banned,” the minister said.Ramesh Chennithala pointed out the need for strict criteria as there was an increasing demand for full state honours whenever someone important died. “Such demands are on the rise,” he said.Babu M Palissery had demanded the UDF Government to apologise to the people of Kerala for dishonouring Mullanezhi. He said the incident was politically motivated. “Mullanezhi was a writer who had openly declared that he was a Communist,” Palissery said.
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