P. Govinda Pillai

P. Govinda Pillai was a veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and ideologue from Kerala, India, and former Chief Editor of Deshabhimani.

Biography

Pillai was born on 23 May 1926 in Pulluvazhi, Perumbavoor, in a Nair family, as the son of Parameswaran Pillai and Parukuttyamma. He graduated with BA Hons. from St. Xavier's, Mumbai. He was elected as a member of Thiru-Kochi Assembly in 1951 and later as a member of the Kerala Assembly 1967–70. He was the Kerala Press Academy Chairman 1981–82.
Pillai wrote and spoke widely on the subject of fine arts and served as the Chairman of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation and as the founding Director of the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology.
Pillai often appeared on Kairali TV, commenting on national and international events. His unfavorable critical remarks about E.M.S. Namboodiripad on various issues invited fierce backlash from the Communist Party of India politburo. The party saw it as "grave indiscipline" and publicly censured him on the issue. However, in 2010, he received the Janasevana Praveen from the V. Sambasivan Foundation.
He died on 22 November 2012 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Aged 86 at the time of his death, he suffered from numerous aging-associated diseases like diabetes and heart disease. He was cremated with full state honours at Santhikavadam crematorium nearby the next day. Being an atheist, he was cremated without any religious rituals.