Minister decries poet's remarks

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Cultural minister G Karthikeyan on Tuesday took exception to the reported statement of well-known poet O N V Kurup that "some things are happening in cultural department that can not be made public".
Kurup had a special place among Keralities as a poet, but now he was speaking in the voice of a politician, Karthikeyan told reporters here.
Kurup should show the magnanimity to disclose those things which he considered ''happening'' in cultural department that could not be made public, Karthikeyan said.
Kurup, when he was the chairman of Kerala Kalamandalam, had ''danced to the tune of his political bosses'', Karthikeyan said adding he even misused official capacity for party functions.
Karthikeyan wanted to know whether the reconstitution of cultural bodies without any political consideration and holding the international film festival in a grand style without any controversy were among the "things thathappened" in the department which Kurup considered not correct.
With his recent remakrs on the cultural department, he had downgraded himself to the stature of a mere politican, the minister said, adding it was due to some frustrations.