THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, June 25: The Quit India movement produced only faint echoes in Kerala because the ``influential'' Communists changed their stand almost overnight after the entry of the Soviet Union in the Second world war, says Sreedhara Menon in his forthcoming book on freedom struggle in Kerala.

``In their over-enthusiasm for the Soviet Union, the Communists rode roughshod over nationalist sentiments and earned the odium of taking a stand which was patently unpatriotic. The Quit India movement did not create much waves in the State due to the antipathy of the Communists and the apathy of the Muslims under the Muslim League,'' he remarks.

Menon may have cried halt to the ongoing controversy over his resignation from the panel appointed by the Government to bring out a book on Kerala's role in the freedom struggle, but his book, to be brought out by a private publisher, is likely to receive a hostile reception from the Communist parties, judging by a sneak preview of its content.

The book, slated for release before Independence Day, is largely non-controversial, except for the last chapter which deals extensively, among other things, with the Quit India Movement and the Punnapra-Vayalar struggle.

It may be recalled that EMS Namboodiripad, who picked up a war of words with the historian after he quit the panel, had said Menon did not consider the Punnapra-Vayalar struggle a part of the freedom movement.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.