Odd Man Out

Seema Mustafa
Deccan Chronicle, 17 March

There are two reactions overflowing from the Nandigram firing. One, led by the BJP/Congress/Trinamul Congress/Jamaat-e-Islami that is exultant that the Left citadel has finally been shaken, with all groups lining up to hammer in what they hope will be amongst the last nails in the Left coffin. The second, of deep dismay and apprehension that extends through the Left cadres, to their supporters, and to those sections of civil society that can look beyond the politics of opportunism to realise that a weakened Left today will rob Indian pluralism and democracy of an important shield in the struggle against communalism and imperialism.

This not to say that what has happened in Nandigram is acceptable. Police firing on the poor has to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. There can be no excuse whatsoever for killing the poor, and the West Bengal government should have realised that once the police was sent with rubber and real bullets to Nandigram, violence would follow.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has clearly stopped feeling the pulse of the people who have voted the Left Front back to power, without interruption, for decades. His attempts at globalisation have moved out of the realm of statements that had invited great admiration from Congress and BJP stalwarts, to direct action against the people coming in the way. It has begun to appear that he regards the urban middle class as his constituency and not the traditional peasant base that is being targeted in what he justifies as much-needed industrialisation.

There are no two views that the limited land holdings cannot feed the expanding peasant families for too long. But there can also be no two views, that acquisition of land cannot be done through force. The West Bengal government at least is expected to convince the peasants through direct dialogue, to ensure that all are more than adequately compensated before taking over the precious land for the special economic zone or whatever else the chief minister has in mind. The West Bengal peasant, unlike his brethren in other northern states, has under communist rule been radicalised sufficiently to know his rights and fight for them. He cannot be pushed under through the use of force, and it is surprising that the chief minister is seeking to do precisely what his personal supporters in the BJP, Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal etc., have been doing against the farmers for decades now. The difference is that in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, the poor farmer is marginalised and oppressed, he does not know his rights, and even if he does, he does not have the wherewithal to fight for these. In West Bengal he has been educated and empowered by the Left government that has now, unfortunately, been placed at the receiving end by its chief minister.

Interestingly, those holding up the proceedings in Parliament on the Nandigram violence have taken exceptional care to blame the CPI(M), but to defend Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. BJP leader L.K. Advani went so far as to say that the chief minister was a good man. Both the BJP and the Congress party see him as the odd man out in the CPI(M) because he has publicly expressed support for their economic policies.

Veteran leader Jyoti Basu has taken the chief minister to task in the CPI(M) meeting at Kolkata after the Nandigram violence, and made it clear that the Left coalition could not continue to work in the present fashion.

What he might or might not have said is that if the Left continues with the chief minister’s anti-farmer, pro-reforms policies in the current fashion, the CPI(M) could lose its bastion, and thus, its influence in national politics. Kerala gives it a government every alternative term, Tripura is a small state, and the Left has not found it easy to grow in the other states. West Bengal, thus, remains crucial for the Left movement in this country and a chief minister that cannot strengthen it should be seen as expendable.

Those looking on with dismay include those in the CPI(M). Discipline makes them silent, but they are finding it difficult to justify the violence on their own people. The excuses being offered by the state government so far are not acceptable, as these do not withstand scrutiny and definitely do not explain the human tragedy. Today, Indian polity has reached a point where democracy, secularism, pluralism make little sense to the politicians of the BJP, Congress and most of the regional parties. The Left alone has shown the commitment, and even the dedication, to speak up for what is right. So there is a certain apprehension about the future of the nation if the CPI(M) weakens and is unable to remain in a position to influence Parliament. This is what the other political parties along with the big powers are striving for, and this is what the Left has to resist.

But it can do so only when its own house is in order. Of course, Lalu Prasad Yadav who is speaking as loudly as the Congress and the BJP today on such issues, encouraged caste based violence in Bihar, pitting citizens against each other through exclusivist politics. The BJP is not in a position to even whisper on issues of violence, being the perpetrator of hate crimes all over the country. The Congress party, unable to even spell the word "secularism," today is leading a government of compromise in all fields and is being made to stop short of a complete, unabashed sell-out only by the influence that the Left parties wield in this government. Be it the issue of secularism, be it the need to focus economic policies on India’s poor, be it nonalignment, be it opposition to US and Israel intervention in Indian politics, the Left parties are the only ones speaking out on issues vital for the health and future of India.

This is the truth, even for those who do not like to admit it. The BJP and the Congress have lost their voice a long time ago, one seeks power through hate filled propaganda and divisive politics, and the other seeks to remain in power by paying lip service and little else to the politics of secularism, equity and justice. One has seen the politics of the Mamata Banerjees and her ilk on the streets, and this is definitely not designed to steer India towards stability and prosperity. The Jamaat-e-Islami and now the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind that is fast losing its basic character after the death of Maulana Madani, are parties now fired with political ambitions and have made it their duty to attack the CPI(M) as the ruling party in West Bengal that has the support of the majority of the Muslims.

These two fundamentalist parties are bound to jump in whenever there is such an issue, and encouraged by others, are now visible in West Bengal seeking to colour all issues — even Nandigram — with a Muslim fanatical bias.

It is imperative, thus, for the CPI(M) to take honest stock of the situation and not defend what is really the indefensible. The answer does not lie in replacing the poor of one party by the cadres of another, but in directly addressing the issue without prejudice and arrogance, and resolving the matter in a manner that there is no room left for other political parties to exploit. It does not seem that the present chief minister can do it, in which case he should be made expendable. If he can, he must demonstrate through direct remedial action that the farmers are his first priority, and that industrialisation will be dependent on their will and consent. The police attack on the hapless farmers will have large scale repercussions, and the issue will not be allowed to die down by the vested political interests looking for a foothold in West Bengal. Instead of blaming and accusing them, it is now for the Left parties to hunker down, not break ranks, and set into motion a series of bold measures to regain what they have lost, and to build bridges with the affected poor regardless of political affiliations. One cannot condemn the poor because they owe allegiance to a political rival, wisdom and good politics lie in winning them over.