Jyoti Basu8217;s amnesia

For a band which claims special insight into the working of history, Communists have always done extremely badly at understanding the lessons of history. On occasion, as in the case of the octogenarian Jyoti Basu today, they seem to have problems even with remembering what happened8230;L.K. Advani, he claimed recently, is a 8220;criminal8221;. Asked to back up this outrageous statement, the old man came out with two 8220;proofs8221;.

First, he pointed out that there is a chargesheet against the Union Home Ministerwith matters connected to the Ayodhya imbroglio. Second, he noted that the BJP veteran had been imprisoned in Gwalior after the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, which proved that he too was an associate of Nathuram Godse.

Basu has always been noted for his over-the-top remarks, but there is a sea change in the reactions he provokes. Where he would once have incited, today the best he can do is to evoke sniggers if you are on the other side of the fence or embarrassment if you are unlucky enough to be forced to defend the old man. Basu, who is a qualified barrister, should know that a chargesheet is very far from being a criminal conviction. As for the canard about the Mahatma8217;s death, permit me to quote an impartial witness.

On February 27, 1948, Sardar Patel wrote to Jawaharlal Nehru on the progress of the investigation into the Mahatma8217;s assassination: 8220;It emerges clearly from these statements that the RSS was not involved in it at all.8221; Nevertheless, Nehru went ahead and imprisoned literally thousandsof RSS members 8212; all of whom had to be released for lack of proof a few months later. This mass arrest and imprisonment without trial is what Jyoti Basu offers as proof of L.K. Advani8217;s complicity in Mahatma Gandhi8217;s death!Well, by that standard I suppose you could call Jyoti Basu himself an antinational element. In 1962, after the debacle of the Indo-China War, Jawaharlal Nehru overreacted as he had in 1948. This time, however, it was the communists who were the targets of mass hysteria leading to mass arrests. If Nehru8217;s paranoia is the sole proof, several senior Marxists are 8220;criminals8221;!

8220;I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life,8221; Ronald Reagan told the American people in 1994 while announcing that he suffered from Alzheimer8217;s disease a slow wasting away of the mind. The Chief Minister of West Bengal doesn8217;t suffer any such ailment, but we can clearly see the shadows falling upon a long and hitherto honourable career.

8220;A historic blunder8221; was Jyoti Basu8217;s famousdescription of the CPIM8217;s refusal to let him become Prime Minister in 1996. How should we define his own silly remarks today 8212; a historic misrepresentation or a misrepresentation of history?

Of course, much can be forgiven to a man of his years; however it is unpardonable for a younger man not only to defend Basu, but then repeat his calumnies. Which is what Sitaram Yechury, one of those bright, relatively young Marxists who never bother about standing for election to the Lok Sabha or any Vidhan Sabha either, did on television.

Yechury8217;s seeming contempt for the electoral process is actually a reflection of his party8217;s attitude. Jyoti Basu, the man who led his party to power in five consecutive Assembly polls, is nothing more than the mukhauta of the CPIM. But it is only now that the ugly face beneath the mask is being seen.

A television channel showed us all just how Jyoti Basu men had succeeded in winning all those Assembly polls 8212; a woman was shown casting her vote repeatedly while theattending officer looked on helplessly. Now we know how West Bengal always achieves 70 per cent polling or better! When the journalist tried to delve deeper he was beaten up by Marxist hoodlums.

Do you think this was an isolated instance? If so, take a look at the other major Marxist citadel in India 8212; Kerala. While there has always been a certain amount of dirty tricks in my home state, I cannot remember any election where the Communists have stooped as low as they have in 1999.

Booth-capturing, one of those practices we tend to associate exclusively with Bihar, became familiar to Keralites too. In one booth, the voting percentage was a ridiculously high 97.8 per cent. Need I add that in this particular segment the Congress wasn8217;t allowed to sit in 192 booths? The party8217;s agents were threatened with dire consequences if they appeared.

I spent a couple of days last week in Kerala; by all reports, rigging was at its worst in the Kannur, Alapuzha, and Kasargode Lok Sabha constituencies. Of course,the Marxists8217; dirty-tricks department was busy even before the voting day. In Kannur, where the Congress candidate is Mullapally Ramachandran, no less than two other Mullapallys mysteriously announced their candidates. Mysteriously8217; because neither seemed to have any particular claim to the name. And mark the sequel 8212; when the returning officer challenged these independents8217;, it wasn8217;t they but the local Communist MLA who protested!

That, by the way, wasn8217;t the only name-game being played by the Marxists. Forty-two per cent of the voters in the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency are Christian. Surprise, surprise, the Left Front candidate is Mani Vithayathil, a relative of Archbishop Mar Varkey Vithayathil. How the secular have fallen!.

What we are seeing in Kerala and West Bengal is a pale imitation of what Comrades Kryuchkov, Pavolv, Yanayev, et al attempted in Moscow in the autumn of 1991 8212; last-ditch attempts to keep by force the power that Communists can8217;t retain by democratic means. Smallwonder then that A.K. Antony says, 8220;Indian democracy shall be dead if the CPIM comes to power in Delhi.8221;

Yes, Antony, your friends and countrymen may listen, but will the Roman lend you an ear?