Looking to the right

Bridging J and K

Preparing the argument for a proper devolution of powers in Jammu and Kashmir that would serve the purpose of maintaining the unity of the state and yet provide for an “inclusive federal structure of the state”, the CPM has suggested “appropriate changes in the existing constitution of J&K”. In ‘Kashmir Situation: The Inter-Regional Aspects’ CPM state secretary M.Y. Tarigami writes it would be in the interests of justice if the regional legislatures of J&K elect an equal number of seats to the council and Ladakh is given an appropriate number of seats, as there was a “strong case” for granting divisional status to Ladakh. “Since the changes suggested are not of an ordinary amendatory nature but may have far-reaching consequences, a fresh constituent assembly for J&K may be constituted. The same may be applied in case of the other part of the state in an agreement with the government of Pakistan,” says Tarigami.

In his view the basis of such an exercise has to be decentralisation and democracy to promote equity and a sense of partnership. The CPM’s J&K chief states Kashmir has to become a “bridge of understanding and friendship between India and Pakistan instead of a source of confrontation” and for that, the unity of the state is the “condition precedent”. The “twin commitments” are to the state’s unity and to its diverse aspirations. “Any break in the state’s unity will have disastrous consequences for the whole South Asian region,” he writes adding this unity will remain a “pipe dream” if the aspirations of the different regions of the state are not recognised. “The main guiding point here must be that we try to develop flexible ideas of sovereignty to meet the state’s requirements,” writes Tarigami.

Carry on fighting

The CPM has set its agenda for pushing ahead with ‘people’s struggles’ in 2007, suggesting work is already underway and such “struggles are on the rise domestically”. A front page editorial in People’s Democracy gives credit to the party for putting the brakes on the “neo-liberal agenda” of the government. Making a virtue of this, the editorial identifies these successes as putting on hold privatisation of the public sector, the pension bill, the banking bill and the moves to increase the FDI cap in various sectors like insurance. The result of all this has been to “shift the focus of economic reforms in the country —- away from being preoccupied with capitalist profits and towards improving the people’s welfare”.

The party also feels that neither the UPA government nor the BJP-led opposition is alive to the dangers of US imperialism, seen in the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal that, according to the editorial, had reduced India to a “supplicant of its (US’s) strategic global interest”. The editorial also suggests that it is in India’s interest to challenge the so-called neo-liberal policies globally. It points out, “It is simply unacceptable that while more than half of the world’s population lives in poverty, earning less than 2 dollars a day, a cow in the European Union is subsidised to the extent of 2.10 dollars a day.”

Compiled by Ananda Majumdar