Looking to the right

In a full-fledged response to the BJP8217;s national council and national executive meetings recently in Lucknow, the CPM says that the BJP has resurrected a right wing

In a full-fledged response to the BJP8217;s national council and national executive meetings recently in Lucknow, the CPM says that the BJP has resurrected a right wing, communal platform, its highlights being minority baiting, right wing economic policies, opposition to dialogue with Pakistan and jingoistic pseudo-nationalism in the name of fighting terrorism. 8220;The hand of the RSS is all through evident in shaping this platform,8221; writes CPM general secretary Prakash Karat in the lead article of People8217;s Democracy. This 8220;RSS worldview8221; is also reflected in BJP president Rajnath Singh8217;s address to the national council and in the political resolution. Karat points to the references made to the plans for building the Ram temple at Ayodhya, abolition of Article 370, adoption of a uniform civil code and a general theme of Muslim baiting covered up as criticism of the UPA8217;s 8220;minority appeasement.8221;

Bringing up Gujarat, Karat says that while the BJP accuses the Congress and the secular parties for not doing enough for Muslims despite being in power at the Centre for the most part since Independence 8220;there is no remorse or introspection at the barbarous way in which the Muslim community has been treated in Gujarat8221;. He puts the onus on NDA allies to decide on whether they should partner the BJP. Karat writes: 8220;Neither the JDU or the BJD nor Deve Gowda8217;s party in coalition government with the BJP in Karnataka can escape the ignominy of being associated with such a reactionary party.8221;

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 8220;inclusive federal structure of the state8221;, the CPM has suggested 8220;appropriate changes in the existing constitution of J038;K8221;. In 8216;Kashmir Situation: The Inter-Regional Aspects8217; CPM state secretary M.Y. Tarigami writes it would be in the interests of justice if the regional legislatures of J038;K elect an equal number of seats to the council and Ladakh is given an appropriate number of seats, as there was a 8220;strong case8221; for granting divisional status to Ladakh. 8220;Since the changes suggested are not of an ordinary amendatory nature but may have far-reaching consequences, a fresh constituent assembly for J038;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,8221; 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 CPM8217;s J038;K chief states Kashmir has to become a 8220;bridge of understanding and friendship between India and Pakistan instead of a source of confrontation8221; and for that, the unity of the state is the 8220;condition precedent8221;. The 8220;twin commitments8221; are to the state8217;s unity and to its diverse aspirations. 8220;Any break in the state8217;s unity will have disastrous consequences for the whole South Asian region,8221; he writes adding this unity will remain a 8220;pipe dream8221; if the aspirations of the different regions of the state are not recognised. 8220;The main guiding point here must be that we try to develop flexible ideas of sovereignty to meet the state8217;s requirements,8221; writes Tarigami.

Carry on fighting

The CPM has set its agenda for pushing ahead with 8216;people8217;s struggles8217; in 2007, suggesting work is already underway and such 8220;struggles are on the rise domestically8221;. A front page editorial in People8217;s Democracy gives credit to the party for putting the brakes on the 8220;neo-liberal agenda8221; 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 8220;shift the focus of economic reforms in the country 8212;- away from being preoccupied with capitalist profits and towards improving the people8217;s welfare8221;.

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 8220;supplicant of its US8217;s strategic global interest8221;. The editorial also suggests that it is in India8217;s interest to challenge the so-called neo-liberal policies globally. It points out, 8220;It is simply unacceptable that while more than half of the world8217;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.8221;

Compiled by Ananda Majumdar