Red-letter days

The latest 8216;People8217;s Democracy8217; has all the sound and fury of a successful election campaign 8212; mostly jubilation, some warning and a bit of gloating.

The latest 8216;People8217;s Democracy8217; has all the sound and fury of a successful election campaign 8212; mostly jubilation, some warning and a bit of gloating. 8216;Spectacular victory8217; is the banner headline under which runs the CPM politburo8217;s view that the Left has won over new sections of the people in West Bengal and exploded the 8220;pernicious propaganda8221; of scientific rigging. In articles on the election victories, the weekly describes what they mean for the party: implementation of the Common Minimum Programme will be taken up in 8220;right earnest8221;, so would the issues of preventing the Election Commission from 8220;exceeding its brief and adopting double standards8221;. And with the BJP winning seats only in Assam and drawing a blank elsewhere, the 8220;isolation of the communal forces8221; augured well for the consolidation of a secular democratic India.

The biggest coverage is naturally reserved for West Bengal. But, Anil Biswas8217;s contribution to the election victory somehow slipped through all the reports. Only politburo member Brinda Karat is quoted in one of the reports as praising Biswas and describing him as the architect of the Bengal victory. True, the party comes first but for someone who virtually set up the 8216;spectacular victory8217; in the state it does seem odd not to be lauded. Brinda Karat also paid tribute to other comrades 8212; according to her 5,000 party cadres had 8220;courted martyrdom8221; in West Bengal and 8220;many were martyred8221; in Kerala.

Reading through the roadmap

An analysis of the document titled 8216;US India strategic economic partnership8217;, prepared by the US-India CEO Forum, describes how the roadmap for relations between the two countries goes beyond partnership between the corporates of the two countries and actually seeks to rework the 8220;entire policy frameworks8221; governing nearly all sectors of the economy. The author, Prasenjit Bose, writes that of the 30 recommendations made by the CEO Forum, only four benefit India: relaxation of transfer of high technology to India; acceleration of the transfer of dual use items; transfer of civilian-nuclear technology to India and liberalisation of the visa regime.

But other suggestions are weighed against India. For instance, the call for a change in the bidding process for infrastructure projects means they could be undertaken by the private sector with US corporate lending. Besides, there are suggestions for 8220;neo-liberal reforms8221; in the power and oil sectors, while the proposal for involving US educational institutions in human resource development 8220;comes with the precondition8221; to determine course and fee structures. Bose suggests that the 8220;cheerleaders of neo-liberalism8221; in the UPA should be prevented from taking the 8220;anti-national agenda8221; forward.

Reaction and reality

8216;People8217;s Democracy8217; carries a lengthy report on protests during the Asian Development Bank8217;s annual meeting in Hyderabad earlier this month. According to the report, the protests exposed the bank8217;s role of 8220;subserving the vested interests8221; of MNCs and endangering the country8217;s economy and along with the World Bank and the IMF are working as agents of imperialist countries and making a 8220;three-pronged attack8221; on India. 8220;As a result of the conditionalities imposed by the ADB, subsidies for public services like electricity and water are being cut,8221; says the report. However, the protesters were evidently out of sync with the ground reality in both Kerala and West Bengal. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has no qualms about asking for ADB loans because, as he says, he needs money for development. In Kerala, the Left has dropped its opposition to ADB projects because according to them they have been able to negotiate the loans without the conditionalities.

Looking at Lanka

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera during the latter8217;s visit to India earlier this month. During the meeting, the CPM leader suggested what the party has been saying on the issue all along 8212; that the peace talks should be resumed with the LTTE and a peaceful solution could be found only with the adequate devolution of powers in a federal set-up within the framework of Sri Lankan unity. Incidentally, Left leaders have had regular contact with Sri Lankan politicians and strongly suggested that all parties to the dispute 8212; especially the LTTE 8212; be involved in the talks.

8212; Compiled by Ananda Majumdar