The dangerous dead end

Though blame is sought to be attached to the so-called hesitation on the part of the Congress none of those who could be its supporting parties are prepared to act in a way that would make any kind of hesitation unnecessary.

The AIADMK8217;s unpredictability apart, it is now the supporters and allies of Mulyam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav who have thrown their gauntlet into the arena. What, perhaps, holds them back a bit is Chandra Shekhar8217;s open expression of prime ministerial ambition.

However, to expect the Congress to support another version of the United Front from outside is unfair and a fantasy. That experiment, whatever its merits and drawbacks, belongs to the part. That phase is over and done with.

That support was extended in a situation where the Congress had lost its mandate to govern having been the ruling party when the electoral contest took place. It is the United Front which suffered the same fate in 1998 and which, in fact, now no longer exists. The Loktantrik Morcha is a combination of what was a major constituent of the United Front with another which was expelled from it.

In any event, the replacement of the present conglomerate where communalised Hinduism is in command by another in which casteism would be the dominant element would be a classic case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Casteism is not an alternative to communalism. The cleavages and conflicts that would develop on this basis would be of catastrophic dimensions. Temporary acceptance of support from such parties to dislodge the communal fascist ruling party could be justified only if the progressive nationalist and the Left parties do not themselves make the slightest surrender to any kind of casteism and provided they consolidate their own positions and establish a firm alliance between themselves. It is, then, they who can exert influence on the casteist parties and their supporters by demonstrating the vitality and potential of progressive nationalism and socio-economic radicalism allied to secularism.

If the casteist parties do not hesitate to criticise the Congress from their own positions there is no reason why the Congress should be silent about their casteism. The common point about the need to dislodge and defeat communalism should, of course, be placed prominently in the forefront.

The Left parties and the Congress should also frankly discuss and debate questions of economic policy. It is all to the good, albeit a little curious, that the Left parties should now come out as supporters of the main thrust of the Nehruvian economic strategy while some brash officials of the Congress should try to pick holes in it, especially with regard to the role and potential of the public sector. While differences and misgivings should not be glossed over, again, it is the common points which should be highlighted and they are many.

What, for example, is the great difference between the economic section of the Common Minimum Programme of the United Front and the election manifesto of the Congress in 1996? The real point of difference is between the Congress emphasis on combining growth and social justice and the Left insisting on organised labour being placated prior to growth or anything else. The Congress cannot and should not confront organised labour in the name of growth and globalisation but pose before it the issue of national strength and alleviation of poverty and unemployment. The Left, apart from giving up militant economism, should insist on the austerity and equality of sacrifice which would lead to lessening disparities and increasing equality of opportunity.

It cannot be stressed enough that in the present situation the coming closer of the Congress and the Left and their approach to the anti-communal but casteist parties has to be directed towards dislodging the BJP from power. This is the paramount national task and its implementation brooks no delay whatsoever. The BJP, though in a minority, is set on a course which if pursued would endanger the very existence of the nation.

Vajpayee may or may not be the mask of his party but, in any event, the latter8217;s ugly features and cloven hoof cannot be hidden. The constituents of the Sangh Parivar, including sections of the BJP, are behaving no differently from the Taliban, though the colour of their fundamentalism is saffron and not green. The depiction of the Holy Communion of the Christians as a permissible violation of the ban on the sale of liquor near places of worship, the attempted ban on school-girls wearing skirts, the removal of crosses on churches and the digging up of Christian graves has gone together with supporting the rejection of the Srikrishna report on the ground that it is anti-Hindu. These are just attempts at intimidating the minorities. It is nothing short of provoking them into protest action that could set many parts of India on fire. This would give the ISI and its CIA directors just the kind of opportunity they are looking for.

Moreover, the way the BJP-led government is conducting itself seems to be deliberately aimed at giving Pakistan a pretext to force an open conflict on us. This would then enable the US administration to establish its domination over the subcontinent in the guise of brokering peace. The BJP government is proving again and again its incapacity to keep peace within the country. It appears to be bent on providing Pakistan with the chance to break the peace in the subcontinent, however.

On top of it all comes its creation of stagnation, combining with inflation, the deterioration of the export scene and the pushing of the economy to the disastrous position that East Asia finds itself in.

The BJP must not be allowed to damn India.

The writer is general secretary of UCPI