Opinion Arm-twisting Iran

In an editorial in the latest edition of its mouthpiece New Age,the CPI argues that America’s machinations against Tehran — which it feels has shown considerable flexibility — is borne out of its concern for protégé Israel. “The emerging state of Iran is a direct threat to Israel and its mentor. That is the only reason for which the US is using all means,fair and foul,to force the Iranian regime to surrender before its dictates,” it says.

The CPI did not forget to train its guns at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In his first tenure,the PM sacrificed India’s interests by abandoning the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project under pressure from the US and it seems once again his regime is ready to bend before the US. “The clear indication of this surrendering posture is failure of the prime minister to attend the G-15 summit hosted by Tehran. He deputed the finance minister to represent India. The UPA-II is violating,one after another,all the fundamentals of our non-aligned foreign policy on which,once upon a time,there was national consensus,” it argues.

Telecom lobbying

The edition carries a letter written by CPI Deputy General Secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy to the prime minister seeking an investigation into what he called the “unholy nexus” that exists between corporate lobbyist Nira Radia’s consulting firm Noesis and Telecom Minister A. Raja. He says four “high-profile bureaucrats” are associated with Noesis and their role in “influence-peddling and acting on behalf of multinational powers” in India also needs to be probed. Levelling allegations against these four former bureaucrats,he says one of them during his stint with the TRAI was “widely accused of doing a sweet-heart deal” for two telecom giants.

“Is it a mere coincidence that Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Tatas are both some of the biggest clients for Nira Radia’s Vaishnavi and Noesis?” he asks. He claims Noesis is jointly owned by Radia and a former bureaucrat,who was also a former chairman of the TRAI.

Capitalist trap

The lead editorial in CPM’s weekly organ People’s Democracy says the “current panic in the global stock markets,leading to sharp falls on concerns centering around the announced measures by the countries of the European Union to reduce fiscal deficits” indicates that a new global capitalist crisis is impending.

The CPM’s analysis is that in an economic world dominated and led by financial capital,the natural tendency is to follow deflationary policies domestically in order to satisfy investors and that is precisely what the European economies are trying to do to appease finance capital in the face of sovereign insolvencies. The net result is that the livelihood status of the vast majority of the common people in these countries and globally would further deteriorate,as much of the containment of deficits will be done by slashing already cut social sector expenditures,it says.

“This is capitalism’s most familiar story. In order to retain,if not enhance profits,the degree of exploitation of the working people is intensified. All this is done in the name of generating economic recovery. The working people are told to lose their jobs today so that the economy can grow and therefore they may be employed tomorrow. There cannot possibly be a more gigantic deceit,” it says.

It points out that sovereign insolvencies were bound to occur,given the manner in which bail out packages were dished out to recover from the recession. While the tax payers suffered,the governments were also reduced to bankruptcy. On the other hand,the number of billionaires in the world increased by over 200 and their aggregate capital has expanded by over 50 per cent during this very crisis. “As the crisis of corporate insolvency appears to be overcome,the shadows of sovereign insolvency lengthen,” it concludes.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.