Opinion Maoists & friends
In the latest issue of CPM journal Peoples Democracy,general secretary Prakash Karat targets activists like Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar for siding with the Maoists
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In the latest issue of CPM journal Peoples Democracy,general secretary Prakash Karat targets activists like Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar for siding with the Maoists in the context of the week-long campaign his party has launched to protest against attacks on CPM cadres in West Bengal,allegedly by the Trinamool Congress and the Maoists.
He says some 270 members and supporters of the CPM and the Left have been killed in the last two years. The campaign,according to him,was also to expose the position of those intellectuals,social activists and so-called civil libertarians who are supporting this murderous partnership. He writes: The likes of Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar are condoning the inhuman killings indulged in by Maoist gangs by extending support to the Trinamool-Maoist gang-up. Many dubious NGOs are involved in this anti-Left enterprise. This is a common tactic of right-wing forces; they enlist the support of the ultra-Left to provide a cover for their reactionary platform.
Purulia vs Amethi
Through the lead editorial in Peoples Democracy,the CPM hits back at Rahul Gandhi for his attack on the Left Front government in West Bengal. Referring to Gandhis description of Purulia as the most backward in the country,it compares Purulia with Rae Bareli and Amethi (the constituencies of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,respectively): The number of people below the poverty line in Purulia is 31 per cent compared with 54 per cent in Rae Bareli and Amethi. It also reminds Rahul Gandhi that Bengal had established the three-tier system of democratically elected bodies 14 years before Rajiv Gandhi rolled out panchayati raj: This is the hard reality between those who mouth concerns of two Indias and the Left that takes steps to provide relief,despite severe limitations imposed by our Constitution on the state governments ability to raise resources.
Free to change
The CPI weekly,New Age,carries an article on the recent Supreme Court direction to the government to distribute rotting foodgrain to the poor. It says: it appears that the apex court has stepped on the toes of Parliament and the executive. The observation in the article is based on a statement issued by the CPI after the Supreme Court directive,saying the ruling raises serious questions like: can the apex court usurp the powers of the Parliament and executive,since in this case,the government has to decide state policy.
The party had argued that it cannot support the position of the court just because the judgment appears to be pro-people,contending that if it is allowed to do that there is no guarantee that it would always be pro-poor. But after the PMs criticism of the SC directive,the party changed tack and said the remarks were uncalled for as it is not an issue of the Supreme Court exceeding its jurisdiction and trangressing into the domain of the executive and one has to understand the proper spirit and the language of the order. Now,New Age reiterates that free food is no solution and asks the government to universalise the public distribution system instead.
Compiled by Manoj C.G.
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