Collapsing at the summit
The lead editorial in the latest issue of CPM mouthpiece Peoples Democracy focussed on the recently held G-8 summit and argues that all the apprehensions that the Left have been voicing regarding the surrender of Indias sovereignty,as a consequence of the Indo-US nuclear deal were reconfirmed.
The G-8 + G-5 summit,unfortunately,unfolded a different story as far as India is concerned. The prime minister had a taste of the real world,where the aspirations for a permanent place on the high table appeared more distant. This was true with respect to the three main issues discussed there, it says.
The first big jolt for India came with the decision of the G-8 to adopt new rules for the transfer of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technologies and equipments for non-NPT signatory countries like India. This,in one stroke,declared that the promised full civilian nuclear co-operation advocated by India as the core of the Indo-US nuclear deal was simply not forthcoming.
The NSG,in the light of this G-8 decision is now discussing new rules for the transfer of technology and is obviously under US pressure to adhere to the NPT conditionality. Thus putting a question mark on Indias ability to access these technologies and equipments from either France or Russia,both being members of G-8 and NSG. Clearly US pressures on India to be signatories to both the CTBT and the FMCT will now further mount. All these developments only confirm the apprehensions aired by the CPM and the Left, it points out.
On climate change,it says the Indian position of not accepting common targets for emission reductions for both the developed and the developing world has not found much acceptance. All in all,India has come face to face with the new harsh realities of the world, it says.
The BJPs brew
A report from Gujarat accuses Chief Minister Narendra Modi of not taking the hooch tragedy seriously. It says the death of nearly 150 people,mostly Dalits and labourers,proves that the prohibition policy in Gujarat is just a cruel joke. Ironically,many of the victims were residents of Maninagar,the assembly constituency of chief minister Modi who boasts of running a clean and efficient administration. But Modi didnt bother to visit any of them,neither in their shattered homes nor in the hospitals where they breathed last.
Modis indifference to these victims of hooch tragedy is totally in contrast with his almost immediate presence at the hospitals after last years bomb blasts killing 56 middle class people in Ahmedabad. He had also air-dashed to Mumbai last November when the operations to flush out the terrorists were on with full live coverage of the television channels.
But the same Modi,so compassionate towards victims of tragedies,just ignored the deaths of 150 people close to his own constituency, it says. The reason is not far to seek as Modi knew well that the hooch tragedy is the direct result of revenue from the bootlegging network shared by the police force which he has used only as instruments to harass and humiliate the states minorities.
It says although the BJP vehemently denied its corporators involvement in the hooch distillation and distribution,ultimately the brewing centre was traced to the same place. But some others were arrested.
The TMC-Maoist link
A report from West Bengal talks about a so-called letter written by three Trinamuli history-sheeters,who are in jail at the moment,to Maoists,and argues that this proves the link between the Trinamool Congress and the Left extremists.The three Trinamuli history-sheeters,all in jail for a variety of grim crimes,wrote a missive to the Left extremists from a state of incarceration how they smuggled the letter out is a question the administration shall have to ponder over and it was published ad verbatim in the Matangini,a mouthpiece of the Maoists in its June issue, it says.
The letter states that the movement going on in the western region of Bengal must be carried forward and we hope that you [the Maoists shall take the correct responsibility in this regard. The letter ends with a formal salutation of Bandé Mataram. They have also accused Didi & Co of having forgotten those rotting in jail, after having tasted power. United movement has been identified by these criminals as the weapon of choice against the CPM and the Left Front government in Bengal.
