Opinion View from the left: Terror politic
The previous government was imposing the policies of neoliberalism with a bit of hesitation.
Talking about the threatening statements made by Trinamool Congress leader Tapas Paul against CPM members, the CPM’s
People’s Democracy says his remarks have caused “nationwide indignation and outright condemnation”. “Such comments, which legitimise terror, violence and rape as political instruments, have no place in any democratic civil society,” it says. Calling for “stringent action and voluntary peaceful people’s social ostracisation of such elected MPs”, an editorial asserts that the TMC and its chief, Mamata Banerjee, are not contemplating any such action, proving “that it is a party which patronises the politics of terror”.
“Given the fact that rape is being perfected as an instrument of political oppression in the state of Bengal and the fact that it needs to be shamefully accepted that Kolkata is now being recognised as the rape capital of India, the National Commission on Women must take suo moto cognisance and initiate criminal action against the MP,” the editorial states.
Claiming that Paul’s statement reflects “the actual reality that exists in the state of West Bengal today”, it adds that the TMC has “unleashed a saga of gory violence and terror as its primary instrument of consolidating its rule in the state and garnering electoral support”.
Price hike
Questioning the Narendra Modi government over the hike in rail fares, the CPI journal, NewAge, has claimed that this government has “blindly followed the policy decisions of the UPA 2 government” on the issue of diesel prices. “Hence, excuses like ‘compulsion of previous government’s decisions’ is [sic] just an attempt at hoodwinking the gullible. The previous government was imposing the policies of neoliberalism with a bit of hesitation. The new government wants to push through these policies unashamedly. To cover up, the prime minister is saying that ‘hard decisions’ are necessary to start recovery of economy,” an editorial claims.
“Hard decisions of the PM are unfolding in the form of more economic burden on the people… So people should not wait for ‘achhe din’ and should resist the ruthless imposition of neoliberalism, if they have really to safeguard their hard-earned rights and concessions,” it concludes.
More of the same
The CPI-ML’s ML Update argues that “it is clear that the Modi government is intensifying various offensives that the UPA government had begun and rolling back various hard-won rights and entitlements”.
Citing the example of the UPA’s flagship Aadhaar scheme, which Modi has now shown a keen interest in, the editorial opines that this government is “rushing [it] through”. It also notes that, “following the Rajasthan government’s lead, the Modi government is now planning to usher in what it is euphemistically calling ‘job-oriented labour law reforms’. In essence, this is to facilitate hire and fire, make widespread exploitation of contract work legal and loosen labour laws… The Rajasthan government has also initiated a move to dilute and dismantle MGNREGA”.
“The Modi government, emboldened by the lack of even a semblance of parliamentary opposition, is rushing to do the bidding of corporations, roll back pro-people subsidies, rights and entitlements. But the parliamentary opposition, even in earlier times, has done little to safeguard the rights of peasants from land grab or the legal rights of workers, or the interests of the people and the poor. It is the people’s opposition on the streets that will have a crucial role to play against the ongoing offensive,” it concludes.
Compiled by Ruhi Tewari
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