Opinion Troubled waters
The secret of the Left Fronts stranglehold on West Bengal is finally out. Apart from neglecting the people,the Marxists also ignored the Maoist threat for long.
• The secret of the Left Fronts stranglehold on West Bengal is finally out. Apart from neglecting the people,the Marxists also ignored the Maoist threat for long. Let alone civilians or policemen or opposition political activists,even when the Maoists killed their own members,the CPM preferred to remain quiet,with only Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee occasionally expressing his concern to the Centre. While the Union government has done precious little to destroy the Maoists,hiding behind the fact that law and order is a state subject,certain state governments have been doing a good job. The Bengal government has itself to blame for letting the situation get out of control.
H.R.B. Satyanarayana
Mysore
• Thirty years after independence,the Left came to power in West Bengal riding on slogans like Yeh azadi jhuti hai. They vowed to bring real azadi,that is,socialism,even the proletarian state in their early days. Things like poverty were supposed to disappear from Bengal soon. Thirty two years since,the record of the Left government in the state is one of failure on most fronts. The result Singur,Nandigram,Kamtapur,Gorkhaland and,now,Lalgarh. Everybody is now fishing in the troubled waters.
Sudhangshu Laha
New Delhi
Terror imperative
• This refers to the editorial Beyond binaries. The tragedy of Indo-Pak relations is the weak Pakistani political leadership vis-à-vis an all-pervasive Pakistani army. The countrys civilian leadership is incapable of stopping the export of terror to India from its soil. In the absence of a long-term strategy against terrorism and countries supporting it,weve suffered. It is imperative that we formulate a concrete policy now along with a massive diplomatic assault.
Ved Guliani Hisar
Talking heads
• The first meeting between Manmohan Singh and Asif Ali Zardari since 26/11 was a good exercise in breaking the ice. Although it brought a sense of déjà vu,I believe face-to-face dialogue between the two leaderships will certainly help reduce tension and resolve problems. The meeting paved the way for the resumption of the stalled bilateral talks,something the US has been pressing for.
Sanjay K. Sinha
Bottled up
• This refers to the editorial Waiting for tanks?,and Ramin Jahanbegloos Text from the Tehran street. The protests in Iran spring from historical factors. But,as Jahanbegloo has argued,its a battle between democracy and authoritarianism. The 1979 revolution was a popular uprising against Reza Shah Pehlavi. But,unfortunately,the new republic didnt give people much freedom. With a younger population,the bottled up forces now want to come out. The world is keenly watching whether divine sovereignty will put the genie of democracy,and popular sovereignty,back in the bottle.
M. Ratan New Delhi
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