Left shifts to Centre on ban,says criticism misplaced

On Monday,after the Union Home Ministry announced that it was adding the CPI(Maoist) in Indias official...

On Monday,after the Union Home Ministry announced that it was adding the CPI(Maoist) in Indias official list of terrorist organisations proscribed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,P Chidambaram sought to draw a distinction. Responding to a question about opposition from Left parties statements opposing the ban came in from Left Front chairman and CPM state secretary Biman Bose in Kolkata and general secretary Prakash Karat the Home Minister indicated that he hoped the Left as government would respond differently from the Left as party.

The day after,both the Left-led government and the party seem to be wary of locking horns with the Centre. On Tuesday,the CPI(M)-led Government,the only one among Naxal-hit states not to have outlawed the CPI(Maoist),stated that it accepted the ban. But more significantly,a day after sending out the message that it was at odds with the Centre and governments of all other affected states,the CPI(M) itself is playing down the difference,and nuancing its position.

When asked about the ban on the CPI(Maoists),Central Committee member Nilotpal Basu said: The important issue is to have a consensus against the campaign of violence by the Maoists which is directed against democracy,development and the rule of law. We need to take firm administrative action and take political initiatives to isolate the Maoists from the people.

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Basu emphasised the pan-Indian nature of the problem,and therefore the need for coordination between states and between the states and the Centre. Significantly,Basu reiterated the CPI(M)s support of Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs assessment of the Naxalites as the single biggest security challenge to the Indian state.

Sources in the party contend that the CPI(M)s statements on Monday were not a specific response to the ban. Biman Boses statements,they said,were made before the Centre announced the ban,and Prakash Karat was unaware of the announcement when he spoke to the media. The implication is clear: The party might have spoken differently on the matter had it known of the Centres decision.

Evidently,as it battles the Maoists in its own backyard,and a Trinamool Congress freshly emboldened by its spectacular Lok Sabha showing,the CPI(M) does not want to open up another front with the Centre.

At the same time,the party will not let go of the opportunity to underline the distinction it makes between extremism on the Left and Right. When asked about the contradiction between the partys call for a ban on organisations like the Bajrang Dal and its nuancing of stance vis-à-vis the Maoists,Basu said: The Maoists avowedly espouse the peoples cause which is a sham,of course. And therefore,there is a need to politically expose the nature of the sham. But the Bajrang Dal does not even have such pretensions.