Dreams of Chief Minister Jyoti Basu
What could have been Jyoti Basu's dream when he assumed office as Chief Minister of West Bengal? There could have been three dreams: (a) establish that the communists can rule better than others in a Parliamentary democracy, (b) to bring greater relief and justice to the poor and the exploited in West Bengal, (c) to take his party, the CPM to progressively greater heights, (d) to enable CPM to become an important political party at the national level and enable the party to capture power to rule entire India one day.
Realizing the Dreams
He showed some promise in achieving the objective (a) initially, but miserably failed as the CPM under his nearly 24 years of Chief Minister, established itself as an oppressive, unjust and incompetent party to provide any better governance to West Bengal than what other parties did elsewhere in India. With regard to objective (b), there was some success: land reforms and panchayat raj as also protecting industrial labor from police repression through connivance with the employers. But his rule also added woes and inflicted sufferings to the poor people in West Bengal. All education institutions deteriorated in the quality and standards, educations has become farce, rural health became an avenue for wastage of public money on spurious and sub-standard drugs, non-available doctors, non-functioning medical equipment, careless and rough Para--medical staff. Corruption in Government offices became rampant and engulfed the panchyati system, police became servant of the CPM party. Democracy had been eliminated. A few sentences or paragraphs cannot describe fully the disasters of Jyoti Basu's rule and their impact on social, economic, cultural and political life of West Bengal: several books may need to be authored to comprehensively narrate how Jyoti Basu's rule contributed to West Bengal's all-round degradation. Talk about his being a good administrator would seem to be pure and simple fairy tales. Yes, he had such traits as would an effective and good leader would like to possess good leader: calm and cool even under the worst of situations, love, affection and care for the people, followers and those at his command, decency and respect towards political opponents, agility, decisiveness, simplicity and straight forwardness. Honesty, integrity and sacrifice were only personal to him: but he lived with, worked with, tolerated and led many dishonest, greedy and intellectually low quality and low caliber associates and colleagues. He had not been seen to withdraw sopport or act against those who reportedly used his name and cover to make money through dishonest actions. He was possibly a person who never thought it appropriate to take a view on personal integrity and honesty of other persons.
With regard to lift his party to strength and importance, he certainly fulfilled his dream. CPM had become an important regional party that could exert an influence on national politics and the Indian Parliament after the BJP came into prominence. But CPM has so far failed to become a real National Party with an effective all-India presence. CPM's role in national politics became one of somehow stopping BJP from forming Government at the Centre by supporting non-BJP parties in the name of secularism (meaning anti-Hinduism). CPM (and the entire left) has shown no greater intellectual capability than the run-of-the-mill parties like Lalu Prasad's party in Bihar or Mayawati's party in Uttar Pradesh. Such parties along with other leftist parties have shown no knowledge or expertise in national policies on economic, international relations, external security and eradication of corruption and inefficiency. The only slogans that CPM had depended on were: anti-Hinduism, anti-Americanism, anti- big business and anti-talent. CPM has become another political party that cheats people, oppresses critics, encourages corruption and inefficiency, wastes public money and thinks that they have no accountability for their failures.
Jyoti Basu's Party did develop a very large active cadre at different levels: the cadre has been very strong physically incutting down all opposition and gatherring votes in elections by fair or foul means. The CPM cadre has weakend over the decades in terms of quality: honesty and integrity as well as modesty and decency: its quality of intellect and grasp of technological ans scientific progress only deteriorated because of the distaste for academic brilliance and specialised expertise. That this maybe true of many political parties is only a consolation.
With regard to the dream of becoming an accepted National leader, Jyoti Basu nearly achieved the National Premier position but for his party that did not like the idea. After he voluantarily gave up the position of power in the party, his advice on supporting the Congress at the national level was ignored: General Secretary Karat replaced him as CPM's National Leader. Jyoti Basu accepted majority view as a democrat even if he had an opposing view: Karat overuled the majority sentiment to throw of the Speaker of the Lokshava from the party. Jyoti Basu might have been the last democrat in the communist party.
Dreams that failed to attract Jyoti Basu
It is doubtful that Jyoti Basu had any idea of how to make poor people rich: surely he had little education or experience in this. He became a poor person from being the son of an wealthy physician's son. He did not make himself rich by using the position of chief minister (though as a person without jealousy, he did not mind his poor party and the poor colleagues in the party becoming rich in terms of money). He might not have any idea of how he could make West Bengal a prosperous State. For nearly two decades, he failed to provide power to homes and factories, while his administration allowed electricity theft by goons. He knew not how to create power capacity except by promising to build power on blood donations!
As the party became rich, as a whole-timer dependent on the party's dole out, his standard of living might have improved: but that's pure accident - he did not seek the comforts of life: a puritan communist or a Hindu religious Sadhak would have done the same as he did.
He did not have a dream that his party would have only clean, honest member-activist and also a large number of academically/ intellectually strong member-activists. So, the question of his realizing such dream does not arise. There were many such possible dreams Jyoti Basu could have had as the Chief Minister of West Bengal and a political party leader in India: make Bengalis the most educated and competent in various technological and scientific fields, make West Bengal the hub of industrial revolution in India, make West Bengal self-sufficient in Fish, make West Bengal sweets like Rossogolla or Sarbhaja or Mihidana the most sought-after desert in other parts of the country and the World, make smuggling across the Bangladesh border impossible, enable universities in West Bengal to rank among the best in the World, make government employees in West Bengal the most efficient in the World, make Hindus in India believe that communists are not going to make a fun of Hindu religion, convince all Indian states that octroi duties are harmful to India, and the like. These were not possibly his dreams. Even if he had such dreams, his party would not have shared his dream: they could have objected to such forward thinking as they had done by resisting the use of computer technology in West Bengal for two decades because of their sheer ignorance that they had though reflected both high-level intelligence and profound Marxism.
Jawaharlal Nehru had picked up socialism from London and Jyoti Basu communism. Their not vision and competence failed to lift a nation from illiteracy, dependence, poverty and backwardness in science and technology. Successive generations did not find in them an attractive role models for them. Like Nehru, Jyoti Basu began and ended as a leader of a low/ poor quality followers as they did not aspire to become a leader of vibrant, productive, skilled, educated, enterprising followers.
Potential Political BharatRatna may not shine in History of West Bengal
It might be difficult for Bengalis to forget Rabindranath and Netaji Subhas, or even Sourav Ganguly and Satyajit Ray: it was rather easy for Bengalis to forget Bidhan Chandra Roy. Jyoti Basu may not be remembered by even the communists of Bengal after two more elections. Jyoti Basu, along with Promode Dasgupta and MN Roy will live in history of Bengali communist adventure for a while.
The idol of a honest, simple-living personality, willing to sacrifice personal interest for the common interest, remaining truly democratic and behaving as decent gentleman as a Bengali Bhadolok is what Jyoti Basu represented throughout his life. But that idol is long dead in West Bengal political and social life. Bengalis may not care to revive that icon from history.
As for a lift to a higher social, economic and technological plane from the depth of complete mess that West Bengal is currently in, the state may turn its back from history and look ahead to the future for a competent, visionary leader to arrive.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Jyoti Basu Lives in History - 01
Around mid-day of 17th January 2010, Jyoti Basu breathed his last at the age of 96. Since then the Bengali TV channels telecast the news and the reactions of various people including leaders of various political parties and celebrities from different walks of life. On 18th January, the morning newspapers published articles on Jyoti Basu, his life, personality, achievement and failures. It was very interesting and absorbing to listen to or reading the assessments.
In the shadow of the British
He was no ordinary man. He studied in English medium in the schools (Loreto Convent and St Xaviers where his name was shortented from Jyotiridra to Jyoti by his father) and graduated with major in English form the Presidency College at the age 21 in 1935 and proceeded to London to study Law. Stories say he initially tried to become an ICS (Indian Civil Service) officer. He became a barrister in 5 years before returning to India. No one has said yet how he financed his stay and studies as also his politically-oriented activities (l in London. His father, a doctor who practiced medicine, might have been rich enough ( doctors were/ and are generally rich in India) to fund his adventures in London. The investment in his advanced professional study in London was a private investment. How much did that investment yield in return may be difficuult to assess. But the father was disappointed by Jyoti not agreeing to his suggestion to practice law and carry on political activity simultaneously when Jyoti returned to India in 1940 having qualified as a barrister, registered with the Calcutta High Court but did not practice and chose to be a full time CPI-party worker (wholetimer).
Jyoti Basu returned to India apparently with three attachments: (a) communism, (b) parliamentary democracy and (c) law. He did or could not practice law as his profession, but was respectful of law and lawyers. He turned his other two attachments into his profession. He joined the Communist Party of India (CPI), helping the leaders who went underground for fear of fear of being arrested by the ruling British Government, driving such leaders to safer havens in his own car, organising trade union for railway employees to become a trade union leader (in the same way a new member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) would have done). He was probably against the party's strategy of inviting police attrocities and bringing the tortured masses to the fold of the Party. As a disciplied party member with democractic beliefs, he had accepted the accept the majority view. When Hitler's Germany attacked Soveit Russia, the CPGB withrew all labor agitations and supported the British Government: the CPI followed suit. Jyoti Basu suspended workers' agitation to help the British Governmenmt in the Second World War even when the Indian National Congress led by Nehru was unwilling to lend support to the British Government in the World War II unless the British granted Independence to India. Gandhi would soon lunch his " British, Quit India" movement and the Congress was more interested in negotiating Indpendence for India at a time when the British was struggling to save themselves from Hitler's threat. The Indian communists were more interested in saving the Soviet Union with the help of the capitalist economies and get the ban on the communist party lifted and their leaders freed from the threat of being imprisioned.
Sacrificing for the poor
Jyoti Basu would have liked this because he could work for the poor and the down-trodden only through a legitimate, lawful party. He also worled for the relief work for the poor people affected by famine and needing medical treatment. This would help increase his popularity among the common people and make his party more acceptable to the common people.
In 1946 got elected to the State Legislative Assembly thru's the railway workers' constituency to become a democratic parliamentary leader. He would soon became the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal.
I could not find any evidence, apart from the appreciation and affection he had received from Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the second Chief Minister of West Bengal after India became Indeoendent, to rate him as a AAA parliamentary democratic politician. As a college student I heard him lecture in Bengali Language in mass meetings organised by his party. His speeches were extempore, very interesting to listen to for the layman but did not have any intellectual appeal. He used to narrate stories of his interaction with India's National-level leaders which appeared to me very close to story-telling by grand parents to their grand sons and grand daughters. The art of story telling he mastered had a mass appeal no doubt. Besides being the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal State Assebly, Jyoti Basu played an important role in the development of the CPI at the national level. Although CPI's militant role in Andra Pradesh was not to his liking, he accepted the majority decision and when that strategy failed he was instrumental in getting a change in the party's leadership and successfully taking up with Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India, the issue of securing release of large number of party workers imprisioned for their violent activities. Jyoti Basu's future would lie with a party that would do things that are lawful and that would through parilamentary process bring about changes in legislation to benefit the common people. It would appear that his pragmatism was linked to what is possible through parilamentary democracy, something in which his belief had grown probably during his five years stay in London.
Dedication to Party Pays
Perhaps emboldened by the successfu Chinese aggression of India in 1962 when the Soviet Union did nothing to help India, and with Kruschev openly criticising Stalin and the Russian -Chinese relations started souring (probably because Chairman Mao's party continued to follow Stalinism), the Communist Party of India (CPI) split. Those who were with the revisionism of Krushchev's Russia remained in CPI. Those agains Russian Revisionism and were in support of Chinese Communit Party found in 1964 a new party: the Communist Party of India (Marxists) or CPI (M) or CPM for short. Jyoti Basu, according to some old CPI members, was expected to be with the original CPI, given his CPGB connection and pro-Soviet stance. But Jyoti Basu became one of the founding leaders of the CPM. It was a remarkable decision. Most of members and supporters in West Bengal considered Jyoti Basu as their leader and most of the Indians who would go into the CPM were mainly from West Bengal. Most senior leaders remained in the CPI. It was a boon to Jyoti Basu. He bacame the undisputedly one of the few senior leaders of the new party - the CPM. And, this CPM was prepared to continue to participate in parliamentary democracy till such time they were able to create conditions that would bring India's mixed economy capitaliststic socialism to a grinding halt when they would launch Revolution to capture State power. This dream might not be realised soon: that would offer Jyoti Basu to continue with his attachment to Parliamentary Democracy Politics as the undisputed leader of CPM in West Bengal.
Sharing Power
He was not a theoretician: no body has said anything about his lectures and articles on Marxism, though he edited the People's Democracy for a while. He had no problem in leaving the party organizational matters to theoreticians and activists. He would have liked to be the face of CPM in democratic parliamentary politics while the party activists could prepare the people for the communist revolution and arrange votes for him and others who would get into the State legislative assembly and the national Parliament. The scheme worked well all through-out. Party supplied him all the democratic agitations he needed to organize against the ruling Congress Governments in the State and at the Centre. But he had to sacrifice life comfort's for quite a while. In the legislative party. he was the unopposed leader of Opposition. It did mean considerable pecuniary sacrifice. Large part of what he used to get as allowances for being a member of the legislative assembly went to the Party. He had to manage his family (wife and a son) with meagre income. Of course, he had his own house, probably inherited. He did not draw any part of his allowances as the Leader of the Opposition: this special allowance was arranged for him by the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. At some stage, therefore, he had to let out the first floor of his house to some one: the rental income would help run his family.
His democratic revolution went apace: his party was happy burning trams when the tram fare was increased by one paise, organising strikes in factories big or small, troubling educational institutions by organising strikes to protest agains of all things American onslaught in Vietnam. Industries started closing down in the face of violent and long strike by workers under the leadership of the CPM trade union leaders.
After the Chinese withdrew unilaterally from the 1962 aggression, the pro-Chinese radical elements in the CPI resolved to create conditions for the communist revolution. Industries needed to be closed down through strikes so as to convince the common man that mixed economy capitalistic socialism must go to improve the lot of the poor workers. As industries closed down in West Bengal, unemployment here would increase. All for the better. More poor would now become CPM members, party workers and supporters. People would in this way get ready for the Communist Revolution. The Congress Party was fast losing credibilty and support. But having tasted power for long and used to benefits of rising corruption that Nehru's socialism and command economic planning gave rise to. The more the Congress Party lost popularity, the greater was the tendency of the Congress Party to use strong arm techniques against the opposition party in West Bengal, namely CPM. The more the Congress did this, the more the people willsynmpathize with andsupport the CPM. The Congress in West Bengal started disintegrating. A new party Bangla Congress came into being.
Lady Luck Smiled at last
Opportunities were emerging for Jyoti Basu to advance his political career. In 1967, the Congress lost power in the State as the United Front of opposition parties secured majority in the Assembly. He became the Deputy Chief Minister of the United Front Government of assorted partiesAfter 21 years of plaing in the opposition, Jyoti Basu could get a chance to be in the Government in 1967 for the first time. He was on the right track, but would need to wait further to form his Government. Earlier, the fiirst step to Communist Revolution was to organize masses against the bourgeoise capitalist-boot-licking Government of Nehru's socialistic economy with the public sector in commanding heights: the Congress government was actually running a capitalist economy and needed to be overthrown through defeat in democratic elections. Now that the CPM joined the State Government along with a set of non-Congress parties, the CPM could look forward to capturing State power in West Bengal. But that was not easy. First, those of the communists who were dreaming about the impending revolution, especially the young students in the colleges and universities with brilliant academic record, were disappointed that their Party became part of a coalition ministry in West Bengal. While Jyoti Basu thought that this was an opportunity to show the massess that the communists can rule the country better than others, the revolutionaries thought this as a betrayal. These young people deserted CPM in anger and joined various communist terrorist groups who termed them as Marxist-Leninist, Maoist or Naxalities. They started killing and looting the people, especially the village rich and CPM workers. CPM would soon need to recruit members or supporters who could fight armed gurellia warfare with the communist terrorists. At least one close friend who joined the CPM fighting squad at that time had to flee West Bengal soon and spoil his career and life. That was the beginning of CPM's initiation into murder, corruption and crime politics.
The second problem was that Congress was nursing wounds and would try to come back with the help of the Government of India, still in the hands of the Congress. And, political violence was the only alternative left. The two united front Governments in which Jyoti Basu was the Deputy Chief Minister did not last long due to internal conflicts and Congress manipulation. The Congress came back to power in an election that was marked by considerable violence. So, the two coalition governements that Jyoti Basu served as deputy Chief Minister lasted for 11 months and 12 months respectively. Before the Congress cam back to power in 1971. Jyoti Basu's younger friend Siddhartha Shankar Roy, a well-known lawyer who qualified in London as a barrister six years after Jyoti Basu did, became the Congress Chief Minister in West Bwengal in 1972. The light of the lamp of Congress in West Bengal became brighter just before it was about to finally burn out. The people of West Bengal was totally fed up with the corrupt, manipulative and inefficient Congress Governments. The voted for the leftists. That would not however change he distiby of West Bengal.
Jytoti Basu became the Chief Minister of WestBengal in 1977 at the age of 63. The CPM was the dominant partner of the Left Front Government. All sorts of leftist parties like Forward Block, CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party were the partners of CPM. Jyoti Basu's dream at last has succeeded: a communist government in a bourgiose, capitalist economy became possible.
In the shadow of the British
He was no ordinary man. He studied in English medium in the schools (Loreto Convent and St Xaviers where his name was shortented from Jyotiridra to Jyoti by his father) and graduated with major in English form the Presidency College at the age 21 in 1935 and proceeded to London to study Law. Stories say he initially tried to become an ICS (Indian Civil Service) officer. He became a barrister in 5 years before returning to India. No one has said yet how he financed his stay and studies as also his politically-oriented activities (l in London. His father, a doctor who practiced medicine, might have been rich enough ( doctors were/ and are generally rich in India) to fund his adventures in London. The investment in his advanced professional study in London was a private investment. How much did that investment yield in return may be difficuult to assess. But the father was disappointed by Jyoti not agreeing to his suggestion to practice law and carry on political activity simultaneously when Jyoti returned to India in 1940 having qualified as a barrister, registered with the Calcutta High Court but did not practice and chose to be a full time CPI-party worker (wholetimer).
Jyoti Basu returned to India apparently with three attachments: (a) communism, (b) parliamentary democracy and (c) law. He did or could not practice law as his profession, but was respectful of law and lawyers. He turned his other two attachments into his profession. He joined the Communist Party of India (CPI), helping the leaders who went underground for fear of fear of being arrested by the ruling British Government, driving such leaders to safer havens in his own car, organising trade union for railway employees to become a trade union leader (in the same way a new member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) would have done). He was probably against the party's strategy of inviting police attrocities and bringing the tortured masses to the fold of the Party. As a disciplied party member with democractic beliefs, he had accepted the accept the majority view. When Hitler's Germany attacked Soveit Russia, the CPGB withrew all labor agitations and supported the British Government: the CPI followed suit. Jyoti Basu suspended workers' agitation to help the British Governmenmt in the Second World War even when the Indian National Congress led by Nehru was unwilling to lend support to the British Government in the World War II unless the British granted Independence to India. Gandhi would soon lunch his " British, Quit India" movement and the Congress was more interested in negotiating Indpendence for India at a time when the British was struggling to save themselves from Hitler's threat. The Indian communists were more interested in saving the Soviet Union with the help of the capitalist economies and get the ban on the communist party lifted and their leaders freed from the threat of being imprisioned.
Sacrificing for the poor
Jyoti Basu would have liked this because he could work for the poor and the down-trodden only through a legitimate, lawful party. He also worled for the relief work for the poor people affected by famine and needing medical treatment. This would help increase his popularity among the common people and make his party more acceptable to the common people.
In 1946 got elected to the State Legislative Assembly thru's the railway workers' constituency to become a democratic parliamentary leader. He would soon became the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal.
I could not find any evidence, apart from the appreciation and affection he had received from Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the second Chief Minister of West Bengal after India became Indeoendent, to rate him as a AAA parliamentary democratic politician. As a college student I heard him lecture in Bengali Language in mass meetings organised by his party. His speeches were extempore, very interesting to listen to for the layman but did not have any intellectual appeal. He used to narrate stories of his interaction with India's National-level leaders which appeared to me very close to story-telling by grand parents to their grand sons and grand daughters. The art of story telling he mastered had a mass appeal no doubt. Besides being the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal State Assebly, Jyoti Basu played an important role in the development of the CPI at the national level. Although CPI's militant role in Andra Pradesh was not to his liking, he accepted the majority decision and when that strategy failed he was instrumental in getting a change in the party's leadership and successfully taking up with Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India, the issue of securing release of large number of party workers imprisioned for their violent activities. Jyoti Basu's future would lie with a party that would do things that are lawful and that would through parilamentary process bring about changes in legislation to benefit the common people. It would appear that his pragmatism was linked to what is possible through parilamentary democracy, something in which his belief had grown probably during his five years stay in London.
Dedication to Party Pays
Perhaps emboldened by the successfu Chinese aggression of India in 1962 when the Soviet Union did nothing to help India, and with Kruschev openly criticising Stalin and the Russian -Chinese relations started souring (probably because Chairman Mao's party continued to follow Stalinism), the Communist Party of India (CPI) split. Those who were with the revisionism of Krushchev's Russia remained in CPI. Those agains Russian Revisionism and were in support of Chinese Communit Party found in 1964 a new party: the Communist Party of India (Marxists) or CPI (M) or CPM for short. Jyoti Basu, according to some old CPI members, was expected to be with the original CPI, given his CPGB connection and pro-Soviet stance. But Jyoti Basu became one of the founding leaders of the CPM. It was a remarkable decision. Most of members and supporters in West Bengal considered Jyoti Basu as their leader and most of the Indians who would go into the CPM were mainly from West Bengal. Most senior leaders remained in the CPI. It was a boon to Jyoti Basu. He bacame the undisputedly one of the few senior leaders of the new party - the CPM. And, this CPM was prepared to continue to participate in parliamentary democracy till such time they were able to create conditions that would bring India's mixed economy capitaliststic socialism to a grinding halt when they would launch Revolution to capture State power. This dream might not be realised soon: that would offer Jyoti Basu to continue with his attachment to Parliamentary Democracy Politics as the undisputed leader of CPM in West Bengal.
Sharing Power
He was not a theoretician: no body has said anything about his lectures and articles on Marxism, though he edited the People's Democracy for a while. He had no problem in leaving the party organizational matters to theoreticians and activists. He would have liked to be the face of CPM in democratic parliamentary politics while the party activists could prepare the people for the communist revolution and arrange votes for him and others who would get into the State legislative assembly and the national Parliament. The scheme worked well all through-out. Party supplied him all the democratic agitations he needed to organize against the ruling Congress Governments in the State and at the Centre. But he had to sacrifice life comfort's for quite a while. In the legislative party. he was the unopposed leader of Opposition. It did mean considerable pecuniary sacrifice. Large part of what he used to get as allowances for being a member of the legislative assembly went to the Party. He had to manage his family (wife and a son) with meagre income. Of course, he had his own house, probably inherited. He did not draw any part of his allowances as the Leader of the Opposition: this special allowance was arranged for him by the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. At some stage, therefore, he had to let out the first floor of his house to some one: the rental income would help run his family.
His democratic revolution went apace: his party was happy burning trams when the tram fare was increased by one paise, organising strikes in factories big or small, troubling educational institutions by organising strikes to protest agains of all things American onslaught in Vietnam. Industries started closing down in the face of violent and long strike by workers under the leadership of the CPM trade union leaders.
After the Chinese withdrew unilaterally from the 1962 aggression, the pro-Chinese radical elements in the CPI resolved to create conditions for the communist revolution. Industries needed to be closed down through strikes so as to convince the common man that mixed economy capitalistic socialism must go to improve the lot of the poor workers. As industries closed down in West Bengal, unemployment here would increase. All for the better. More poor would now become CPM members, party workers and supporters. People would in this way get ready for the Communist Revolution. The Congress Party was fast losing credibilty and support. But having tasted power for long and used to benefits of rising corruption that Nehru's socialism and command economic planning gave rise to. The more the Congress Party lost popularity, the greater was the tendency of the Congress Party to use strong arm techniques against the opposition party in West Bengal, namely CPM. The more the Congress did this, the more the people willsynmpathize with andsupport the CPM. The Congress in West Bengal started disintegrating. A new party Bangla Congress came into being.
Lady Luck Smiled at last
Opportunities were emerging for Jyoti Basu to advance his political career. In 1967, the Congress lost power in the State as the United Front of opposition parties secured majority in the Assembly. He became the Deputy Chief Minister of the United Front Government of assorted partiesAfter 21 years of plaing in the opposition, Jyoti Basu could get a chance to be in the Government in 1967 for the first time. He was on the right track, but would need to wait further to form his Government. Earlier, the fiirst step to Communist Revolution was to organize masses against the bourgeoise capitalist-boot-licking Government of Nehru's socialistic economy with the public sector in commanding heights: the Congress government was actually running a capitalist economy and needed to be overthrown through defeat in democratic elections. Now that the CPM joined the State Government along with a set of non-Congress parties, the CPM could look forward to capturing State power in West Bengal. But that was not easy. First, those of the communists who were dreaming about the impending revolution, especially the young students in the colleges and universities with brilliant academic record, were disappointed that their Party became part of a coalition ministry in West Bengal. While Jyoti Basu thought that this was an opportunity to show the massess that the communists can rule the country better than others, the revolutionaries thought this as a betrayal. These young people deserted CPM in anger and joined various communist terrorist groups who termed them as Marxist-Leninist, Maoist or Naxalities. They started killing and looting the people, especially the village rich and CPM workers. CPM would soon need to recruit members or supporters who could fight armed gurellia warfare with the communist terrorists. At least one close friend who joined the CPM fighting squad at that time had to flee West Bengal soon and spoil his career and life. That was the beginning of CPM's initiation into murder, corruption and crime politics.
The second problem was that Congress was nursing wounds and would try to come back with the help of the Government of India, still in the hands of the Congress. And, political violence was the only alternative left. The two united front Governments in which Jyoti Basu was the Deputy Chief Minister did not last long due to internal conflicts and Congress manipulation. The Congress came back to power in an election that was marked by considerable violence. So, the two coalition governements that Jyoti Basu served as deputy Chief Minister lasted for 11 months and 12 months respectively. Before the Congress cam back to power in 1971. Jyoti Basu's younger friend Siddhartha Shankar Roy, a well-known lawyer who qualified in London as a barrister six years after Jyoti Basu did, became the Congress Chief Minister in West Bwengal in 1972. The light of the lamp of Congress in West Bengal became brighter just before it was about to finally burn out. The people of West Bengal was totally fed up with the corrupt, manipulative and inefficient Congress Governments. The voted for the leftists. That would not however change he distiby of West Bengal.
Jytoti Basu became the Chief Minister of WestBengal in 1977 at the age of 63. The CPM was the dominant partner of the Left Front Government. All sorts of leftist parties like Forward Block, CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party were the partners of CPM. Jyoti Basu's dream at last has succeeded: a communist government in a bourgiose, capitalist economy became possible.
Friday, January 15, 2010
For & Against: Violence & Religion
Recent debates in the media show show that most citizens, especially the elite and intellectuals who speak are against violence and murder that is going on in West Bengal. The political parties, except the Maoist and terroists parties spek out against violenec and murder, though the CPM and Trinamul continue to accuse ech other of violence and murder. Common citizens cannot say who s murdering whom but they witness the violence and force beinf used by the workers of these two parties on the streets and educational institutions. So, Gandhi's non-violence remains on paper: Trinamul and CPM will fight it out through violence for ever till one party gets decimated. CPM has risen through violence, rukled through violenec and committed to violence in evry sphere. Trinamul knows that no supporter would come to deal with CPM's violence by practicising non-violenec and offer to get beaten up or murdered. There is no problem recruiting supporters who would commit violence and murder at the behest of the parties. There is a large number of muscle-men whose livlihood is dependent on violence committed independently and on behalf of the politicl parties. Some of them stay with one or the other party for long. Bu most of them change sides depending on which party gives support/ protection to or disctrimiates against which muscleman/ mafia to make money or discriminates against i the matter of distribution of favor. These self-employed small businessmen enganged in making thier livlihood and enjying prosperity by using and providing violence creation skills are an influntial constituency of socio-political life and some of them have strong nexus with the politicians and politicised part of administration. The growth of these constiuency began in a smll way prior to 1960, but was fostered by the rivalry between the CPM and the Naxalites- Moists in the late sistes and seventies. Some of the most popular politicians of West Bengal rose their political career and ensured luxurious living through the cultivation, manipulation and control of this spcial group of self-employed violence professionals. CPM cannot live without them- no opposition party can get some share of the political spoils at the cost of citizens without nurturing good relationship with these men (so far women are not seen prominently in politically-connected gangsters. While the reality s that the democracy in West Bengal is so dependent on the operation of these gangsters, it is surprising that the intellectuals, elite classes and many common citizens speak against violence and preach for peace. The reason is simple they themselves are unable to become violence as they lack this skill. But to make themselves believe that they have a real solution to offer and implement they argue that poverty, unemloyment and socio-economic ineqialoities is the cause of all these violence and they want someone ( not known who - maybe God, though many such people think God does not exist and proud of their special talents in music, literature, performing arts, realty show entertainment and journlism prefessions. They look like dumb people and addicted to wdows' crying. They think that they are doing a great job being voclly against violence including violence perpretated by the ruling politicl party and the not-so strong opposition parties with smaller access to violence-creation resources.
The political leaders care a fig for them and want them to stop speaking against political violence in general: each political leade wants these people to speak against political violence of their rival parties only. Violence and murder is a foundation of Indian political parties for existence and sharing the political looting of the income and wealth created by the masses toiling in factories, farms and service occupations.
However, violence is just one pillar. There is another pillar of Indian politics. That is the elections: nothing should trnish the religious immage of the political parties. Except for BJP, no political party wants to identify with any particular religion or religion at all. The Congress started cultivating the image of secularism since Independence and particularly after Indira Gandhi came into power: almost all other non-BJP parties, except some regional parties, followed suit. Over the years, it has become clear that political secularism has only to do with cultivating Muslim electorate and no other religion. Benefits of Minority Commission and expenditure on Minorities largely flow to the muslims. Buddhists and Christians do not complain because large percentage of them belong to the Dalits and SC/ ST segment who have benefits flowing from reservation policy (another pillar of Indian democracy: Indian political parties have perfected the art of 'divide & rule' policy of the erstwhile British Rulers). Parsees, perhaps the smallest minority do not appear to bother. The Jains and Sikhs are left out. The different religios factions like Vaishanavites, Sivaites, Tantriks, Brahmohs and such other religious communities somehow failed to recognize themselves as belonging to separate religions and accepted the notion that they were simply Hindus as defined by the British and the Indian intelligentia trained by the British. So, the heteregenous religious groups become majority because they are clubbed together arbirarily and cleverly to create a majority so that minorities can be cultivated on a religion basis while the forcibly clubbed together Hindus can be divided by some caste system.
One of the most-used fooling technology of Indian political parties is the slogan of secularism. No one in India knows what it means. Each political party and leader may have its/ his/ her own interpretation to suit their needs for practising 'divide & rule policy'.
Congress and socialist parties seem to think that there are two religions Hindiusm and Islam and secularism means Islam has to be protected from Hinduism (probably because Islam was imported into India only much later in historical time): this helps in didive and rule.
The BJP seems to thinks that most non-Hindus in India are decendants of Hindus converted into other religions long ago by foreign rulers/ missionaries and they want these people back to their original religion. They seem to consider Islam as a religion of other nations and those Indians who do not join the Hindutva social culture are suspect spies, stoogaes and friends of foreign nations. Only Hindutva culture is secularism and protection of the rights of the people belonging to Hindu religion is as much much part of Secularism as protecting the rights of people of other religion provided they accept Hindutva culture, according to the BJP, is a secular culture. Unfortunately, few christians or muslims, even if they are decendantd of Hindus forced or lured into conversion by foreign rulers or their missionaries, would buy into the BJP idea of secularism. Nordo thay have any such concept of secularism other than the protectionof their religion and State support to such minority religions. How long will such religions remain minor in India while they remain major internationally by head count.
The Communists have a different view of secularism: religion is an evil addiction of human beings (addiction to alcohol is much better than religion) and should be abandoned to pave the way for secularism. It seems that those who are poor and large in number from the point of view of getting votes, may be treated as secular even if they practice a particular religion provided they hate at least one other religion. Thus, Muslims may be treated by the Communists as secular by definition. So, are the communists who have given up their inherited religion but hate at least Hindu religion. Recently, General Secretary Karat has clarified the CPM position: now it seems that the members of the party who practices different religions are secular. But those CPM party leaders who attend religious ceremonies/ festivals and parties could lose their secular tag. This kind of secularism of different levels appears to be a highly innovative political philosophy. This is understandable: most Indians may not practice their own religion as per their scriptures but believe in God and have faith in one or the other religious preachers and offer prayers to some God in some temples or in the Church or the Mosque or Gurudwara. If the CPM leaders say that all this God worshipping is a mere addiction and a social evil, they would not be able to recruit supporters or members. So, admitting members and supporters from different religious faiths has to be part of communist secularism. But to become a secular leader in the CPM one has to drop faith in God and stay away from religious festivals and ceremonies (CPM leaders may now decline to accept invitation to religiously secular Iftekar parties associated with Iftekar or Ram Nabami/ Bijoya Dasami!).
Political parties and leaders will do all kinds of non-sense to fool the citizens to win their support so that the leaders can enjoy this material world as much as they can. Their supporters who get some favor or the other at the cost of public money would raise the solgan: Long live Indian political hypocracy of religious secularism and of socialistic peace through violence and murder.
The political leaders care a fig for them and want them to stop speaking against political violence in general: each political leade wants these people to speak against political violence of their rival parties only. Violence and murder is a foundation of Indian political parties for existence and sharing the political looting of the income and wealth created by the masses toiling in factories, farms and service occupations.
However, violence is just one pillar. There is another pillar of Indian politics. That is the elections: nothing should trnish the religious immage of the political parties. Except for BJP, no political party wants to identify with any particular religion or religion at all. The Congress started cultivating the image of secularism since Independence and particularly after Indira Gandhi came into power: almost all other non-BJP parties, except some regional parties, followed suit. Over the years, it has become clear that political secularism has only to do with cultivating Muslim electorate and no other religion. Benefits of Minority Commission and expenditure on Minorities largely flow to the muslims. Buddhists and Christians do not complain because large percentage of them belong to the Dalits and SC/ ST segment who have benefits flowing from reservation policy (another pillar of Indian democracy: Indian political parties have perfected the art of 'divide & rule' policy of the erstwhile British Rulers). Parsees, perhaps the smallest minority do not appear to bother. The Jains and Sikhs are left out. The different religios factions like Vaishanavites, Sivaites, Tantriks, Brahmohs and such other religious communities somehow failed to recognize themselves as belonging to separate religions and accepted the notion that they were simply Hindus as defined by the British and the Indian intelligentia trained by the British. So, the heteregenous religious groups become majority because they are clubbed together arbirarily and cleverly to create a majority so that minorities can be cultivated on a religion basis while the forcibly clubbed together Hindus can be divided by some caste system.
One of the most-used fooling technology of Indian political parties is the slogan of secularism. No one in India knows what it means. Each political party and leader may have its/ his/ her own interpretation to suit their needs for practising 'divide & rule policy'.
Congress and socialist parties seem to think that there are two religions Hindiusm and Islam and secularism means Islam has to be protected from Hinduism (probably because Islam was imported into India only much later in historical time): this helps in didive and rule.
The BJP seems to thinks that most non-Hindus in India are decendants of Hindus converted into other religions long ago by foreign rulers/ missionaries and they want these people back to their original religion. They seem to consider Islam as a religion of other nations and those Indians who do not join the Hindutva social culture are suspect spies, stoogaes and friends of foreign nations. Only Hindutva culture is secularism and protection of the rights of the people belonging to Hindu religion is as much much part of Secularism as protecting the rights of people of other religion provided they accept Hindutva culture, according to the BJP, is a secular culture. Unfortunately, few christians or muslims, even if they are decendantd of Hindus forced or lured into conversion by foreign rulers or their missionaries, would buy into the BJP idea of secularism. Nordo thay have any such concept of secularism other than the protectionof their religion and State support to such minority religions. How long will such religions remain minor in India while they remain major internationally by head count.
The Communists have a different view of secularism: religion is an evil addiction of human beings (addiction to alcohol is much better than religion) and should be abandoned to pave the way for secularism. It seems that those who are poor and large in number from the point of view of getting votes, may be treated as secular even if they practice a particular religion provided they hate at least one other religion. Thus, Muslims may be treated by the Communists as secular by definition. So, are the communists who have given up their inherited religion but hate at least Hindu religion. Recently, General Secretary Karat has clarified the CPM position: now it seems that the members of the party who practices different religions are secular. But those CPM party leaders who attend religious ceremonies/ festivals and parties could lose their secular tag. This kind of secularism of different levels appears to be a highly innovative political philosophy. This is understandable: most Indians may not practice their own religion as per their scriptures but believe in God and have faith in one or the other religious preachers and offer prayers to some God in some temples or in the Church or the Mosque or Gurudwara. If the CPM leaders say that all this God worshipping is a mere addiction and a social evil, they would not be able to recruit supporters or members. So, admitting members and supporters from different religious faiths has to be part of communist secularism. But to become a secular leader in the CPM one has to drop faith in God and stay away from religious festivals and ceremonies (CPM leaders may now decline to accept invitation to religiously secular Iftekar parties associated with Iftekar or Ram Nabami/ Bijoya Dasami!).
Political parties and leaders will do all kinds of non-sense to fool the citizens to win their support so that the leaders can enjoy this material world as much as they can. Their supporters who get some favor or the other at the cost of public money would raise the solgan: Long live Indian political hypocracy of religious secularism and of socialistic peace through violence and murder.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
