Author: P R Ramesh
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: March 21, 2007
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/P_R_Ramesh/SEZ_lies_and_massacres/articleshow/1785595.cms
Lies often acquire a life of their own and
it takes just one incident for the truth to come out. The CPI(M) is realising
this to its utter discomfort. The Nandigram massacre stripped the CPI(M) of
its carefully cultivated facade of hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness that used
to mask its Stalinist impulses and its spurious faith in democracy.
Those who refused to buy the dream of the
CPI(M)-ordained "honey-flowing Nandigram" were brutally murdered
by the party militia. Leaders belonging to the Congress and the BJP, who visited
ground zero, have come out with reports about what they saw and experienced
at Nandigram. In this East Midnapore village, dozens of men, women and children
were wantonly killed. And hundreds of children were orphaned.
The men in Delhi's AKG Centre, who routinely
cite visuals from Al Jazeera satellite to shed copious tears about human rights
violations elsewhere, however, have no remorse. Prakash Karat and his loose-lipped
deputy Sitaram Yechury want us to believe that only they know the truth about
Nandigram and that is what they have been blabbing at press conferences and
TV appearances these past few days.
But to the CPI(M)'s dismay, party's fellow
travellers, who have been routinely feted by party-controlled state governments
and cultural outfits with various awards, are not willing to swallow the Karat-Yechury
duo's weasel rationalisation whole. They are turning their back on the party
and have joined mainstream protests against the Nandigram carnage. And they
concede that a bloody repressive war is raging in West Bengal. The rebellion
of the fellow travellers came as a shock for the CPI(M) as they have so far
been displaying allegiance to ideological groupthink; censoring well-informed
opinions and sharing the party's hatred for those who challenge politically
correct sacred cows.
This prompted the CPI(M) leadership to come
out with an explanation to defend the police-party militia action - the Maoists
have taken over Nandigram and the "liberated" zone had to be "retrieved".
Really? Even if one believes them, the explanation is not just idiotic entertainment.
Why is this small piece of land - Nandigram - so important for a party that
believes in the withering away of the State? When did they stop believing
that Nation State is an artificial construct conceived and created by the
bourgeoisie to oppress the working class?
The hypocrisy becomes all the more stark when
compared with their standard reflex on Kashmir. For every patriotic Indian,
it is an integral part of India, but for the Marxists, it is nothing more
than a piece of land. We often hear them attacking the government for using
force to contain the subversives. And they never spare an opportunity to brand
decorated generals and political leaders who speak about Kashmir as part of
India as jingoistic.
The Nandigram episode also saw the Left reluctantly
breaking another myth about the Jamaat-e-Ulema-Hind. The outfit, anyone with
minimum understanding of communalism in India would acknowledge, stands for
militant Islam. Till the other day, they were paraded, lionised and feted
as great secularlists by the Leftists. But with its ranks now swelled, thanks
to infiltration from across the border and refusing to toe the party commissar's
line, the JUM is dismissed as communalist.
The CPI(M) is right: they are communalists.
But questions are bound to be raised about the CPI(M)'s consistency. When
the JUM men were marching down Delhi streets, offering jehadis to kill the
Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet, there was not even a whimper
of a protest.
Lies and deception are part of the CPI(M)
armoury. Their belief in democracy is a function of the same expediency which
forces the Ulema to swear by secularism. These are tactical compromises they
put up with till the time they have gained the force to take over the state
apparatus.
But for Nandigram, the rest of the country
could not have come to know about the thuggery of the CPI(M) which is passed
off as class mobilisation. The carnage has exposed the real class character
of the CPI(M). The world outside their pockets of influence in West Bengal,
Kerala and Tripura now recognise them as a crowd that smothers dissent and
as intolerant bigots who have no faith in democracy.
But the irony is that Nandigram carnage happened
at a time when the going was good for the CPI(M). For the past three years,
they have been controlling the levers of power at the Centre; the party's
policy obstructionists are having a free run; its cronies occupy high positions
in Indian universities; and their whisper campaign have the power to strip
opponents in politics and the media of credibility.
As it happened, the Nandigram blunder just
gave away the whole game. It is time for those who have been backing their
projects to call the bluff. The opportunity must be grabbed. Don't let it
pass.
