Woes of paddy growers
THIS has been an extraordinarily difficult year for paddy growers in this region. Weather and man have joined hands to deepen their emotional and financial travails.
Much ado about nothing
WESTERN haughtiness coupled with ignorance and even partiality gives strange twists to stories emanating from Third World countries and even makes mountains out of molehills.
Indiscipline in the BJP
MR Atal Behari Vajpayee must be ruing the day he allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party to project him as the future Prime Minister of India.

IN DEFENCE OF TASLIMA NASREEN
by Kuldip Nayar
WITH no altars or images, no organised priesthood or sacraments, Islam is a simple religion. Yet fundamentalists are trying to tarnish its image throughout the world, some using terrorism and some fomenting bigotism. Most Muslims are helpless.

Transfer of power in Germany
by V. Gangadhar
UNLIKE Indian political leaders, Mr Gerhard Schroeder, leader of the Socialist Democratic Party in Germany, did not promise the moon to the people during the recent election campaign.

CPM congress: an important watershed By Shubhabrata Bhattacharya THE 16th party congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was an occasion for personal triumph for the duo of Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Mr Jyoti Basu. This despite the fact that on the last day of the week-long congress the party refused to accept Mr Basu’s public statement (which had the tacit approval of Mr Surjeet) that the Central Committee’s decision in the summer of 1996, of not joining the United Front Government was “a historic blunder”. Strategies of marriage by Darshan Singh Maini OF all the ordeals of life, marriage is perhaps best designed to bring out the worst in you, and, of course, the best in certain situations. This hoary thing that could turn persons into whores or saints, bring down kingdoms and empires, or build a Taj Mahal, among other “wonders” of the world, has been a theme for song and story and fairy-tale as far back as the imagination can take you.

75 Years Ago

Nagpur Satyagraha:
Official Report
THREE men were arrested yesterday, two being Amaraoti Banias, and one a Seoni Chamar. There was only a handful of spectators to watch them. There were no arrests at the railway station.

Woes of paddy growers

THIS has been an extraordinarily difficult year for paddy growers in this region. Weather and man have joined hands to deepen their emotional and financial travails. First untimely rain in the last week of September and in the first week of October damaged nearly 25 per cent of the crop, stalled maturing of grain at a delicate stage and then moisture-laden atmosphere discoloured it. Unlike the figurative damsel, a kisan in distress does not attract benevolent attention and has to fend for himself. When he managed to harvest and bring in whatever quantity he could and in whatever condition, he found no buyers. Government agencies were yet to arrive and rice-shellers were the monopoly buyers. They naturally became choosy, examining every grain to determine its grade, assess the degree of discolouration and the moisture content. After much tut-tuting and shaking of sad heads, they condescended to lift the stock but at a price sharply lower than the government-announced support level. The millers made it appear that they were engaged in distress buying, while the truth was that the kisan was forced into distress selling. They never had it so good, even as the kisan never had it so bad. The millers gathered their needs at lower prices; they were eyeing higher profit from the exemption from levy (that portion of milled rice to be handed over to the government at a fixed price) and sometimes resold the paddy to government agencies at the support price at the very mandi where they bought it. It has thus been a very satisfactory year for the millers who often complain of being ruined by zig-zagging government policies. They will celebrate Diwali without firing verbal crackers at the authorities.

There is no point or even sense in talking about the business ethics of the rice-shellers. They are in the business to make profit and in these days of free market raj, accumulation of wealth (and not the means) is the “mool” mantra or essential dharma. But the same free market philosophy also enjoins on the government to protect the interests of the kisan, in this case, rather to side with him and protect his right to earn the best for his labour. Here the government has failed, and failed spectacularly. Government agencies have been complacent at the state level and indifferent at the central level. The Punjab government stirred itself up halfway through and asked elected representatives and ministers to visit mandis and ensure a right price for the farm produce. This was at best an ad hoc arrangement and hence fizzled out; only an institutional mechanism would have produced results. There is no storage space available in the two states, because last agricultural year’s stock is yet to be moved to the consuming centres. The Centre has decided to look the other way as the FCI godowns are bulging with stocks — about 30 million tonnes. Which means the country’s food security faces no threat and the well-paid mandarins can take things easy. What about the kisan? Any bureaucrat worth his cellphone would gratuitously add that he is a hardy creature and knows best. And see the mountain of foodgrains we have! Agricultural economists have for long boasted that the Punjab and Haryana kisan is no more vulnerable to the vagaries of a skimpy monsoon. Yes, but what about untimely and copious rains? The kisan has a lot to be angry about this year.

Much ado about nothing

WESTERN haughtiness coupled with ignorance and even partiality gives strange twists to stories emanating from Third World countries and even makes mountains out of molehills. This tendency is fully manifesting itself in the hullabaloo in the British and American Press about the Indian military exercise to be conducted next month. Quite a scare has been created by calling this “two weeks of simulated war games”. A British newspaper has projected it as some kind of a grave provocation which threatens the peace in this part of the world. The fact that this joint Army- Air Force manoeuvre is an annual feature has been cleverly glossed over. Not only that, the reports appearing in Britain have tried to project the story as some kind of a scoop, by saying that the Indian Government is “secretly planning” this exercise. The fact of the matter is that there is nothing secretive about it. Readers will recall that detailed information about the scheduled routine training exercise was provided to the public by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Army Training Command, Lieut-Gen Vijay Oberoi, at Shimla as early as September 30. It was planned about a year in advance and was being held in well-known and well-defined areas. Army experts reveal that not only is the exercise being conducted well away from the border, the Pakistani army headquarters at Rawalpindi has been informed about this year’s exercise. Armies of the two countries routinely hold military exercises in the winter months from November to February. Right from the mid-80s, Director-Generals of India and Pakistan inform each other whenever they hold any exercise involving an army division or more. A hotline exists between the two officers as per an agreement on confidence-building measures.

By raising a bogey, the western countries are once again playing into the hands of Pakistan which has been crying wolf time and again in its attempt to internationalise the Kashmir issue. It wants to make the world believe that war clouds are hovering over the area, in the fond hope that this would goad outside powers to mediate in the Kashmir affair. It is but natural that it has accused India of vitiating the atmosphere (through the military exercise). Not only that, it has announced that it will conduct a similar exercise of its own, as if in retaliation. Point to be noted is that exercises of such magnitude are not conducted at a day’s or even a month’s notice. Pakistan had apparently lined up the movement about a year ago but is showing it as a sudden tit for tat. If the relations between the two countries are not what they should be, the fault lies with the odious deeds of Pakistan in Kashmir and Punjab. Not only has it been clandestinely carrying on a proxy war through terrorists trained and financed by it but has also been indulging in blatant border violations. Kargil has been turned into a ghost town, thanks to its continuous shelling on civilian areas. These are the acts of aggression which must be stopped forthwith to de-escalate the tension. Western countries will be well advised to utilise their energies towards these ends instead of balking at routine military exercises which are a common feature all over the world.

Indiscipline in the BJP

MR ATAL BEHARI VAJPAYEE must be ruing the day he allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party to project him as the future Prime Minister of India. As the chief political executive of the country he seems to have little to do except receive visiting dignitaries and accept his limitations in running the government made up of disparate elements. He and other top leaders lulled themselves into believing that but for the “compulsions of running a coalition government” the BJP would have fulfilled its promise of “good governance”. In fact, one major factor which worked in favour of the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections was the well-orchestrated myth that it was a cadre-based party of disciplined soldiers. The electorate chose to treat the rebellion within the BJP in Gujarat, led by Shankarsinh Vaghela, as an aberration. After the formation of the government at the Centre the problems which Mr Vajpayee faced were attributed to the “unreasonable tantrums of the coalition partners”. Ms Jayalalitha from the South and Mr Parkash Singh Badal from the North had to be kept in good humour in what the BJP spokesmen explained was the “national interest”. However, there is much substance in the saying that one can fool some people some time, but not all the people all the time. Six months in office has exposed the BJP as a party of men whose concern for protecting “national interest” is as genuine as a crocodile’s tears. The virtual revolt in the Delhi unit of the party against the removal of Mr Sahib Singh Verma from the post of Chief Minister shows that the Congressisation of the BJP is almost complete. The long over-due expansion of the Union Council of Ministers was put on the backburner last week until after the Assembly elections in four states because of pressure and counter-pressure from coalition partners.

However, if BJP Vice-President K.L. Sharma is to be believed a “mini expansion” of the Union Cabinet may take place before Divali. Why? Because the supporters of Mr Sahib Singh Verma have threatened to work against the BJP during the Assembly poll campaign in Delhi. To keep the Jat leader in good humour Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj inducted his close ally Mr Devinder Singh Shaukeen in the Delhi Cabinet. However, Mr Shaukeen has reportedly threatened to resign if Mr Sahib Singh Verma was not inducted in the Union Cabinet before Divali. The kind of pressure Mr Sahib Singh Verma and his supporters have put on the Central leadership of the party has effectively nailed the lie that the BJP believes in practising the politics of principles and that its members do not reason why, but are willing to do and die at the bidding of their leaders. That Mr Sahib Singh Verma does not subscribe to the high political ideals of his party became clear the day he refused to step down as Chief Minister of Delhi even after Mr Madan Lal Khurana’s name was cleared in the hawala scam. After having made the monumental political blunder of replacing him with Ms Sushma Swaraj as the Delhi Chief Minister weeks before the crucial Assembly elections the BJP high command evidently has no option but to accept the fact that with Mr Sahib Singh Verma on the wrong side its chances of retaining its hold on Delhi and Rajasthan would be further eroded. The Jat votes in rural Delhi belong to him and the Rajputs of Rajasthan too have not taken kindly to the unexpected change of guard in Delhi. In the unfolding political drama in Delhi there is one person who bears a close resemblance to the tragic hero of a Shakespearean play; and his name is Atal Behari Vajpayee.

IN DEFENCE OF TASLIMA NASREEN
Fundamentalism at its worst in B’desh
by Kuldip Nayar

WITH no altars or images, no organised priesthood or sacraments, Islam is a simple religion. Yet fundamentalists are trying to tarnish its image throughout the world, some using terrorism and some fomenting bigotism. Most Muslims are helpless.

The exercise of giving a bad name to Islam these days is at its worst in Bangladesh. A woman author, Taslima Nasreen, is being hauled over the coals. Fanatics are after her blood. Because of the most devastating floods it ever had, the country needs to concentrate its attention and energy on relief and rehabilitation work. But thousands of fundamentalists have set to the streets to rip the country apart. Some 1,000 clerics and Islamic radical youths chanting “Death to the enemies of Islam” gathered a few days ago in Dhaka’s biggest Baitul Mukarram mosque before marching to the Home Ministry building. Fierce clashes broke out.

In an appeal, she has requested the world community to put pressure on the Bangladesh government, conspicuous by its silence, to ensure her security. This is the minimum any citizen expects from the state. After all, what is her fault? She wrote a book, “Lajja” (Shame), to record the excesses the fundamentalists committed against Hindu women in Bangladesh following the demolition of the Babri mosque. She rightly questioned that Islam or the holy book, the Quran, did in no way justify or support what the fundamentalists had done.

By raising her voice against the barbarities, she did her community proud. She deserved to be commended, not condemned. Nasreen has not questioned the Quran as is the canard spread against her. She has, in fact, contradicted the remark on the Quran attributed to her in an interview appearing in an English daily published from Calcutta. Her struggle is against those who interpret Islam differently.

Nasreen is courageous enough to do so. There is a tendency in each of us to mock the unfamiliar in other man’s faith and worship. Such words as “heathen”, “idolatry” and “superstition” are often used as insults. We hurl them at others; we seldom apply them to ourselves. Yet every man should command respect in the moment when he bows before his God. We may believe that his view of the Divine lacks valuable, even essential, elements. His forms of worship may appear to us strange, sometimes offensive. But in the moment of prayer, every man is at his best. Nasreen exposed the hypocrisy of those who were trying to deform or mutilate her religion. She projected the true spirit of Islam, not what the fundamentalists have come to depict.

As Islam has spread, the customs of conquered or converted people have also become entwined with the practices ordained by the Quran. The tradition of keeping women secluded in their homes, or shrouded in heavy veils when they came out, is associated with the Muslim faith. But many of the rigorous restrictions on women are derived not from the Quran but from interpreters of Muslim law. Nasreen has criticised them.

Instead of appreciating her efforts, the fundamentalists hounded her from the country. Perforce, she lived abroad. She wanted to come to India. But the then government refused her a visa, lest it should annoy the Muslim fundamentalists in this country. Such are the instances that make the BJP mock at our secular policies.

Nasreen’s sufferings have been many times more than those of Salman Rushdie, who had a fatwa of death issued against him for his book, “Satanic Verses”. He was the West’s hero. The British gave him security. She, on the other hand, went from pillar to post, looking for succour and sympathy. No government or organisation came forward to help her. She had to fend for herself. A few of her friends secretly gave her money.

At New York the Iranian Foreign Minister bowed a few days ago before international opinion and announced the withdrawal of the fatwa against Rushdie. But in Bangladesh the hawks continue to have their way. The difference between him and Nasreen is that the affluent and the powerful West took up Rushdie’s case. Her ease has not even moved the liberals across the border — India. New Delhi has not still changed its policy towards Nasreen. And it has already said that it will not issue a visa to Rushdie if he wants to visit India.

While deciding to return to her, Nasreen perhaps thought the span of four years in the wilderness was long enough to mollify the Muslim chauvinists, who had driven her out of the country. But she has been proved wrong. The fundamentalists have picked up the thread from where they had left it off when she fled Bangladesh. The same religious frenzy is again visible in Dhaka. Her mother was sick. She could not stay away from her. Nasreen is as much a citizen of Bangladesh as those thirsting for her blood. She is a writer who, professionally, has the right to tell what she perceives as the truth.

Retired Justice K.M. Sabhan has rightly said that “threatening somebody with execution is a flagrant violation of the universal human rights and the rights enshrined in the Bangladesh constitution.” He has criticised the police for not taking action against those whom he has described as “the Bangladesh Taliban.”

A local court, however, revived an old case. In its wisdom, the court issued a non-bailable warrant for her arrest. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, otherwise liberal in her approach, has stood aloof. What she does not realise is that Nasreen is a symptom of the disease. The disease is the hatred of anti-liberation forces against liberation forces.

Bangladesh, which has gone through a long and violent struggle for independence, is an Islamic nation. But it is secular in outlook. It broke away from West Pakistan, a Muslim country, because it did not think that the commonalty of religion could drown the feelings of identity, culture and language.

Sheikh Hasina has been steadfast in following secular values, which her father, the late Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, upheld against the pressure of the fundamentalists. But she does not want to join issue with them. On the other hand, Khalida Zia, Sheikh Hasina’s political adversary, is always looking for an occasion to play the religious card. The situation is being communalised so that Bangladesh, where Muslims number 88 per cent, comes to believe that Islam is not safe in the hands of the present rulers. Nasreen is a victim of that strategy.

“By targeting Taslima,” a leading woman writer, Dr Anwara Syed Haq, has said, “they are trying to subdue the total woman community, which in the last four years in Bangladesh was increasingly subjected to threats, with many women raped with no punishment.” Dr Haq has urged all to stand against the Razakars who raped women during the liberation war of Bangladesh.

It is more than a coincidence that all those forces, which were opposed to the liberation of Bangladesh, are united in demanding action against Nasreen. Khalida Zia’s supporter, Jamaat-e-Islami, is in the forefront. So are the Razakars. The anti-liberation forces had also tried to defame Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the founder of Bangladesh. He was depicted soft towards the Hindus, a minority of about 9 per cent in the country.

But he was so tall in stature and so respected for having won the country its independence that no false propaganda could touch him. Nasreen represents the ordinary person for whose say and individuality he fought the anti-liberation forces relentlessly.

Transfer of power in Germany
by V. Gangadhar

UNLIKE Indian political leaders, Mr Gerhard Schroeder, leader of the Socialist Democratic Party in Germany, did not promise the moon to the people during the recent election campaign. Mr Schroeder, who won the elections to head a new coalition government in Germany, had said that if his party came to power, there would be no major changes. His focus will be on the national economy, and he promised to make life better for the Germans.

Compared to the turbulence which buffeted the coalition governments in India, the transfer of power in Germany, from one coalition to another, was smooth. Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who was unsuccessful in his attempt to rule for a fifth term, immediately accepted full responsibility for the election defeat and resigned from the chairmanship of the Christian Democratic Party.

As the country’s economic problems mounted and unemployment rose to a record level, most Germans felt they needed a change of government. Mr Kohl found it difficult to vibe with the increasing number of young voters who would rather be ruled by a more active, younger Chancellor than a legend.

Mr Schroeder’s special appeal lay in the fact that he projected himself as a more modern, socially just leader. This was the strategy adopted by Mr Tony Blair when he led the Labour Party to a convincing victory over the ruling Tories in the last British general election. As the German media labelled him as “German Tony Blair”, Mr Schroeder adopted a folksy style of campaign which contrasted sharply with the ponderous, fatherly approach of Chancellor Kohl. But there was one major difference between the two leaders. Mr Blair had got his Labour Party behind him on his new economic programmes well before the general election. Mr Schroeder, on the other hand, will have to do this after taking over as the Chancellor. Though his economic policy may not differ much from that of his predecessor, he has to create more jobs for the youth.

We have to wait and watch Mr Schroeder’s approach on the European unity issue. Mr Helmut Kohl had worked tirelessly for European unity and, along with former French President Francois Mitterand, had come to be known as the Father of United Europe. Mr Kohl had in fact, sacrificed the strong position occupied by the Deutsche Mark to favour the common European currency. This move did not find favour with many Germans, and the new Chancellor may not go all the way on this issue.

At the same time, Mr Schroeder will have to take into consideration the views of his future coalition partners in laying down policies for the new government. The Greens, for instance, are far more to the left on issues like foreign policy and the environment. They have no great enthusiasm for NATO, particularly its military operations. They had always resented the American leadership on most of the NATO issues, and it will be difficult for the new Chancellor to go along with this line of thinking. The Greens will also demand a new environment policy and higher taxes for cleaning up pollution. Mr Kohl had tended to toe the American line in providing economic aid to Third World nations. Here, too, the Greens would opt for a more liberal attitude.

The primary job for the new government would be to boost industrial production, increase exports and create millions of new jobs. Many of the German trade unions had supported the Social Democrats and would demand their pound of flesh by way of salary hikes. Mr Schroeder will need all his negotiating skills to see to it that the situation did not get out of control. This task can become easier if his coalition gets the support of the German Communist Party which won around 5 per cent votes.

The Social Democrats have won power because of the belief of the younger generation of voters that the new coalition will be more receptive to change and take quick action on the issues which have been pending for a long time. There is still considerable respect and admiration for Mr Kohl, and, unlike his example, Mr Schroeder may not get another 16 years to establish himself as the national leader. The earlier the Social Democrats tackle national issues, the better for them.

The new government has to be more inward-looking. Recent trends have shown that more and more European nations are obsessed with internal problems and have no great desire to play leading roles on the international scene. For nearly 40 years, Mr Kohl had dominated German politics and was the unchallenged leader in Europe. The provincial man from Rhineland became a visionary because of historical reasons. Fate willed him to become an active force in the reunification of Germany. The communist system collapsed in Eastern Europe, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down and Mr Kohl accepted the challenge to unite his country. The East Germans, to begin with, viewed him as a hero and saviour. But, as years rolled by and there was no significant improvement in their economic condition, they became disillusioned with the grandiose promises made by Mr Kohl.

Mr Schroeder must also watch out that Germany did not suffer from too much isolationism. The lunatic fringe among the right-wing parties are active, disrupting national peace with their attacks on migrant workers.

Strategies of marriage
by Darshan Singh Maini

OF all the ordeals of life, marriage is perhaps best designed to bring out the worst in you, and, of course, the best in certain situations. This hoary thing that could turn persons into whores or saints, bring down kingdoms and empires, or build a Taj Mahal, among other “wonders” of the world, has been a theme for song and story and fairy-tale as far back as the imagination can take you. And, surely, it has collaterally inspired a huge amount of vitriolic verse, country jokes, witticisms and black humour in general. No culture or tongue is free of the folklore that often runs to ribaldry and kinkiness. Neither the messiahs nor the priests of matrimony have been able to save it from the typhoons of reality. And yet the ancient, decrepit anachronism, as a wit put it, still hasn’t quite lost its charm, or its cunning, or its romance and “spoils”. And all the “rumours” about its death, to recall a Mark Twain quip from another context, are premature. This creaking hay-wagon looks likely to jingle and tumble along when even the jet-planes have passed into history.

No wonder, then, strategies of marriage are always being updated to suit our times, our situation. I’m not thinking of the Bollywood films, and of the fantastic — and fabulous — farcical lengths to which their heroes or heroines can go to turn on “the heat”, and run down “the rabbit” to form and nuptial’s. Such extravagant and gothic “tricks of the trade” only prove the point that the pursuit of a suitor or of a mate can make you do so many silly things which in later life could make you red in the face when you think of them. I’m concerned here with a specific story which acquired the status of folklore in our large clan — the story of a distant Tau in the early part of this century. For the strategies he felt compelled to adopt to woo a woman to the alter — or really, woo her parents into a state of benign acceptance — though commonplace, still had a roguish charm.

It’s important to remind the reader that in those times, women were still a scarce “commodity” in certain societies and parts of India. So, the parents of the prospective bridegroom had to employ several types of “agents” — from the village pundit or marasi and matchmaker — to conmen in that weary and tiresome trade. To a large extent, such tactics and strategies in varying forms are even today in evidence where the circumstances so warrant. For, come to think of it, marriage per se in nothing but a series of strategies even when it has been consummated, worn down, or weathered through strategies of survival, of escape, of truce, etc.

To return to our legendary Tau, when he came of the age of “home-making”, he had still little to show by way of resources, name or education, etc, except, of course, his family status. A respectable middle-class tag. And this he used as often and as skilfully as an “artist”. He had a native cunning which had acquired a gloss of dexterity, of playful manipulation, of usable cleverness. Still, all these qualities left him, unwedded, the village “charra” who couldn’t land a bride. And this worried him no end. He took to village dandyism to begin with — flashy town clothes and black pumps and a silver-tipped baton in hand — but when the parents had lost hope, he hit upon a plan that was bound to succeed. There was the village zamindar’s afflicted young daughter suffering from an obscure, incurable disease, and fated to fade away into death soon enough. And the affluent, influential father was keen to see her as a bride in any case. Well, to contain the story, it’s enough to say that he made good in this case, his “logic” being that, the society of that day thought well of an eligible young widower. He know the nature of the “game”. He would have a handsome dowry and a dying woman and a period of waiting. Call it craftiness, a heartless affair, or what you like. But our Tau had different thoughts. And fate duly obliged. He was soon a gallant widower, ready to ride “the ghori” again.

His next exploit was truly “creative”, it had a touch of “genius” about it. Around that time he had shifted to Lahore, and become a small-time munshi to a big cotton-and-grain wholesale dealer. And during this work, he was often required to carry large sums of money for safe deposit or disposal. It was then that word reached him about the marriageable and beautiful daughter of a town lawyer whom his family had known somehow. So our man set up a wonderful trap to catch the “big fish”, as he put it later.

On a particular day in summer, he made it to a picnic spot on the river Ravi where the lawyer family were scheduled to reach. And before it could show up, he wetted some wads of 100-rupee notes in a skilful manner, and put them out on the grass to dry in the sun. Later, it was no great effort to prove that he was indeed a man of substance. Enough to hit the target straightaway. And he saw himself duly wedded within weeks!

Let me finally add that these and other “stories” came straight from “the horse’s mouth”, as they say. And even in old age he used to regale the listeners with his youthful exploits. He was over inclined to prepare a primer of matrimony, complete with new strategies! Our elders told us that since that Tau always had a glad eye, even in his eighties, he would sit for hours in an Anarkali shop ogling young women on a buying spree. Of course, his second marriage proved fruitful — he spawned “a home eleven”, and only the processes of nature stopped the longer show.

CPM congress: an important watershed
By Shubhabrata Bhattacharya

THE 16th party congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was an occasion for personal triumph for the duo of Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Mr Jyoti Basu. This despite the fact that on the last day of the week-long congress the party refused to accept Mr Basu’s public statement (which had the tacit approval of Mr Surjeet) that the Central Committee’s decision in the summer of 1996, of not joining the United Front Government was “a historic blunder”.

The main considerations guiding Mr Surjeet and Mr Basu, who masterminded the political outcome of the congress, were the facts that 63 per cent of the electorate in the last general election had voted for parties not aligned with the BJP; and that over the past decade while the Congress’ voteshare had declined from 40 per cent to just over 25 per cent, the BJP’s vote percentage had correspondingly risen from 11.5 in 1989, to 25.47 in 1998.

Realising that the BJP’s phenomenal growth, which has seen it rise from 86 Lok Sabha seats in 1989, to 182 in 1998, can only be curbed by acting in tandem with others, the CPM has proposed a three-pronged strategy:

* Greater cooperation between the CPM and the CPI; further strengthening of the Left Front.

* Mobilising important regional parties which were members of the now dormant United Front, under a third front banner.

* Extending support to the Congress in case it makes a bid for power after the collapse of the present BJP-led regime.

The pro-Congress tilt of the CPM is shared by the CPI. There are important regional parties which can agree with this line. Significance is being read into the AIADMK leader, Ms Jayalalitha’s “keeping options open” formulation announced over the past few days.

As far as greater cooperation between the two Communist parties is concerned, inobtrusive moves are afoot. There are four areas in which the two Communist parties have to sort out their differences:

*Party programme — the CPM programme, adopted in 1964, is at variance with that of the CPI. (Little headway was made in Calcutta last week when an attempt to revise the CPM programme was undertaken.)

* Pattern of party organisation.

* Assessment of the international situation.

* Assessment of the national situation (essentially discussing the class character of the national bourgeoisie — thereby meaning primarily the Indian National Congress).

In these, the last two aspects —assessment of the international and national situations, respectively —are more or less sorted out. However, the problem still dogs India’s communists regarding the respective party programmes and party organisation. While the CPI believes that the “stage of revolution” in India is ripe for a national democratic front in which the national bourgeoisie will play a leading role; the CPM believes that the “stage of revolution” is people’s democratic, with the toiling masses playing the vanguard of the people’s democratic front. “Dictatorship of the proletariat” remains the CPM’s dogma.

Thus while embracing the Indian National Congress with a grimace, the CPM essentially remains wary of the Congress. The 440-196 verdict upholding the summer of 1996 decision to stay away from participating in a Government at the Centre also betrays the CPM’s suspicion regarding the parties with whom it would like to shake hands to unsettle the BJP-led coalition.

The CPM thus is embarking on an anti-BJP course without giving up its past prejudices or suspicions. However, the change of heart at Calcutta is significant. At Chandigarh three years ago the party had chosen a path of equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress. Now it has clearly deviated from that path and has chosen “communal” BJP as its foe and the “secular” Congress as the friend whose cooperation is essential for fighting the enemy.

The CPM’s 34-year-old history is a saga of anti-Congressism. The CPI had cooperated with the Congress from the 1969 split till the early months of the Emergency, when the Congress dominated by the late Sanjay Gandhi (who clearly hated the communists) became an untenable ally. The CPI had seat adjustments and understandings with the Congress in the 1971 Lok Sabha and 1972 Vidhan Sabha elections. The CPM on the other hand while not having any open truck with the predecessor of the BJP, Jana Sangh, was very much part of the anti-Congress forces in the period before and after the Emergency.

During the Emergency the CPM leaders were detained along with other anti-Congress leaders who ultimately formed the Janata Party in 1977. The CPM did not have any open alliance with the Janata Party. However, when Mr V.P.Singh broke away from the Congress and formed at first Jan Morcha and thereafter the Janata Dal, the CPM from the Left and the BJP from the right became the sustaining factors of the government formed in 1989. In 1991 when Mr L.K.Advani started his rath yatra, differences arose in the support base of Mr V.P.Singh and the present phase of anti-BJP acrimony in the CPM’s thinking dates back to this parting of ways.

The outcome of 16th party congress of the CPM in Calcutta last week, as of the CPI party congress at Chennai last month, has given a boost to the Indian National Congress. Just as the CPM reversed its Chandigarh line, the CPI too abandoned its Bathinda resolution which made shaking hands with the Congress a taboo.

Thus without any effort, the Congress under Mrs Sonia Gandhi has managed to win the support of its Left opponents including those who over the past three decades had grown and found legitimacy due to their opposition to the Congress.

The stage is set. All depends on the outcome of the November 25 elections in four states. The BJP is exhibiting its panic and thereby doing the same things as the Congress used to do when it was unnerved on the eve of elections. The appointment of Mrs Sushma Swaraj, had it taken place four months ago, could have been effective in stealing the Congress party’s thunder in Delhi. Coming now, it is only an endorsement of the Congress charge of underperformance of the BJP regime.

Ms Jayalalitha may have not rocked the Vajpayee boat as of now. However, her assertion that her options are “open” has opened the pandora’s box. The CPM party congress in Calcutta was an important watershed in the context of the “open option” politics which seems to be just round the corner.

75 YEARS AGO
Nagpur Satyagraha: Official Report

THREE men were arrested yesterday, two being Amaraoti Banias, and one a Seoni Chamar. There was only a handful of spectators to watch them. There were no arrests at the railway station. Thirtytwo volunteers were jailed for one year in default of giving security. Six of them were from the United Provinces, 13 from Bombay, 12 from Bihar and Orissa, and one from Jubulpore.

The total number of persons sent to jail on conviction, or on failure to give security, is now 1,230 of whom 547 came from C.P. Districts and 350 from other provinces.

The number of those coming from Nagpur is still 203 only, while 103 gave their address as the Nagpur Ashram.

As many as 109 pardons have been granted, 128 persons have been released on personal bond, and 291 persons have served their sentence. Of the total number of those convicted, 1103 are Hindus, of whom 179 have been released on pardon or personal bond, while 127 are Musalmans, of whom 58 have been similarly released.

A Patna volunteer, who was released from jail, said that the Congress had enlisted him in the Swadeshi Infantry on Rs 25, but they had sent him to Nagpur to go to jail. He announced that he would tell his story everywhere, and say that the Congress had cheated him.

A Dacca volunteer who had asked for pardon stated that he was a school teacher in Dacca district and went to Calcutta in order to get admission into the BA class. On a sudden impulse he came to Nagpur along with other volunteers for the flag movement and was arrested in the early morning.