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Marxists in a quandary
Shift in policy can help meet challenges
by Shyamal Datta
The Marxists in West Bengal remain stupefied by "shock and awe" that the Assembly elections delivered in May this year. The mighty political giant,considered to be invincible in the East, stands traumatised at the scale of defeat.The party stalwarts who roared till the other day look downcast,demoralised and devastated.They witness in mute silence and with a sense of resignation the party being mauled by desertions, shifting of loyalties, closing of offices and exposer of the past misdeeds. At the enormity of adversities, the party rank and file look bewildered and thoroughly confused. They wake up to the reality that the revolutionary fervour of the party is shaken to its roots, and deflated all around.A few programmes and protest actions that are being organised, focusing attention on emotive issues like the price rise, killings of party cadres, etc, evoke poor response and lukewarm publicity. Marxist cadres also feel considerably disturbed that the leaders in the forefront, who brought discredit to the party after ruling for 34 years without any break, have so far shown no initiative to come to grips with the extraordinary situation and do something extraordinary to try and bail the party out of difficulties. On the contrary, they, in spite of being rejected by the people in the elections, have continued clinging on to power and position in the party and shown no indication to step down voluntarily, owning moral responsibility for the defeat. This has prevented the much-needed overhaul of the organisation and the leadership at the apex level. Maintaining anonymity, a few of these leaders assert that some of the party supremos must go, and propriety demands that they should make room for the new crop of comparatively young leaders to come to the forefront, and assume charge and control of the party. They and not those unequal to the task of dealing with the formidable challenges, should bring in fresh energy and sense of purpose required to navigate the course of the party's ship tossed in turbulent waters. The policy of wait and see, status quo and prevarication amount to adhocism, and deserve to be buried forthwith for an urgent revival of the party in the state. A major section of leaders at the district and local committee levels, who have gone out of lucrative earnings after the party has failed to return to office, show signs of serious concern at the dire possibility of the worsening fund position during the period the party will spend in the political wilderness. The state of West Bengal will soon cease to be the main money-churner, and the units of Kerala and Tripura will not be in a position to meet the shortfall. Already,the patronage of the government, monopolised for decades in the state, is petering out. The readerships of the party daily Ganashakti and the party journal People's Democracy are said to be on the decline, adversely affecting the flow of funds through advertisements. The collections of funds by party cadres and members through unions and other sources, formal and informal, are also becoming difficult. The development has serious adverse implications for the growth and refurbishing of the party. Fulminations are also noticed that despite being in power for decades, the party did not care to put in place the line of succession in different echelons of organisations, on the pattern of the Chinese system. Leaders unlike their counterparts in China, enjoy almost life-long tenure in office, be in the government or in the party. No wonder that they after some time, in appearance and in substance, look less revolutionary and more unattractive and uninspiring. Their mind remains firmly rooted in dogma and resistance to change. They are averse to breaking from the past and reinvent to march with the time and the evolving situation. In sharp contrast, the youthful elements in the party take the ignominy caused by the colossal defeat as a challenge and a unique opportunity to effect major changes in the line of command at different levels, and in the content and style of party functioning. They strongly believe that without a paradigm shift, it will not be possible to effectively deal with the present-day challenges. The party leadership has to reckon that the generation of today is markedly different from that of their days. For them, interests of the people and the state far outweigh the interests of the party alone. They decry partisan politics and the use of violent and high-handed methods as instruments to further the influence and strengthen the dominance of the party at all costs. The politics they espouse make it obligatory on their part to stand firm and resolute against all that tends to undermine the values and norms, making the poor poorer and the rich richer. They want that the process of growth and prosperity through any means must make a welcome difference in the life of those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid. They constitute a classic group of educated, tech-savvy and forward-looking youth, known for the capacity and capability to compete with the best in the world. They talk of emphasis and focus on governance to ensure safety and security of life and property, well-being of people through growth and development, based on people-centric policies, and projection of power whenever necessary. It is the considered view of this lot that the poll debacle has offered a long time-frame for the Marxists to ponder, go to the drawing board and draw up an action plan for a party architecture which is fundamentally strong and flexible to function effectively in the changing dynamics of present day politics, regaining the support and confidence of the people. The sweeping election verdict makes it fairly evident that the people of the state are mentally prepared to give at least 10 years' time to the present dispensation to "clear, hold and build" since the malaise inherited is not only deep but has also turned malignant. It will call for a huge investment of efforts and funds for prolonged curative plans with a well-calibrated strategy, designs and tactics to infuse life into the body-politic. The poor fiscal health of the state, acute scarcity of funds and tardy governance make the task of transforming West Bengal herculean. Under the circumstances, political wisdom will lie in the Marxists getting actively engaged, without any loss of time, with the formidable task of setting their house in order, weeding out the undesirable elements and infusing fresh and youthful blood. They need to address ideological and organisational issues in depth, and will do well to refrain from doing anything undesirable for the lure of office and power. There is every possibility that after some time the enormity of the tasks ahead for the ruling party, a rash of promises and commitments being made, and serious constraints of different types and dimensions are going to provide the Opposition on a platter the ammunition to fire at and exploit the same to their advantage. At the same time, chances will also exist for the ruling party to succeed in bringing about a modicum of change and set off some measure of people's satisfaction. That might marginalise the efforts of the Opposition to reassert politically. A tough battle to capture the political turf through competitive politics, based on good governance, is what the people look for. The state is in urgent and dire need of responsible and circumspect conduct on the part of both the parties in power and in the Opposition to restore civility and high standards of politics. Only that can help improve the quality of parliamentary form of governance and human life in the state. We sincerely hope that with the growth of such politics, leaders will evolve from across the political spectrum and hasten the pace of change with people coming forward to act as a catalyst to their endeavour.n The writer, a retired Director,
Intelligence Bureau, is a former Governor of Nagaland.
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The slender thread
by Maj-Gen G G Dwivedi
In the absence of effective government machinery in the newly liberated Bangladesh, the mere presence of the Indian Army had a salutary effect to instill confidence amongst the locals as also keep the bad elements at bay. One day as I was stepping out of my shelter to lead an ‘Area Domination Patrol’, I was informed that some locals were waiting to see me. They were a Hindu family huddled together; middle aged couple, with their teenage daughter and son. Whereas the parents appeared to be deeply shaken, the young girl was rather composed. It was she who narrated the tale of their vows in fluent Hindi. What emerged was that a self-styled ‘Mukti Bahni’ cadre was coercing the girl to marry him. The individual was in his late forties and already had two wives. He had been persistently luring the girl’s father but the old man had spurned the offer despite abject poverty. The only asset the family possessed was a small piece of land to eke out their livelihood. During sensitive situations, Mr Mustafa, ( Junior Engineer – Electricity Department) in whose office compound we were camping, was of immense help. With the aggrieved family and Mr Mustafa in toe, we set off, to amicably resolve the issue. The trouble shooter, after initial reluctance, promised to step back. Assuming that the matter was settled, we proceeded on, dropping the family en route at their village. Their hut appeared to be barren, but for a few aluminum and earthen utensils. When we gave the family some rations, with teary eyes they expressed their gratitude. As we were leaving, the little girl ran inside and came back with a small crumpled paper wrap. “I had bought this for my brother, but would you accept it please?” she mumbled in a choked voice thrusting the packet into my hands. With a reassuring smile, I took it and tucked into my ammunition pouch. Soon I was deputed on an outstation duty. On my return, I learnt that the same family had come to meet me again. Sensing trouble, the following day I routed my patrol through their village, only to find the abandoned hut. Upon inquiry, the villagers informed us that a few days back the girl had been taken away. The family had left the village the same night. I was deeply distressed. Suddenly I remembered the small packet. On opening it, I found a string of beads. It was a symbolic gesture of gratitude, trust and faith which had been reposed in me, although I was unable to uphold it for circumstances, well beyond my control. The following day, we were to leave Bangladesh and head home. Moments before departing, I walked up to the Meghna River which flowed nearby. The sun had almost gone down and the dying rays had set the water ablaze. I pulled out the string and with a sense of remorse slowly lowered it into the river. As the string floated adrift, I stood still, wondering at the ways of nature; subjecting helpless masses to intense misery, their destiny always dangling by a “Slender Thread”!n
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Too many black men have been killed by the police. This is not the cause of the UK riots, but it is a factor
We can’t deny that race plays a part
Christina Patterson
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A police officer patrols as firemen continue to douse down buildings set alight during riots in Tottenham, north London, on August 7, 2011. Reuters photo.
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August, historians will tell you, is a good time to start a war. And, boy, does this feel like a war. This feels, when you switch on the TV, and see footage of burning cars, and burning buildings, and of people jumping out of burning buildings, and of people too scared to walk down their street, and of dark silhouettes in helmets waving shields, and of dark silhouettes in hoodies waving iron bars, like the nearest to war most of us have been.This feels, when you talk to friends, and find that they’re staying in with their children all day, because the area outside their front door has been turned into something that looks as though a bomb has hit it, and when you talk to friends who do open their front door, and find a looter in a balaclava hiding in their garden, like the end of something, and the start of something else. It feels like the end of getting up in the morning, and knowing that you’ll be able to go to work safely, and get home safely, and do your job safely when you’re there. End of everything For some of us, the only sign on our doorsteps was even more police cars screeching past than usual, and shops that closed early, and helicopters overhead. For my neighbours, down the road in Dalston, and down the road in Hackney, it wasn’t. For the man, for example, who runs a pharmacy in Mare Street, and watched a group of teenagers try to trash his shop, which was, he said, “everything he had”, and who pleaded with them not to, it must have felt like the end of everything he’d spent his whole life working to build up. For the other shopkeepers in Mare Street, and the ones in Dalston, and the ones in Tottenham, and the ones in Brixton, who watched teenagers smash glass and fill their pockets with mobile phones, or jewellery, or grab trainers, or tracksuits, or even stagger under the weight of giant TVs, it must have felt as if one of the central pillars of their life was under threat. And for the people who lost their homes, and all their possessions, and their children’s toys, and every single photo of their children, which they will never, ever be able to get back, and who nearly lost their lives, and their children’s lives, because someone thought it was a good laugh to throw a can of kerosene and a match, it must have felt as near as you get to losing your world, without losing your life. Old, old story This is what happens in a war. Wars start for a million different reasons, and the time to understand those reasons is not while the war is going on. They can start – even world wars can start – with a single gunshot. This one did. This one started with an old, old story, of a black man killed by police. It started when a woman wanted to know why four children would never see their father again. And when the police said nothing. And frustration turned, as it often does, and particularly in communities where there’s a lot of frustration, to anger, and anger turned, as it often does, and particularly in communities where there are a lot of teenagers with not very much to do, to violence. And it spread. Do we know if the boys, and young men, smashing windows, and trashing shops, and burning cars, and buses, and buildings, in Hackney, and Croydon, and Brixton, and telling passers-by that what they were doing was “fun”, and that they were “trying to get their taxes back”, knew about the shooting of the black man, or even cared? Do we know if they knew about the black teenager in Hackney who was stopped and searched by the police, and found to have nothing illegal on him? wrecking lives We don’t, and we can’t. We don’t, and can’t, know why young men, and teenagers, and children as young as 10 suddenly decided that it was a good idea to do what everyone else was doing, which was to spread chaos, and violence, and fear. But we do know that when a tinderbox, or a car, or a carpet store, is set alight, this is what, throughout history, everywhere in the world, sometimes happens. Race didn’t cause these riots, but it played a part. Why else do you get three black men talking about them on Newsnight, when you almost never see a black man talking about anything on Newsnight? And asked questions about “the black community”, as if the people who had had their livelihoods destroyed would have the same views on anything as the 12-year-olds waving iron bars? And why else do you get people talking, as they are on newspaper websites, and radio phone-ins, about “thieving black scum”? There is no excuse for wrecking people’s livelihoods and lives. “She’s working hard to make her business work,” screamed a brave black woman at some of the rioters in Hackney, “and you lot want to burn it up, for what? To say you’re warring, and you’re ‘bad man’? This is about a fucking man who got shot in Tottenham. This isn’t about busting up the place. Get it real, black people. Get real!” Thrill of power The woman was nearly in tears, and who wouldn’t cry seeing their community destroyed, and who wouldn’t cry knowing that this would be yet another excuse for people to associate black people with crime? The rioters weren’t all black, of course. They were black, and mixed race, and white and wannabe black. They were people who are probably already in gangs, but who usually keep their violence to other gangs, but who, on Saturday, and Sunday, and Monday, and Tuesday, didn’t. On Saturday, and Sunday, and Monday, and Tuesday, they discovered, perhaps for the first time outside their little world, the thrill of power. There are 169 gangs in London. There are 22 in Hackney alone. These are people, often people who have grown up on estates where almost nobody works, often without fathers, and often without any qualifications, skills, or ambitions, who feel that the world has let them down. The guns and knives they carry make them feel that there’s a tiny corner of the world they can control. And because of these boys – no more than 2,000 of them – who carry guns and knives, and because it takes more than reports on “institutional racism” to get rid of “institutional racism”, you can hardly walk down a street, if you’re black, without being stopped and searched. Feeling powerless Too many black men have been killed by the police. Too many black men and women have been treated like criminals when they’re not. This is not the cause of these riots, but it’s there in the mix, a mix where the key ingredient is feeling powerless. Cuts won’t help. Growing unemployment won’t help. Some investment, in youth services, and better schools, and mentoring schemes, might, but money alone isn’t the answer. It wasn’t these children who created the culture that told them that what mattered was the brand of their trainers, or the glitter of their bling. It wasn’t these children who created the culture that told them that their one hope of escape was hip hop, or fame. It wasn’t these children who created the institutions of a country where all the black workers were in the canteens. We have, as a society, created this monster and, as a society, and like those people heading into the trouble spots with dustpans and brushes, we must pick up the pieces.
—The Independent
Riots in BritainHere are some details of major rioting in Britain over the past 30 years: April 1980 – Bristol The Black and White Café, which had a reputation as a centre for drugs, was raided by police, triggering riots in the St Paul's area of Bristol. April 1981 – Brixton, south London Brixton had long seen high tension between the police and the black community. The stabbing and subsequent death of a black man was blamed on police brutality and sparked the riot. July 1981 – Toxteth, Liverpool Rioting was triggered by the arrest of 20-year-old Leroy Alphonse Cooper. Nine days of violence followed. October 1985 – Broadwater Farm, Tottenham, London The Broadwater estate in Tottenham erupted into violence between youths and the police when a woman suffered heart failure after a police raid. March 1990 – Poll tax riots, London When Margaret Thatcher's government introduced the poll tax 1,00,000 people turned out for a protest in central London which quickly turned violent. 1999 – Anti-capitalist protest, London Demonstrators clashed with riot police, burnt cars and stormed a major financial exchange in June. May-July 2001 – London May Day riot and violence in northern England Some 5,000 anti-capitalist activists brought the commercial heart of London to a standstill amid scenes of violence and vandalism. April 2009 – Anti-G20 protests, London Violent confrontations between anti-capitalist demonstrators, environmental campaigners and riot police broke out in London during two days of protests. March 2011 – TUC march, London Masked youths battled riot police and attacked banks and luxury stores in central London on March 26, overshadowing a protest by more than a quarter of a million Britons against government spending cuts. August 2011 – London, Manchester and other cities Rioting has broken out around major cities in England including Manchester and Liverpool in the northwest and Birmingham in central England. Gangs have ransacked stores causing millions of pounds of damage. The riots broke out on August 6 in north London's Tottenham district. — Reuters
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