O P I N I O N S

Guest Column
This winter session, we can’t let people down
Sitaram Yechury
The impact of the economic slowdown is having a tangible effect, pushing more and more people into misery. The relentless rise in prices is leaving very little in the hands of a vast number of families after meeting their survival needs.

Touchstones
A Bronze sweep on world history of art
Ira Pande
The Royal Academy of Arts exhibition takes in every aspect of the material it celebrates: historical, geographical and stylistic, and no part of the globe has been left unscoured.

The Bomb and the descent of man
Raj Chengappa
The diabolical weapon called nuclear bomb is not the source of our destructive force. The root cause is that despite all our efforts, the human race has never been at peace with itself. The ascent of man has all through been a history of conflict.

Guest Column
This winter session, we can’t let people down
Sitaram Yechury

The impact of the economic slowdown is having a tangible effect, pushing more and more people into misery. The relentless rise in prices is leaving very little in the hands of a vast number of families after meeting their survival needs.

Sitaram Yechury

The winter session of Parliament comes in the background of growing political uncertainties. The much-publicised major Cabinet reshuffle did not evoke any sense of confidence that the UPA-II government is determined to tackle the major issues confronting peoples’ livelihoods. Allegations of corruption and scams continue to rock the coalition leader, the Congress. The coalition itself is precariously placed, with its ally from Bengal having withdrawn and the ally from the South virtually sulking and refusing to join in the Cabinet reshuffle.

Its majority in the Lok Sabha now depends on the outside support of the Samajwadi Party and the BSP. On the other hand, the principal opposition party appears to be in disarray with its president continuing in office becoming increasingly untenable in the face of alleged corruption charges. How these uncertainties will unfold will determine whether this session can hold the government accountable for its acts of omission and commission and force it to take tangible measures to provide relief measures to the people.

FDI in retail can give the Opposition common cause.

There are several important issues that need to be discussed in this session, apart from the menacing growth of corruption scams. The impact of the economic slowdown is having a tangible effect, pushing more and more people into misery. The relentless price rise leaves little in the hands of a vast number after meeting their survival needs. The slowdown is also leading to a larger degree of unemployment and salary squeezes. India’s factory output fell by 0.4 per cent in September while exports fell by 1.63 per cent in October, contracting for the sixth successive month. Job cuts and retrenchment are on the rise. For the vast millions in rural India, agrarian distress continues with farmers’ suicides simply not abating. The quarterly GDP growth rates have been well below even the downgraded projection of 6 per cent for 2012-13. In fact, the IMF recently forecast that India’s growth would be a mere 4.2 per cent, down from its earlier forecast of 6.9 per cent.

In order to tackle the economic slowdown, the UPA government proposes to march along with GenNext reforms of financial liberalisation to attract greater inflow of foreign capital. This, it is presumed, will increase the levels of investment leading to higher growth. The fundamental flaw of this diagnosis is that no amount of increased availability of funds for investments will lead to growth unless people have the necessary purchasing power to buy what is produced. Clearly, the opposite of this is happening and, hence, the hopes of high growth from such reforms will remain an illusion.

India is adopting this strategy to revive its economy at a time when the USA and, indeed, the global economy is bracing itself to face the consequences of what is called the US “fiscal cliff”.

If both the Republican and Democrat lawmakers do not arrive at an agreement, as is likely, the levy of new taxes and automatic spending cuts are set to take effect from early 2013. This will lead to a severe contraction of the US economy. The impact would be devastating, leading, according to some analysts, to as much as 4 to 6 per cent decline in the US GDP. Fitch, a rating agency, says this would push the global economy into recession and “halve the rate of global growth in 2013”. All this on top of the already beleaguered European Union whose economies have gone into a tailspin of contraction.

With this ongoing global economic crisis, bordering on recession, international finance capital is in search of newer avenues for its profits. Permitting such capital to further enter Indian economy through multi-brand retail trade and increasing the FDI cap in the insurance and banking sectors and pension funds, would place humongous amounts of lifelong savings of working people at the disposal of foreign capital and its speculative activities, apart from exponentially crippling the economic security of crores of Indian people. It would also make India extremely vulnerable to international financial fluctuations, which will have disastrous consequences.

Instead of focusing on expanding domestic demand through increased public investments to build the much-needed infrastructure, which would generate substantial new employment and expand domestic demand on whose basis a sustained growth trajectory can evolve, the current trajectory of GenNext reforms will only lead to a further contraction of domestic demand which, in turn, will heap further misery on our people.

These are the issues that need to be seriously discussed by Parliament. The government should be forced to retreat from the dangerous path. The Left would be pushing for a structured discussion on all issues of public importance. Whether this will be permitted by both the BJP and Congress is the big question. Given the fact that both would be eager not to allow their inner-party dirty linen to be washed in Parliament and thereby, be more exposed before the people, they may go in for another round of “match-fixing” in this session, as they did during the last session. This would be most unfortunate and is bound to increase the growing cynicism among the people over the efficacy of our parliamentary democracy in delivering a better livelihood to them.

The writer is a CPI (M) Politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP

Touchstones
A Bronze sweep on world history of art
Ira Pande

The Royal Academy of Arts exhibition takes in every aspect of the material it celebrates: historical, geographical and stylistic, and no part of the globe has been left unscoured.

Ira Pande

London in November can be a surprise for those of us who go there expecting to be frozen through. Clear, sharp sunshine greeted us, although it was deceptive. There was a crispness to the weather that can best be described as bracing but it invigorated the bloodstream into action. Walking during the day was a delightful experience but what hit one was how short the day was. By four in the afternoon, the sun was weak and an hour later it was almost dark. Thankfully, whatever wet weather we were fated to suffer was in the night and the mornings and afternoons were mostly bright and even warm.

There were two exhibitions that we had been advised to check out: the first was in the British Museum and titled "Shakespeare, Staging the World". Shakespeare has been described as England's greatest cultural contribution to the world, but this exhibition focused on his world rather than his life and plays. Working in collaboration with Royal Shakespeare Company, it was an elaborate reconstruction of the times he lived in. The result was a dialogue between the world he inhabited and the world he created in his plays.

The Chariot of the Sun, Trundholm, Zealand, Early Bronze Age, 14th century BCE. Bronze and gold.

Today, in the era of the Internet and television, it is difficult to imagine how intricate was the task of creating this alternative world. Some of the exhibits, dating to Elizabethan England, made one startlingly aware of the mastery of Shakespeare's imagination in showing from a bare stage what we would now effortlessly project through elaborate lighting and stage effects.

Nowhere was this more evident than in the section that juxtaposed Venice and London, each a vibrant medieval centre of trade and commerce. The adventure of maritime journeys and the wonder of the new world came alive through some excellent readings of famous speeches taken from his plays alongside exhibits that had medieval maps and tapestries that charted unknown lands and habitats.

I must confess that despite the rich fare, it left me a little disappointed mainly because the British Museum has such an impressive reputation in hosting special exhibitions that one expected more drama.

The other exhibition, held at the Royal Academy of Arts, was simply called 'Bronze'. It has been on since September but people have thronged in hundreds from all over England to see it. Spread over five thousand years of artistry, the sheer richness and diversity it had managed to place in one location was breathtaking. It had a sweep that took in every aspect of the material it celebrated: historical, geographical and stylistic and no part of the globe had been left unscoured for its remarkable display. From Europe to Asia and Africa, sculptures, reliefs, figures, votive objects, gods and goddesses made the head reel at the sheer brilliance of artistry. Indians who have been justly proud of their Chola bronzes will have to admit that some of the Roman and Greek exhibits were stunning competition. Equally exquisite were the African works from Nigeria and Benin. And as for some of the Cambodian and Chinese figures, one can only gasp at the dainty precision of the artist's hand. The opening exhibit of the Dancing Satyr, displayed in the foyer, once probably adorned the prow of a ship, is from the 2nd century BCE and partially damaged because it lay at the bottom of the sea for centuries. However, even the salty grave was unable to dim the perfection of its flowing lines and form. Thankfully, bronze is virtually indestructible and age bestows on it a patina that only adds to its lustre.

From ancient perfection to modern bronze sculptures the display had, among others, the work of Henry Moore, Henri Matisse, Barbara Hepworth, and Jeff Koons's incongruous bronze replica of a basketball. And, as if to show what a new bronze can look like, is Anish Kapoor's most recent work in bronze: a concave shield in shining splendour. Another charming piece was Picasso's playful Baboon and Young, which he fashioned using his son's toy cars. However, in the same room is also the Etruscan Chimera of Arezzo from c. 400 BCE, a frightening and powerful creature that seems to roar silently.

The earliest pieces in the exhibition are believed to be among the oldest known to exist and were part of a hoard discovered at the Nahal Mishmar (a seasonal stream in the Judean Desert) in a cave near Dead Sea. Among the other old exhibits was the glorious Chariot of the Sun from Denmark, which dates back to the 14th century BCE and was found in a bog at Trundholm in 1902. All of them testify to the sophistication of ancient workmanship.

My favourite, for what it is worth, was Bernini's Damned Soul. The terror on its face as it faces the fires of hell send a shiver of horror even after all these centuries. Perhaps this is why it has been chosen to grace the beautifully brought out brochure and posters of this grand show.