[Reader-list] Nandigram-Time for an Alternative Left in Bengal-Aditya Nigam

[Partha Dasgupta]

Dear Prakash,

As someone who has never subscribed to calling himself a 'communist' (or
'capitalist' for that matter), would like to merely point out that active
aggression by a ruling government in any state in any country is a dangerous
precedent.

That the government feels threatened by a small group of intellectuals,
artists who are expressing their angst in Kolkatta is even more worrisome.

Taking further into consideration that Police have been ordered to stay out
(which can be done by none other than the government in power) and that the
inhabitants feel the need to flee and armed cadres are roaming about is
extremely dangerous.

Something like the Delhi riots. Who they are is irrelevant - the moot point
is that saner minds need to intercede and restore peace so that we do not
end up having another crisis that end up in a cyle of hate and death.

If the government which is supposed to uphold the law is actively
bye-passing it, it certainly is the duty of those who elected the government
to question those actions, else we are failing in our duty as citizens.

Rgds, Partha
...........................................



On 11/13/07, prakash ray <pkray11 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear all, I have posted this letter to Mr Aditya Nigam some months back on
> kafila.org. I am re-posting it here in response to his latest write-up.
>
> Regards,
> Prakash
>
> Dear Adityaji, I know a bit about your stint in the Communist Party.
> Unfortunately, you happen to belong to a generation of disillusioned
> Communists, who harboured illusions about the Soviet Union when it existed
> and basked in its glory and then turned into an anti-Communist after its
> downfall, like the whole lot of post-modernists in Europe. Your problem is
> that your subjective feelings about shattered dreams of socialism in the
> USSR have overwhelmed your capacity to analyse the developments from an
> objective and Marxist point of view. Luckily for all of us, the ideology
> and
> praxis of Marxism and Scientific Socialism continues to survive, despite
> the
> fall of the USSR and opportunistic renegades like you. Marxism and
> Socialism
> continues to be the most formidable challenge before US led imperialism
> and
> a ray of hope for the millions of exploited people across the globe.
>
> At a personal level, I belong to a generation of Communists who joined the
> Party in the 1990s. I don't harbour any illusions about the USSR. My
> conviction regarding Marxism has developed through my association with the
> struggles waged by the CPI (M) in defence of secularism and democracy in
> India. I firmly believe that the CPI (M) is the best place to be for all
> those who believe in progressive social change and revolution in our
> country.
>
> As far as the Left Front government of bengal is concerned, my admiration
> for it arises especially because i don't come from bengal, but from a
> state
> (Bihar) which is the worst example of economic backwardness and
> Brahminical
> social oppression, in the absence of land reforms as was carried out in
> bengal under the aegis of the Left front Government.
>
> You may continue to revel at the idea of the Left front government being
> defeated in Bengal one day. May be it'll happen in future, although going
> by
> current developments, I don't see that happening at least in the next
> assembly ele ctions. As long as Mamata Banerjee and the assorted naxalite
> idiots are dominating the opposition discourse, the future of the LF
> government is secured.
>
> However, even if the LF is defeated in bengal one day, how does it matter?
> The LF has lost elections in Kerala and Tripura several times; that has
> not
> led to the decline of the Communist movement. They have fought and come
> back
> to power again. That is the beauty of Indian democracy.
>
> I look forward to the day when we'll all see a CPI (M) led LF government
> at
> the Centre. That will be a great moment for the Indian people, especially
> the working class and the peasantry. That will also be a day when the LF
> government in Bengal will not have to depend upon big capital to
> industrialize - it can be acieved through Public Sector investment.
> Perhaps,
> cynics like you would also come back to the communist fold that day.
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-- 
Partha Dasgupta
+919811047132