[Reader-list] What the Communists have done to West Bengal in 30 years !

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear all

While the Left have been fighting for people's rights in certain states, the
fact is that they have now converted the same for their personal purposes
into fiefdoms. This is very much true in West Bengal.


One issue of EPW in this or the last month (the exact date is February 28 -
March 06,2009) actually had an entire set of articles on West Bengal. What
was striking was the continuous argument being given that only those
panchayats which elected Left regularly actually got funds. Even those
panchayats which had a fluctuation in elections didn't get funds for any
purpose, even if the Left was in power there.

Hence, panchayats have now been turned into party's fiefdoms. And just to
ensure the party rules, it has misused the very decentralization of power
which was supposed to empower India's citizens, not deprive them.

This does not mean that land reforms have not benefited people. But certain
important conclusions must be also seen. The articles in this issue,
undertaken as ground based research by scholars, pointed out that while
people actually used to vote, they didn't take part in panchayat meetings,
because of the perception that Left anyway dominates these. What's more,
people felt if they vote for Left, they would get benefited from these
schemes. And this comes from the villagers where this research was
undertaken, not me or you.

Therefore, the Left certainly has shown hypocrisy when it comes to such
issues. Infact, the researchers have stated in this issue that one of the
probable reasons why the Left has been winning constantly is that the poor
realize if they don't vote for the Left, their rights like BPL cards and
participation in govt. schemes would be taken away from them.

The Left has only done one good thing: kept people poor and equal and
thereby ensure some kind of social trust between them. But this is not what
a govt. or a party in power is supposed to do. What they have done is
similar to CCP in China, where the party coincides with the state structure
by coordination of both in a manner which ensures the loyals benefit and the
dissenters pay, which is contrary to how a democratic state should function.


Regards

Rakesh