[Reader-list] anti-imperialism

Thu Apr 28 20:26:50 IST 2011

Interesting commentary on how understanding  & practice  of 'left' varies from left to left. Political expediency..???
 Near similarity  in support across the left spectrum, for pan Islamism inspired  imperialism of which Kashmiri Muslim secessionist movement  is a visible face in Indian context, is intriguing.Rgds allLA-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:05:28 +0530
> From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com
> To: reader-list at sarai.net
> Subject: [Reader-list] anti-imperialism
> 
> From: http://www.pragoti.org/node/4378
> 
> _________________________________________
> 
> Woolly eyed ex-Naxalite fellow travellers and anti-imperialism
> Tue, 2011-04-26 12:37 — srinir
> 
> There are two varieties of anti-left bashers from among the ultra-left
> or more charitably what is called the "left of the left". One is a
> stream that is nostalgic of the ex-Naxalite past, condemning of the
> adventurous turn of Naxalism into present day marauding version called
> Maoism, but is not willing to give into opportunism. The other - also
> firmly entrenched in the dustbin of history called supporters of the
> failed Naxalite past - has no such concerns; it has no shame in tying
> up and supporting the traditional party of the jotedars and
> opportunists - for this section, any stick to beat the Left is a good
> one.
> 
> The former is exemplified by the likes of Naxalite sympathisers and
> commentators like Sumanta Banerjee, who not long ago, called for a
> (nonexistent) "third front" in West Bengal, unable to digest that the
> opposition from the left of the left ..to the left .. has been
> hijacked by the likes of Mamata Banerjee and her cohorts which include
> an umbrella rainbow coalition from the right, the identarians (the
> likes of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha), the blatantly neoliberal (FICCI
> chief Amit Mitra) and not to mention the ultra-left (personified by
> the murderer Kishenji). The latter is exemplified by the cussed
> commentator Sankar Ray, who replied in no uncertain terms to Sumanta
> Banerjee's proposition when it first came up that he disagreed with
> his view on Mamata Banerjee. The commentator is at it again - this
> time questioning the anti-imperialist credentials of the Left, in the
> deliberately anti-Left site, Kafila.org. The argument advanced by this
> person is that the pro-investment "phase" of the West Bengal
> government during 2005-2006 was tantamount to tarnishing the
> anti-imperialist credentials of the CPI(M).. nay even to say that
> there exists no such credentials at all. And to make this point, he
> quotes David Mulford, then American ambassador to India. He then
> juxtaposes this against the wikileaks revelations that unambiguously
> mentions that the Americans are very keen on "cultivating Mamata
> Banerjee" owing to her strong presence as opposition to the Left Front
> in the state.
> 
> Only in the phantasmagoria that is the thought process of certain
> woolly-eyed ex-Naxalite sympathisers would there be a equivalence
> between stray statements from the Americans acknowledging a turn
> toward a pro-investment regime and explicit enunciation in diplomatic
> cables of a strategic support for the opposition in the state of West
> Bengal because of the possibilities of weakening the Left (even
> nationally). Why at all, are (and were) the Americans interested in
> cultivating an utter opportunist such as Mamata Banerjee (bolstered by
> none other than the Maoists) if it suited them that the West Bengal
> state govenrment was keen on a pro-investment climate? Surely that is
> the first question that should concern an "anti-imperialist"? Or
> indeed, why did the CPI(M) make the nuclear deal the cornerstone of
> the Indo-US strategic relationship, ultimately withdrawing support to
> the UPA on the very issue, if at all its anti-imperialist credentials
> were under question? Why would the party make the Indo-US defense
> framework agreement such a major issue, going forward to even mobilise
> people from West Bengal (yes..West Bengal) to protest against Indo-US
> joint defense exercises in the Kalaikunda base in 2005? Or to organise
> another massive protest against Indo-US joint defense exercises in
> Vizag mobilising people in the form of two jathas from West Bengal and
> from Andhra Pradesh in 2007? Were all these measures done to be in
> "the good books of George Bush" as Sankar Ray ridiculously and
> abominably claims?
> 
> To expect ex-Naxalite Mamata-worshippers to answer such questions or
> even understand reality better is asking for too much. After all,
> these venerable (or not) gentlemen endorsed the deliberate killing of
> CPI(M) supporters and sympathisers at the hands of Maoist frontmen,
> explicitly provided backing by the Trinamul chief and did not even pay
> lip service to condemn the assassination attempt at chief minister
> Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, for which the Maoists very proudly claimed
> responsibility for. They had not a word to say about the Maoist front
> organisation PCAPA organised derailment of the Gyaneswari Express
> sometime last year.We don't hear a word about the Trinamul's
> re-cultivation of arch neoliberals such as Amit Mitra or his candidacy
> from these Mamata-worshippers. It speaks to their utter irrelevance
> and inability to articulate a politics of progressivism that they have
> tied their bandwagons to the apron strings of crass opportunism as
> personified by the Trinamul Congress.
> 
> Lest we forget, there is also another significant section of former
> Naxalite sympathisers. Comprising of activists like Azizul Haque and
> other intellectuals, they have criticised the support for Mamata
> Banerjee and have questioned the understanding of those who have done
> so. They have explicitly pointed out to the class character of the
> Trinamul Congress' leadership, its aims and the core of its support
> base. They have also endorsed the Left Front in the polls, arguing
> however for the continuation of pro-poor policies and articulating the
> need for a genuine alternative to the neoliberal trajectory adopted
> mostly elsewhere in the country.
> 
> Finally, let us not mince words. Certain ex-Naxalite fellow travellers
> who have no qualms in joining hands with the likes of Amit Mitra to
> uproot the Left Front government can kindly keep their opinions on
> anti-imperialism to themselves. The ex-Naxalites of West Bengal had
> their chance to foment a revolution from Naxalbari in the late 1960s.
> They failed - mostly because of their inability to understand Indian
> conditions and also because their movement was doomed from the
> beginning. The Left Front succeeded in West Bengal despite tremendous
> repression from the Congress and managed to achieve substantive rural
> reforms and deeper democratisation in West Bengal. Sections of
> ex-Naxalite sympathisers have always resented this. From woolly eyed
> romanticists buying into claims of the spread of the prairie fire of
> "Naxalite revolution" across the country, they have either been
> reduced to endorsers of marauding criminals of the ex-MCC variety or
> palanquin bearers for the opportunist Mamata Banerjee pontificating
> now and then on anti-imperialism. What a fall or is it a fall at all?.
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
> Best
> 
> A. Mani
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> A. Mani
> ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS
> http://www.logicamani.co.cc
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