[Reader-list] anti-imperialism

Fri Apr 29 06:52:06 IST 2011

CPI(M)'s stance on imperialism has always been consistent. This
article outlines the connection between globalization and imperialism
: http://www.pragoti.org/node/4234 (see comment as well)

CPI, RSP, FB and CPIML are all anti-imperialist. Differences relate to
perceptions of the connection between imperialism and globalization
and strategies against them.

The earlier Naxalites of the seventies did not have a clear position
on the US and US imperialism. The muddled position of the so-called
maoists definitely has no principles behind it.

The Kashmiri secessionist  movements are not interpreted as 'forms of
'imperialism'' by the mainstream Left as there are genuine
socio-economic reasons and a long history to it. Foreign interests do
matter, but the problem does not reduce to it.  Generally religion
does not matter in the context of 'imperialism', it may be a tool in
the hand of the few powerful perpetrators of imperialism and religion
is not class.

Best

A. Mani

-- 
A. Mani
ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS
http://www.logicamani.co.cc

On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 8:26 PM, Lalit Ambardar
<lalitambardar at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 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 all
> LA
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>> 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
>> _________________________________________