Re: [Marxism] The 2009 Indian Elections

["Politicus E." <epoliticus@xxxxxxxxx>]

It now appears opportune to meditate on the discussion prompted by the
letter "To Our Friends in Bengal."  Many of you will no doubt recall
the contents of this letter.  The letter was published on 22 November
2007, in the Hindu newspaper, and can be read at
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/nandigram221107.html by those
interested.  Signatories of this letter included Noam Chomsky, Tariq
Ali, Howard Zinn, Susan George, Victoria Brittain, Walden Bello,
Mahmood Mamdani, Akeel Bilgrami, Richard Falk, Jean Bricmont, Michael
Albert, Stephen Shalom, Charles Derber, and Vijay Prashad.

Given the fact that that the CPI(M) is now on its death-bed, let us
also recall the rejoinder to their letter:

***

"We (the undersigned) read with growing dismay the statement signed by
Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and others advising those opposing the
CPI(M)’s pro-capitalist policies in West Bengal not to “split the
Left” in the face of American imperialism. We believe that for some of
the signatories, their distance from events in India has resulted in
their falling prey to a CPI(M) public relations coup and that they may
have signed the statement without fully realising the import of it and
what it means here in India, not just in Bengal."

"We cannot believe that many of the signatories whom we know
personally, and whose work we respect, share the values of the CPI(M)
– to “share similar values” with the party today is to stand for
unbridled capitalist development, nuclear energy at the cost of both
ecological concerns and mass displacement of people (the planned
nuclear plant at Haripur, West Bengal), and the Stalinist arrogance
that the party knows what “the people” need better than the people
themselves. Moreover, the violence that has been perpetrated by CPI(M)
cadres to browbeat the peasants into submission, including time-tested
weapons like rape, demonstrate that this “Left” shares little with the
Left ideals that we cherish."

"Over the last decade, the policies of the Left Front government in
West Bengal have become virtually indistinguishable from those of
other parties committed to the neoliberal agenda. Indeed, “the
important experiments undertaken in the State” – the land reforms
referred to in the statement – are being rapidly reversed. According
to figures provided by the West Bengal state secretary for land
reforms, over the past five years there has been a massive increase of
landless peasants in the state due to government acquisition of land
cheaply for handing over to corporations and developing posh upper
class neighbourhoods."

[...]

"Singur was the chronicle of the fate foretold for Nandigram. There,
land was acquired in most cases without the consent of peasant-owners
and at gun-point (terrorizing people is one way of obtaining their
consent), under the colonial Land Acquisition Act (1894). That land is
now under the control of the industrial house of the Tatas, cordoned
off and policed by the state police of West Bengal. The dispossessed
villagers are lost to history. A fortunate few among them will become
wage slaves of the Tatas on the land on which they were once owners."

"While the CPM-led West Bengal government has announced that it will
not go ahead with the chemical hub without the consent of the people
of Nandigram, it has not announced any plans of withdrawing its
commitment to the neo-liberal development model. It has not announced
the shelving of plans to create Special Economic Zones. It has not
withdrawn its invitation to Dow Chemicals (formerly known as Union
Carbide, the corporation responsible for tens of thousands of deaths
in Bhopal) to invest in West Bengal. In other words, there are many
more Nandigrams waiting to happen."

"In any case, the reason for the recently renewed violence in
Nandigram has been widely established to have nothing to do with the
rumour or otherwise of a chemical hub. Print and visual media,
independent reports, the governor of West Bengal (Gopal Gandhi) and
the State Home Secretary’s police intelligence all establish that this
round of violence was initiated by the CPI(M) to re-establish its
control in the area. We all have seen TV coverage of unarmed villagers
barricaded behind walls of rubble, while policemen train their guns on
them."

"With the plans it has for the future, regaining control over
Nandigram is vital for the CPI(M) to reassure its corporate partners
that it is in complete control of the situation and that any kind of
resistance will be comprehensively crushed. The euphemism for this in
the free marketplace is ‘creating a good investment climate’."

[...]

"History has shown us that internal dissent is invariably silenced by
dominant forces claiming that a bigger enemy is at the gate. Iraq and
Iran are not the only targets of that bigger enemy. The struggle
against SEZ’s and corporate globalization is an intrinsic part of the
struggle against US imperialism."

"We urge our fellow travellers among the signatories to that
statement, not to treat the “Left” as homogeneous, for there are many
different tendencies which claim that mantle, as indeed you will
recognize if you look at the names on your own statement."

***

This rebuttal was signed by Mahashweta Devi, Arundhati Roy, Sumit
Sarkar, and others. Those interested can read the entire rebuttal at:
http://sanghsamachar.wordpress.com/2007/11/24/response-to-noam-chomsky-howard-zinn-et-al-on-nandigram/.
(Moreover, a response to this rebuttal was issued by a subset of the
original signatories although I cannot presently find that link.)

Let me at this juncture, therefore, draw a suitable political
conclusion:  the international left should join the peoples of Kerala
and West Bengal by giving the CPI(M) its last rites.  Enough is
enough.

epoliticus

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