One of two patriarchal figures of the Indian communist movements has passed on and that leaves Jyoti Basu as the last surviving leader. While my knowledge of political history especially that pertaining to the sixties is limited I remember my late father used to keep showing his irritation whenever they showed this gentleman on TV. He kept saying - "what has this old fellow done in politics that he is given so much importance". Many have talked about how he supported the Chinese but then I think the Indian communist movement has never really cut its umblical cord with China. The support for China has been blatantly brazen at times and subdued at others but it has never ever gone away.
The last 4 years saw Karat and his ilk oppose everything and today if the Congress finds itself in a sorry state, it only has the Communists to blame for this. Now a days viewing TV news or reading a newspaper is easier on the blood pressure. We dont see these hypocritical communists occupy centre stage pontificating on everything under the sun with their holier than thou attitude. Talk about a bunch of negative minded people who if left to themselves would drag India into the cavemen era. It is nobodys argument that the capaitalistic economy is without any flaws and perfect or that communism is negative and imperfect. But Karat and his henchmen have managed to create a hugely negative image of communism by their "opposing everything" attitude.
The state of Kerala's industry is there for everyone to see. Today barring for tourism and some government organisations like ISRO, Kerala has lost almost its entire industrial segment, thanks to the belligerant attitude of these same communists. And to think that elsewhere in the world Keralites are known for their hard and sincere work. Ever see a hospital without Keralite nurses ??? Bengal is not far behind and thanks to Bhattacharya trying to be a bit pragmatic this state seems to be inching towards some progress.
The latest issue of India Today sums it up well when it says that these days the leaders are accumalating frequent flier miles as they try to explain their action against Somnath Chatterjee since no TV studio is inviting them. Good riddance is what I say - who wants to listen to their sound bytes.
The action of Karat in suspending Somnath shows what a poor leader he is and how out of touch he is with the modern young India. When young India is so much disillusioned with its political class for its behaviour, Somnath managed to uphold the prestige of the Speakers chair by refusing to align himself to his political beliefs and did not resign. If he had resigned as instructed by Karat, the damage done to the Speakers position would have been immense and would have created a precedence for future.
It is a matter of time before Mayawati shows her Maya and makes Karat irrelevant as she showed within a couple of days by stealing the thunder and spotlight away from Karat even as the no confidence motion was underway.
The biggest tragedy is that after having visited China and seen first hand the development and progress, I fail to fathom why the Indian communists are in a time warp of their own. I still remember a Chinese colleague asking me why progress in India was so slow and whether democracy was to blame. I told him that democracy certainly slowed things down but it ensured that all sections of society were carried forward together but if we were lagging far behind China it was because China only has communism but India had communists !!!! Now thankfully we are spared of this millstone round our neck.
Cheers
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