The status of Communists in India has mostly been reduced to Kerala, and some suave, ‘London-or-New York-for-holiday’ loving left leaders, disagreeing on any and every issue, merely to be visible and in the circuit. They do make infrequent appearances with the face of Che Guevara on T-shirts of students, though in select universities.
Born in West Bengal, I can dare say, every Bengali is either left or left-leaning, though whichever party they would like to associate. Partition and the aftermath of millions of Bengali refugees in West Bengal repeated again in the Indo-Pak war of 1971, converted the state to one of a welfare kind, unlike any other in India.
People needed shelter, food and medicine. Rationing was in vogue, even as the most states discarded the PDS system. It was controlled everywhere, be it Kerosene, rice or bread. Queues were common, save for getting a precarious and scary foothold on ramshackle public transport. It was in the order of the day that for a 1 Paisa increase in the ticket cost a few trams or busses would be burnt.
Bandhs were rampant and covered all international issues from opposing the visit of World Bank President McNamara, to protest against US war in Vietnam or to demand rice supply, the canvas was divergent and extensive. The opposition would always retort with bombs, and the policemen, mostly then from Bihar hiding out from the action scenes.
The industry was an enemy, and industrialists, devils. Birla and Tata were famous as the scapegoat to be burnt as effigies or garlanded with footwear. The Mantra of sustainability was farming, and rural development mattered more. The state grew with a mind of opposition and negativity as political opponents were silenced or eliminated.
A few, crafty pseudo industrialists thrived in the embrace of the mighty, either in Writers’ Building or in Alimuddin Street and they could grab precious contracts and offers for a song. There grew two schools of thoughts within the party, staunchly Stalinists who blocked any progress and neo-liberals, who were hungry to match the other states in growth. Leaders discreetly prayed at temples and reverently took the Tirupati ladoos, and a few dared the party and publicized their temple visits, exposing the weakening stranglehold of the party over its lea
The last CM, a change of face, promising a change that Bengal prayed for, was confined in the walls erected around him by hardcore ideologists, who opposed his development agenda fiercely. Opposition parties were supported in the Singur imbroglio to weaken the CM from within.
In the scary scenario of today, when capital is getting confined to a few individuals, not only in India but the world over, bridging the gap between the poor and the rich could have been better done by the communists. However, in the war between far right and the left, the left was decimated and now are a relic of the past, be it in Soviet Russia, China or India.
If the left becomes progressive, not believing only in Bandhs, strikes and militancy in labour, and turning tolerant towards opponents, it could have been a balancing factor indeed.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix
