11-25-2007, 08:43 PM
<b>CPM & the making of a monster</b>
Swapan Dasgupta
When an edifice built on control begins to crumble, all sorts of peculiar creatures start emerging from the cracks. The uninhibited exhibition of hooliganism witnessed on the streets of Central Kolkata last Wednesday provided a vivid illustration of the CPI(M)'s slow loss of control over a State it has ruled uninterrupted for 30 years. If the "recapture" of Nandigram earlier this month was a desperate attempt to restore the party's total dominance on every corner of rural society, the State Government's decision to deport Taslima Nasreen from Kolkata was a panic-stricken bid to regain the confidence of the regressive forces it has systematically nurtured. The CPI(M), it would seem, is even prepared to accept a degree of collateral damage -- in this case, the party's alienation from the Bengali intelligentsia -- to meet the imperatives of political survival.
It's still too early to pass any judgement over the efficacy of trying to turn the clock back without undertaking an overhaul of the party's basic belief systems. What seems clear, however, is that the Communist endeavour to appropriate the liberal Hindu imagination has suffered a monumental setback. It was the Left's disproportionate influence in the citadels of intellectual power -- the arts, academia and the media -- which explained the unreal goodwill it enjoyed in national life. After Nandigram and the expulsion of Taslima, the Left is increasingly conveying the appearance of being a Stalin with halitosis.
The significance of the riotous anti-Taslima outburst in Kolkata should not be underestimated. Ever since its wise theoreticians identified Hindu communalism as the Enemy No 1 -- and that happened some 17 years ago -- the CPI(M) has pandered to the most regressive currents in Muslim society.
The CPI(M) first preyed on Muslim fears of an ascendant BJP -- Ayodhya and the Gujarat riots proved handy -- and then tapped into the self-destructive Islamist resurgence under the convenient garb of anti-Americanism. In West Bengal, it looked the other way as illegal migrants effected a demographic transformation of the border districts and even made Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee publicly express regret for daring to suggest that many of the madarsas in the State could do with lessons in modernity and patriotism. In other parts of India, it has entered into partnership with the mullahs to glorify suicide bombers in Iraq and Israel and simultaneously oppose any strategic partnership with the US. On the question of Taslima, the CPI(M) has obliged the forces of darkness on each and every count: It banned her latest book, it banned a Bengali journal that had defended her right to be critical of her own religion and, on Thursday night, it expelled her from Kolkata.
Can the cohabitation of godless Communists and self-professed soldiers of god endure? For nearly two decades, Islamist radicals have viewed its cosy relationship with the CPI(M) as a proverbial "covenant of security". West Bengal now hosts extension counters of frightening jihadi groups based in Bangladesh. The State administration has looked the other way because of the tacit understanding that there would be no subversion within the State.
The reason for the breakdown can be attributed to stirrings within local Muslim society. There is a section of relatively better-off Muslims which is anxious to assume political leadership roles in West Bengal. The CPI(M) does not have the structure and the flexibility to accommodate these aspirations. In its scheme of things, only card-holding Comrades can be allowed decision-making authority. Simultaneously, the Muslim leadership now believes it wields sufficient demographic clout to assume a frontal role in public life on terms set by the community. Prior to Nandigram, few had heard of Jamiat-i-Ulama Hind's Sadiqulla Chaudhury and before last Wednesday the identity of those who called for Taslima's departure was unknown. They have now demonstrated that they matter.
West Bengal politics is at an interesting turn. The CPI(M) has hitherto exercised total control. Sectarian Muslim groups now want a power-sharing arrangement commensurate with their numbers. Sixty years after Bengal took a breather, sectarian politics is making a menacing comeback.
<i>For any comments, queries or feedback, kindly mail us at pioneerletters@yahoo.co.in </i>
Swapan Dasgupta
When an edifice built on control begins to crumble, all sorts of peculiar creatures start emerging from the cracks. The uninhibited exhibition of hooliganism witnessed on the streets of Central Kolkata last Wednesday provided a vivid illustration of the CPI(M)'s slow loss of control over a State it has ruled uninterrupted for 30 years. If the "recapture" of Nandigram earlier this month was a desperate attempt to restore the party's total dominance on every corner of rural society, the State Government's decision to deport Taslima Nasreen from Kolkata was a panic-stricken bid to regain the confidence of the regressive forces it has systematically nurtured. The CPI(M), it would seem, is even prepared to accept a degree of collateral damage -- in this case, the party's alienation from the Bengali intelligentsia -- to meet the imperatives of political survival.
It's still too early to pass any judgement over the efficacy of trying to turn the clock back without undertaking an overhaul of the party's basic belief systems. What seems clear, however, is that the Communist endeavour to appropriate the liberal Hindu imagination has suffered a monumental setback. It was the Left's disproportionate influence in the citadels of intellectual power -- the arts, academia and the media -- which explained the unreal goodwill it enjoyed in national life. After Nandigram and the expulsion of Taslima, the Left is increasingly conveying the appearance of being a Stalin with halitosis.
The significance of the riotous anti-Taslima outburst in Kolkata should not be underestimated. Ever since its wise theoreticians identified Hindu communalism as the Enemy No 1 -- and that happened some 17 years ago -- the CPI(M) has pandered to the most regressive currents in Muslim society.
The CPI(M) first preyed on Muslim fears of an ascendant BJP -- Ayodhya and the Gujarat riots proved handy -- and then tapped into the self-destructive Islamist resurgence under the convenient garb of anti-Americanism. In West Bengal, it looked the other way as illegal migrants effected a demographic transformation of the border districts and even made Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee publicly express regret for daring to suggest that many of the madarsas in the State could do with lessons in modernity and patriotism. In other parts of India, it has entered into partnership with the mullahs to glorify suicide bombers in Iraq and Israel and simultaneously oppose any strategic partnership with the US. On the question of Taslima, the CPI(M) has obliged the forces of darkness on each and every count: It banned her latest book, it banned a Bengali journal that had defended her right to be critical of her own religion and, on Thursday night, it expelled her from Kolkata.
Can the cohabitation of godless Communists and self-professed soldiers of god endure? For nearly two decades, Islamist radicals have viewed its cosy relationship with the CPI(M) as a proverbial "covenant of security". West Bengal now hosts extension counters of frightening jihadi groups based in Bangladesh. The State administration has looked the other way because of the tacit understanding that there would be no subversion within the State.
The reason for the breakdown can be attributed to stirrings within local Muslim society. There is a section of relatively better-off Muslims which is anxious to assume political leadership roles in West Bengal. The CPI(M) does not have the structure and the flexibility to accommodate these aspirations. In its scheme of things, only card-holding Comrades can be allowed decision-making authority. Simultaneously, the Muslim leadership now believes it wields sufficient demographic clout to assume a frontal role in public life on terms set by the community. Prior to Nandigram, few had heard of Jamiat-i-Ulama Hind's Sadiqulla Chaudhury and before last Wednesday the identity of those who called for Taslima's departure was unknown. They have now demonstrated that they matter.
West Bengal politics is at an interesting turn. The CPI(M) has hitherto exercised total control. Sectarian Muslim groups now want a power-sharing arrangement commensurate with their numbers. Sixty years after Bengal took a breather, sectarian politics is making a menacing comeback.
<i>For any comments, queries or feedback, kindly mail us at pioneerletters@yahoo.co.in </i>