Karat's Cambridge Speech -- Chatters from the Servants' Quarters
Recently CPIM General Secretary Mr P Karat delivered a speech at a seminar "Lessons of Empire — a Past and Present conference in honour of V.G. Kiernan" organised by the Centre for South Asian Studies at Cambridge University. His speech has generated a lot of ridicule among usual servants of the bourgeoisie - the bourgeois media. The Hindustan Times wrote, "Indian Left stuck in the 40s: Karat" — CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has told a conference at the University of Cambridge that the Leftist forces in India were still "banking on the concepts and theories of the 1940s". In one of the key presentations at the Lessons of Empire conference organised in memory of Marxist historian Victor Kiernan, Karat admitted that Left parties were "deficient" in theory and needed to study and understand the developments sweeping the country." The Telegraph wrote, "Punch to Karat" — "The Congress today seized on parts of Prakash Karat's Cambridge speech and gleefully construed them as an admission of the Left's failure to keep up with the changing times. Congress spokesperson Shakil Ahmed said the CPM general secretary had accepted that the Left had failed to change itself and remained frozen in the 1940s." The Times of India devoted its editorial to this occasion. Under the heading "Time Wrap" it wrote, "...The stout refusal of the leftists to adapt to the times and accept ground realities is the primary reason why the political space of the Indian Left has progressively shrunk. In this backdrop, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat's analysis that the left parties are stuck in a time wrap - the 1940s to be precise - ought to have been inspiring. ... Speaking at the University of Cambridge, Karat recognised the need to "theorise" and "understand" the rapid socio-economic transformation underway in India. He followed this up by asserting that the Left was historically wrong in writing off the institution of caste. ..." News Agency DNA reported it its editorial "Bringing Com Prakash Karat into the 21st century": "In a moment of rare honesty and self-examination, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has admitted that Leftist forces in India had to move on from their 1940s mindsets."
Mr Karat was so perturbed that he could not but 'protest' - he said, "My Cambridge speech was misreported". "Some agencies have attributed to me that I stated that we committed 'a historical blunder' in not recognising the role played by caste in politics and society. It is also alleged that I said that Communists are 'stuck in the forties' as far as their theory and practice is concerned. I wish to make it clear that these remarks attributed to me are neither correct nor accurate". Then he added, "As far as caste is concerned what I said is as follows: 'We should understand both in theory and practice how class structure in India is influenced by and integrated with structures of hierarchy, discrimination and oppression that are particular to Indian society reflected for instance in caste system.' Stating that Communists recognise the role of caste in the socio-economic formations in India is far from saying what has been attributed to me," Karat said. "Secondly, contrary to saying that Communists are stuck in the forties, what I pointed out was and I quote from my written notes: "The bulk of the support for the Communist Party even today comes from the movement areas and outlying region, where mainly in the 1941 to 1948 period the Communists succeeded in bringing together and leading the two main historical currents of people's struggles — the struggle against the colonial power and the struggle of the rural masses for freedom from exploitation. Thus where the Communists brought the anti-imperialist and anti-landlord movements together and gave leadership to this united struggle, they gained mass support. Tebhaga (Bengal), North Malabar (Kerala), the tribal struggle (Tripura) the Telengana struggle are some instances." "I had concluded by saying that the agenda of the forties such as land reforms and struggle for land is still being pursued by the Communists." (http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/my-cambridge-speech-was-misreported-karat_100450106.html, Tuesday, October 26, 2010 5:39:25 PM by IANS)
This protest declaration actually avoided the truth about them that he should have spoken out boldly if he were an honest politician. Let us examine.
(1) It is indeed true that for all practical purpose the CPI-CPIM etc left parties 'wrote off' the importance of caste in Indian reality. Karat tacitly admitted it too by saying, "As far as caste is concerned what I said is as follows: 'We should understand both in theory and practice how class structure in India is influenced by and integrated with structures of hierarchy, discrimination and oppression that are particular to Indian society reflected for instance in caste system.' ..." If somebody had de facto not written off the importance of caste then there would have been no necessity to restate, 'We should understand both in theory and practice how class structure in India is influenced by and integrated with structures of hierarchy, ... that are particular to Indian society reflected for instance in caste system.' Why the necessity arose that they had to say, according to his own words, 'we should understand both in theory and practice...' if they, CPI-CPIM etc, actually understood it long before? Why did the Karat-friendly reporting by Amit Roy (The Telegraph) reported, "Marxists have come to realise the unique role of caste in socio-economic formation — how it prevented change and social transformation at key times in Indian history"! (Politician to teacher? Bit late in day, quips Karat, (Source http://www.indusbusinessjournal.com/news/2004/06/15/SouthAsianConnection/Leftist.Slant.Wont.Harm.Economic.Reforms.Says.Ficci-688801.shtml). And lastly, why he abruptly began with such anecdote that Prof Victor Kiernan, in their first acquaintance, asked him what caste he belonged to? Was it just accidentally, with no connection whatsoever with the context just mentioned? It is a fact that CPI-CPIM underrated the caste factor. They de facto took for granted that economic change brought by Peoples Democratic Revolution or 'capitalist development' will automatically erase the caste factor. Had the Indian 'communists' thought and acted otherwise then had we had to see the so-called 'socialists' and 'Ambedkarites' appear in the scene as champions of lower caste?
By the way, the Times of India editorial said, "Instead of bringing about inclusive social development, caste heightened the fragmentation of the electorate." This is the typical way the Indian big bourgeoisie view the question of caste - as if Indian society was highly homogeneous whole previously and the peevish conniving caste-politicians highlighted caste and that fragmented Indian society, or electorate, the way the parliament-centrist big bourgeoisie see the public. Before the arrival of caste-politicians the Indian society was fractured and an oppressive domination of the upper caste Hindus forcefully put the others of the society under their feet and showed India as a single whole. Later democratic aspiration grew among the masses in the lower quarters as the capitalist development proceeded; and their voices of rebellion was expressed by the caste-politicians who distorted the voice and aspiration of the masses of lower castes, particularly the Dalits, to their own privilege of parliamentary politics via making vote-banks. The deceitful and actually oppressive 'rainbow coalition' as expressed by the Indian National Congress shattered, but the still the big bourgeoisie nostalgically cherish the memory of that old days of deceitful 'one India'.
(2) Karat in his denial statement said, as we have quoted him earlier, "Secondly, contrary to saying that Communists are stuck in the forties..." "I had concluded by saying that the agenda of the forties such as land reforms and struggle for land is still being pursued by the Communists." Here Karat totally falsified history. He could have said that they are no longer pursing land reform even in the half-hearted bourgeois sense that they followed earlier; they have travelled a long way since and had themselves adapted to the times. The theoretician of imperialist led land reform program in Japan and South Korea, Wolf Ladjenisky, was disappointed seeing the half-heartedness of the Indian bourgeoisie and their faithful servants, the 'lefts', regarding land reform in India. Whereas nearly 80% of the cropland changed hands (from the landlords to the peasants) in South Korea, only 7% of cropland changed hands in much hyped land reform famed West Bengal. So Ladjenisky gave a half-hearted bourgeois (J?nker) reform formula for India and that was emulated as much puffed up "Operation Barga" in WB, where the peasants didn't get land ownership right transferred from the landlord - just got assurance of 'permanence' of tenure right, i.e. there would be no eviction; in other words, non-peasant ownership of land was taken for granted. As far as land ownership is concerned, in the left ruled WB, landless and almost landless peasants got some petty scrap pieces of land, perhaps only a thirtieth of a hectare only in average in most places and simultaneously imperialist advised and sponsored 'green revolution' started spreading. In 1986, the average well to do owned 10.25 times more land then the average poor; rich households (7% of the total) owned more land than the poor 81% (of the total) households. And all these after almost - a decade of "left" rule! Two very close-to-the-LF ex-top-ranking-IAS officials of the W.B. Govt Mr Nirmal Mukherjee and Mr Debabrata Bandopadhay reviewed, at the request of the Govt, the progress of land reforms during the first 15 years of LEFT FRONT regime (1977-92). Their review report was published in a very brief form in the Statesman (Calcutta edition) on 16th and 17th May 1993. From that report one can see that: — the Left Front ministry twice amended the land reform act of the state in its first 15 years; in '82 and in '86. But not much land came to the Govt fund after these two amendments. Distribution from the Govt land fund in also very slow; and even if no more land comes to the Govt land fund & the distribution of all residual lands, at this speed, will take 30 more years!! Up to 1977 there was Congress led government which was not keen to land reform, the act was then full of loopholes, but still, more than 1 million acres of land come to the 'Sarkari Khaas' (government vest land fund); whereas during the first 17 years of left rule only 0.207 million acres of land came in the Govt fund! Since last two decades (to be precise in between 1986 and 2006) a backward movement has started — inequality in land ownership is increasing! And now the government of WB is distributing a large chunk of vested land to the big business, e.g. giving thousands of hectares of Jindal.
(3) That the Indian lefts are not at all bound in a 'time wrap' could be proved had Mr Karat supplied some recent examples. He could show that the big bourgeois media were concealing the real appraisals of the left by some chief operators of the big bourgeoisie themselves. "During his visit to the United States, Amit Mitra, the secretary general of the FICCI said that the leftist support of the new govt. was unlikely to create problems for economic reforms in India. "Please differentiate the noise and sound of the left," he said. "Noise is the cacophony, and sound is substance and that will be no different if there was any other party in its place... (Communists) have been on the forefront of the reform movement in India"." (Source http://www.indusbusinessjournal.com/news/2004/06/15/SouthAsianConnection/Leftist.Slant.Wont.Harm.Economic.Reforms.Says.Ficci-688801.shtml)" The Times of India wrote in their editorial "Time Wrap", "It is not writing off caste - Karat and his fellow leftists' cardinal error is writing off the market. And that's one they continue to make"; but their own news agency reported six years ago, "Even the World Bank President James D Wolfensohn praised the left parties. PTI reports: "World Bank has praised the Left parties for their 'broad-based vision' on social sector and infrastructure development and said the UPA government's Common Minimum Programme was in tune with the Bank's objectives... 'It doesn't seem to be a red flag at all', he said referring to the Left parties..."(Times News Network, 23/11/2004). It is indeed ridiculous to say that the Indian Lefts has written off 'market'. Has the Times of India not published stories after stories regarding spread of market in West Bengal (under LF Govt) and even spread of market of high-end pricey cars at previously remote places in a recent article! It can safely be said that the Bourgeois media are actually spreading a lie continuously to help the Indian 'lefts' to cover themselves with a 'leftist' garb which actually have tattered down making the 'lefts' almost naked at least as far as toiling masses of WB and Kerala are concerned.
Comments:
No Comments for View