Tamil Nadu: CPIM's Volte-face Again
Commencing CPIM's Opportunist Alliance this time!
On Dec 6, a black day in Indian History, the Hindu jubilantly reported in its front page "CPI(M), AIADMK to enter into alliance". The accompanying photo showed a gleaming and smiling CPIM General Secretary Mr. Prakash Karat offering a beautiful bouquet to Ms Jayalalitha, the AIADMK chief, and the caption reads "New formation: CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat calls on AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa at her residence in Chennai on Friday." In another recent story (Jan 8, 2009) this year we find, "Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary, N. Varadarajan, justified the alliance with the AIADMK, saying that it was firmed up in order to form an alternative to the Congress and the BJP." We have no uncertainty regarding the future CPIM half-truths that will project their intention as 'fighting anti people policies of the Congress govt at the centre' and naturally hence its ally at Tamilnadu, the DMK, while at the same time fighting the 'communalist', 'fundamentalist' forces represented by BJP.
But what a pity. If Mr. Karat suffers from memory loss he can reed some past stories from the archives of their friend N. Ram's "The Hindu". Only some years back we heard something quite different. On Nov 8, 2003 that same CPIM friendly "The Hindu" under the headline "Jayalalithaa plea for support ridiculous: CPI (M)" reported "The CPI (M) today "summarily rejected" the Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo, Jayalalithaa's appeal for its support for formation of a non-BJP, non-Congress Government at the Centre. Terming her plea for CPI (M) assistance in a post-poll scenario "ridiculous", the State secretary, N. Varadarajan, categorically ruled out "any alliance" with the AIADMK. "How does she seek our support after inflicting repressive measures on the people of Tamil Nadu and ruining the State during the past two years?" (italics ours)"
Before continuing with our story let us recall what happened in 2003 that made the CPIM so furious. That year the CPIM led government employees unions along with other unions started a employees strike on July 2, after their demands were just brushed aside by the govt. the govt threatened to impose the black act ESMA to counter the strike. And that it did. All striking employees were sacked, many were tortured by police, thousands were taken to custody. What the party, the CITU etcetera did? As "Her Majesty's Obedient & Loyal Opposition" like a true bourgeois?-parliamentary party, the CPIM pressed into service the legal experts. Because as a revisionist-reformist party from their very onset, the CPIM never had any intention to broaden and intensify class struggle and act accordingly. But to everybody's surprise, the High Court and then the Supreme Court gave a landmark judgement that the govt employees have no right to strike work. the High Court was kind only in letting the arrested leaders free on July 11. On July 12, 2003, unconditionally the leaders called off the strike. Perhaps more disgrace awaited them - begging excuse for what they had done each had to give undertaking of not doing the same thing again - the TN govt compelled them to do so. So things were really 'hot' for the humiliated CPIM!
"Addressing a press conference here, he wondered whether she was seeking his party's support to "victimise" crores of Central Government employees after succeeding in "victimising" the State Government staff. "The people of Tamil Nadu are in dire straits because of her repression". The CPI (M) was opposed to " communalism" and hence wanted to unseat the BJP. It was also against the "ruinous" economic policies of the Congress. "That is why we want to dislodge the Congress Government in Kerala". The AIADMK's policies were "no better. Then how can she expect the CPI (M) to support her?" ..." thus the report vented ire. It continued, "The CPI (M) Central Committee holding an "emergency" session in Kolkata from November 13, would formulate the Lok Sabha poll strategy. "Even before that I want to make it clear that our party will have no truck with the AIADMK, which caused immense misery to the working class, denied the various rights it has been enjoying for decades such as bonus, PDS commodities and free power and inflicted only repression and encounter deaths". ... ..."
We all know what happened after the abovementioned 'CPI (M) Central Committee ... "emergency" session in Kolkata'. In spite of any number of firm decisions whatsoever, after the Lok Sabha poll CPIM's strategy yielded a "UPA-Left" combine which gave the country a high-sounding 'common minimum program' only and nothing else. But what happened in Tamilnadu? We had a hint from the Hindu-group fortnightly "Frontline", Sept 13-26, 2003: "THE Jayalalithaa government's decision on August 15 to invoke the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act (TESMA) against four top Opposition leaders of the State on the charge of instigating government employees to go on strike in July has, willy-nilly, given rise to a new kind of unity among disparate political parties. At a joint rally in Chennai on August 22, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Congress(I), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), although they differed on several issues, protested against the government move and vowed to continue their fight against the "autocratic regime" of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)." (United in struggle-by T.S. SUBRAMANIAN). From CPIM's document archive we get CPIM's review (cpim.org/documents/2004_ls_elc_review.doc): "The AIADMK-BJP alliance was swept away in a wave which saw all 40 seats (including one seat in Pondicherry) going to the DMK and its allies. The Democratic Progressive Alliance led by the DMK plus the Left have polled 65.06 per cent of the vote while the AIADMK-BJP alliance could got only 34.9 per cent of the vote. The AIADMK alone has got nearly 30 per cent vote. ... The DMK won 16 seats, Congress - 10, PMK - 5, MDMK - 4, CPI(M) - 2 and CPI - 2. ..." (italics ours) CPIM was not just a partner, it undertook strenuous missions too, as for example their senior leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet himself taking active measure in bringing rapprochement between 'hurt' Mr. Moopanar and Mr. Karunanidhi. This love affair between DMK and CPIM continued in the assembly election of 2006 too.
But CPIM's choice-of-partner is so tortuous! From 'Review of the May 2001 Assembly Elections (adopted in the August 11-12, 2001 Meeting of the Central Committee)' from http://cpim.org/ we get, "In Tamil Nadu the ruling DMK-BJP combine suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the AIADMK-led alliance. The NDA's defeat in the state was a resounding one, so much so that even in the state capital Chennai, which has always been a DMK stronghold, the DMK had a tough time. The discontent against the DMK-BJP combination was so much that the AIADMK could rally all the other opposition parties to defeat this combination." Proudly The Hindu (on Feb 14, 2001) reported CPIM's vital role in ending the 'rumblings' in the 'secular front' in its pre-poll stage: "The visit of the CPI(M) General Secretary, Mr. Harkishen Singh Surjeet, to Chennai enroute to Thiruvananthapuram has come as a timely bonanza for the parties of the secular front, which witnessed some rumblings in the wake of the PMK's entry into the front and the DMK's fervent attempts to woo the TMC. Mr. Surjeet, who met the TMC president, Mr. G. K. Moopanar, late last night, also had a 45-minute meeting with the AIADMK General Secretary, Ms. Jayalalitha, at her Poes garden residence this morning ..." In the Frontline magazine of Jun 05-18, 1999 we get some 'steps' towards formation of Secular Front by the sudden change of sides by DMK and AIADMK: "EVEN as the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) firmed up a new pro-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) front in Tamil Nadu, roping in the erstwhile allies of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) - the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress (TRC) - there were signs of a formidable challenge to it emerging from a broad-based front of secular and democratic parties. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) took the initiative to bring the secular parties together. The fall of the BJP-led Government in April - when the AIADMK, a constituent of the coalition, turned against the Government and the DMK, then in the Opposition, supported it - saw the collapse of the fronts led by these two parties, necessitating the fo rmation of new alignments for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The general secretary of the CPI (M), Harkishan Singh Surjeet, who was in Chennai on May 27 and 28, held separate discussions with Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) president G.K. Moopanar and AIADMK general secretary Jayalalitha." (Fronts and challenges - by T.S. SUBRAMANIAN)
But in Frontline (dated Dec. 27, 1997 - Jan. 9, 1998) article 'Elections '98 - A round-up from the States' T.S. Subramanian commented on Tamilnadu: "The DMK-led alliance in the State is confident of scoring over the AIADMK-led alliance. TAMIL NADU has emerged as a bright spot for the United Front. The existing alliance, led by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has not only regained its cohesion, but also strengthened itself with the addition of two more national parties, the CPI(M) and the Janata Dal."
The same story told us, "In 1996, the CPI(M) and the Janata Dal formed part of another front, led by Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) of V. Gopalasamy, who had broken away from the DMK. The Indian National League led by Abdul Latheef and the All India Forward Bloc led by Ayyannan Ambalam are already members of the DMK-led front. Welcoming the entry of the CPI(M) and Janata Dal into the alliance, CPI State secretary R.Nallakannu said: "Politics is shaping up well in Tamil Nadu." ..." (italics ours)
Really! Politics of the 'left' parties have been shaping up for so many years in Tamilnadu that we can replace the word political-alliance by seesaw!
If we go down the memory lane and archives of newspapers and magazines we shall perhaps find more of CPIM Volte-face in TN. And not only they, the main parties there, the DMK and AIADMK too did the same again and again. As a result it has become too difficult to keep track on the 'principled' alliances in TN. The DMK and AIADMK both had thrown aside the old anti-Brahmanism or anti-upper-caste Hindu tradition of Tamilnadu; time and again either of the two allied with the BJP and the other with Congress; neither they can claim to represent the positive aspects of Tamil nationalism and culture. Time and again they became junior partners of Indian ruling classes and the latter's Hindi-Hindu (Brahminic or upper-caste) Chauvinism. And CPIM? This party is so rotten being soaked in the bourgeois-parliamentary mire that they can do any unprincipled alliance for the sake of getting some crumbs of the power 'cake' - power of having minor share of governmental resources - and then in a very hush-hush manner cover the dirt by misinformation drive, and in that misinformation drive they are now more perfect than Herr Joseph Goebbels.
With this AIADMK-CPIM 'holy' alliance in his bag, Mr Karat started his attempt to form his 'noble' Third Front for the 15th parliamentary election! Working class can well understand the true nature of this 3rd front just from this opening saga.
The workers of Tamilnadu have seen this seesaw 'politics' of CPIM, one of some very spiteful things that made the word 'politics' disgusting for the people at large. They have seen the betrayal of CITU, of CPIM; the CPIM-CITU leaders' compromise with the foreign and native capitalists, their adherence to globalisation-liberalisation policies in Kerala and West Bengal, etc. Their treachery and immorality is so much that one of their MP, Mr. Abdullakutty from Kannur, Andhra, openly articulated their mind - he said that the developmental policies of Gujarat Chief Minister Modi is better than CPIM and worthy of emulation! This sudden opening up of the true inner voice of CPIM made the CPIM bosses shaky and nervous because only some months are left for the parliament election, and they quickly suspended Abdullakutty who won twice from Kannur. But can they hide their true face for long?
It is high time for the workers of Tamilnadu to break silence, to break apart the bonds with the old decadent trade unions and parties, bond very much like the bond of slavery!
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