Nandigram & The Terrors of Tomorrow

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I write these words today with a great sense of apprehension and grief.

As someone who had grown up witnessing the murderous role that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] played during the Naxalite movement in West Bengal during the late sixties and early seventies, I have always – ever since I have had any political sense – known that the CPI(M) was a fascist party which neither practiced inner party democracy nor gave much importance to the democratic rights of non-party people. In any case, whatever it may be, it was certainly not a communist party because if it were it would not have indulged in brutally murdering young idealist communist revolutionaries, however “misguided” such revolutionary romantics may have been. Yet, it was certainly Left of centre and was more akin to social democratic parties such as the Labour Party in the UK.

Also given the personal dislike that I have towards any kind of violence, and particularly political violence, since, in my view, violence in politics is a sure sign of a lack of a reasonable, logical and scientific political position on the part of those who have to indulge in violence to survive instead of surviving on popular and democratic support, I have all along been hesitant to support the Maoist brand of politics despite knowing that if anybody in India has been consistently and honestly fighting for the cause of the poor and the disenfranchised in India, it is the Maoists.

While accepting their argument that the people have to be armed to resist the armed violence of the ruling classes through the state, I do not believe that the kind of global revolution that is needed today can be brought about through violence. For the people, fighting state violence with violence is a foolish and losing strategy as it is a strategy of fighting where the enemy is strong and the people weak while ignoring areas where the enemy is weak and the people strong. The power of the ruling elite comes from the barrel of the gun (because they comprise no more than 10-20% of the global population or for that matter any specific country’s population and are, therefore, forced to rely on guns and brute force to survive) but the power of the people comes not from the barrel of the gun but from their united and collective political and economic action. I have to disagree with those Maoists who try to apply a statement of Mao made in a different historical context to all historical contexts. Arming the people with guns is, therefore, a short-sighted and ultimately losing strategy for global revolution which may work to a certain extent in certain isolated situations and for short periods of time to give the people some relief from state repression, but arming the people with knowledge and awareness is the only effective and sure shot way of actually achieving global revolution.

I will surely take up this issue in more detail later but let me not digress from the point that I wished to make at the beginning regarding why I write today with great apprehension and grief. With me unable to give full support to the Maoists and their false belief that political violence is part of the solution rather being a major part of the problem, the CPI(M) and the Left Front had provided some comfort and relief from the utterly unacceptable right of center politics of all the other political parties in India. I used to always feel safe that I live in West Bengal where basic human rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of pursuing any political or religious belief, freedom from the criminalization of the polity, freedom from narrow-mindedness and bigotry, freedom from state sponsored violence frequently unleashed by the political parties in power and other such basic democratic freedoms were all protected and one could actually speak proudly of the democratic conditions that prevailed in this state.

Yes, I do admit that I was always aware that even this sense of democratic freedom existed only for the rich and the middle class and the poor in West Bengal were nearly as disenfranchised as anywhere else in India (I still believe they are at least marginally better off in West Bengal compared to other states of India), yet there were enough reasons to feel that at least this Left Front government that we, the people of West Bengal, have repeatedly elected in seven consecutive elections spanning all of three decades was far better than any government that existed either at the Center (the federal government in New Delhi) or in any other state of India.

The incidents at Nandigram over the last few days have shattered even that limited sense of democratic freedom not because the violence there has affected me directly anyway but because I fear that this is the beginning of the end of Left Front rule in West Bengal. I am apprehensive that because of the failure of the CPI(M) to keep its fascist fangs hidden due to its gradual and increasing insensitivity to the people’s moods and sensibilities, its inability to see that whatever may be the real truth it is necessary for a Leftist party (leave alone a party which claims to be communist) to be seen to be keen on keeping the police and administration unbiased and free from petty political exigencies, its inability to work out developmental policies that could win over the people because they really benefited the people at least partially if not fully, and its inability to win over people through democratic political processes instead of at gun point, a situation is developing in West Bengal when in the next elections we may see an even worse government come to power in this state.

I call it an even worse government because not only are the other political parties as fascist as the CPI (M) if not more so (the communal riots in BJP-ruled Gujarat, the anti-Sikh riots in Congress-ruled Delhi, the continuous near non-governance in UP and Bihar ruled by various non-Left parties since the time of Independence are cases in point) but the coming to power of such parties would also mean attacks on all the above freedoms that we the people of West Bengal have been enjoying for the last thirty years to a greater or lesser extent. Add to that the political instability that comes from corrupt politicians and their penchant for horse trading and all the other ills of Indian democracy that are so visible all over the country. In comparison, Left Front politicians are saints even if we know that many of them are corrupt as well because in public life at least they try to maintain some modicum of commitment to values that one associates with good governance in a democratic polity.
Despite the inherent fascism of the CPI(M) and despite the fact that the Left Front too like all other ruling parties anywhere continues to enjoy political power in a parliamentary democracy only because it enjoys the confidence of the ruling elite, one could still hold pro-people and secular political views in West Bengal all these years of LF rule without fear of political or state repression. One could still claim to be a Leftist and even a communist without fear of discrimination by those in power and one could still think that one lived in a Leftist state even if it were less Leftist than what one would have liked it to be. Now all this stands threatened and the only Leftist government in the world which has continued to win elections and stay in power for all of thirty years may have to bow out in the next elections unless the CPI (M) goes into a major soul searching exercise and makes significant rectifications in its political outlook and approach.

While in these posts I have earlier commented upon and even suggested how the Left Front could have handled the land acquisition issue in a more pro-people manner, it is now time to take a close look at the political developments around the Nandigram issue that are now rocking the state. The situation is in many ways murky and the media as usual is adding to the confusion by being one sided in its reporting, playing up less important issues and obscuring the more important ones.

Before I make any of my own comments I would like to list some of the incontrovertible facts about Nandigram. These are:

1. The West Bengal government acquired land at Singur for the Tata small car factory through a questionable procedure although the compensation paid and the total package offered to landowners was the best ever in the country for all such similar land acquisitions done by any government anywhere in India.
2. Among other things, there were three major aspects at Singur that were questionable – (a) the land was acquired for a private sector project and, therefore, could not be directly justified as an acquisition for public purpose, (b) the acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act was done in a hurried manner literally forcing people to give up their land through overt and covert coercion, and (c) the compensation offered for land at Singur, however high it may have been, was not enough to compensate for the loss of livelihood of the farmers concerned.
3. Opposition parties in the state managed to organize the people of Nandigram against any similar land acquisition in that area and in the process either converted Left Front supporters in that area and convinced them to join the movement or managed to throw out of the area those who were reluctant to join the movement against land acquisition.
4. That even after the state chief minister announced that there would be no land acquisition in Nandigram, the people of the locality organized under the Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) continued to keep the area out of bounds to the police, administration and supporters of the CPI (M). It should be kept in mind that although the elected representative of the area to the state legislature belongs to the CPI, a constituent of the Left Front, he could win mainly because of the CPI (M)’s political organization and cadre strength in the area.
5. That the Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee was led by not only workers of the main opposition party in the state, Trinamool Congress but also activists of a Muslim non-secular communal political organization (whether they are fundamentalist or not can be debated but they are certainly non-secular and communal) and Maoist organizations.
6. That the Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee had managed to unite the people of the area and had armed them with all kinds of weapons including land mines and other more sophisticated arms and weaponry.
7. That the BUPC resorted to violence to throw out supporters and cadres of the CPI(M) from the area even forcing some of them to leave home and hearth.
8. That despite repeated appeals to the BUPC no headway could be made to restore normalcy in the area.

Regarding the first two points I have already commented upon earlier and I reiterate that even if Left Front supporters put up all kinds of arguments, it is a fact that land acquisition at Singur could have been done in a far better way. The whole issue was handled in a thoughtless and arrogant way.

Regarding the next six points let me start with some questions first:

• If the BUPC had really forcibly evicted CPI (M) supporters from the area and had virtually turned it into a liberated area outside the reach of the state police and administration, what was the government doing so long?
• The Indian state machinery is sophisticated and knowledgeable enough in counter-insurgency operations to be able to quickly de-liberate any areas liberated by armed rebels such as the Maoists, for example, and the few areas where the Maoists manage to exercise decisive power are usually remote areas, especially in forests and hilly terrains, where the remoteness and inaccessibility of the areas concerned is the major reason why the state, the police and central forces are unable to do any effective policing. But Nandigram is neither too remote nor inaccessible in any way for the state, the police and central forces to tackle the rebels. So why was the area allowed to remain a state within a state for as long as one full year?
• Even when the state did decide to send in police forces in March of this year, why was the operation done in such a slip-shod and bungling manner that instead of driving away the so-called Maoists and other violent activists the police only managed to kill some 13 innocent villagers without recapturing even an inch of the rebel-held territory?

Even before I try to answer these questions I would like to point out that the media is maintaining a peculiar silence on this issue. Are we to believe then that in their desire to villify the so-called communists of West Bengal, the CPI (M), they would go so far as to support the most radical of all communists in India, the Maoists?

Even today, the so-called exclusive footage shown by STAR Ananda during their programme styled “The Hell Called Nandigram” had the very peculiar and strange aspect that it managed to show only activists of the BUPC using guns and bombs and not a single CPI(M) activist. So, the footage is nothing but documentary evidence that BUPC was armed and was using violence to keep out CPI(M) cadres from the area although it does provide evidence that the other side – presumably cadres of the CPI(M) – were also armed. In any case, it is documentary evidence that the CPI(M) cadres were not attacking innocent unarmed villagers as the media is trying to claim. Nor did the footage provide any evidence of CPI (M) cadres indiscriminately killing innocent unarmed villagers (the footage managed to capture only one death although I suppose that if similar action had been going on all around Nandigram then there must have been other deaths as well), nor of CPI(M) cadres destroying houses, looting them or burning them although again that is what the media is claiming has taken place over the last few days in Nandigram.

Without holding any brief for the CPI(M) and even after accepting that CPI(M) cadres have in fact “recaptured” the Nandigram area from the rebels through brutal and violent methods, my point is why has the media found nothing to criticize in the fact that the area was being held by armed activists and was a state within a state for all these 12 months? Does the media adopt such an ostrich like attitude towards other areas in India held by armed rebels? Is the media so intellectually challenged that in the case of West Bengal they feel such armed rebels and “liberated” areas held by them are less of a communist threat than the CPI(M) which is now actively wooing even their great capitalist enemies, the American imperialists for investment in West Bengal having already obtained glowing character certificates and investments from the Indian ruling elite including the Tatas, the Jindals and the Azim Premjis?

If the media, however, does think that the CPI(M) is more communist than the Maoists then it is something to ponder about because then it means that the media has definite information that the Maoists are actually nothing but the agents of capitalism and the existing ruling elite in India and they are at the forefront of this elite’s fight against the threat of “real” communism represented by the CPI(M). That means the media believes that the Maoists are nothing but the running dogs of the Indian ruling elite and so despite all their armed action squads and red army they are not a problem but the CPI(M) is. This is what the CPI(M)’s propaganda machine continuously harps on. Do we now have to believe that this is not propaganda but true and that the media knows this?

Second, what does the media think should be done with rebel held “liberated” areas such as Nandigram? Speak reason to those who know only the language of guns? If sending police forces which led to loss of as many as 13 lives is not acceptable to the media, then how does it think the armed rebels can be made to see enough reason for them to peacefully and voluntarily lay down their arms and give up their liberated area? What does the media think should have been done with the CPI(M) supporters who were evicted from their home and hearth and had been turned into refugees?

The state’s intelligentsia too can be asked similar questions. While all those who have got into the fray today may be excused on the grounds that they are protesting against the CPI(M)’s policy of relying on cadre rule during the last few days to “recapture” Nandigram, what about those who have been all along supporting Mamata Bannerjee and the BUPC even after it was declared by the chief minister that no land would be acquired at Nandigram? Would they generally support all cases of “liberation” of different parts of the country by armed rebels?

The situation is murky and confusing because the media and civil society’s opinion builders – the intelligentsia (artists, poets and writers, theatre and film personalities etc) – seem to be taking the stand that it is alright for armed rebels to “liberate” certain areas and run states within the state if they restrict themselves to areas in West Bengal but not so alright if they do so in other states. What exactly are they trying to say?

Having pointed out the confusing role being played by the media and the intelligentsia let me now come to what is really wrong with the CPI(M) and why is it finding itself in such a mess now. This would also answer the other questions that I have raised above. The first thing that needs to be clearly understood is why is it that the CPI(M) instead of using the state machinery to “de-liberate” the “liberated” areas chose to send in its cadre force to do the job and in the process alienate large sections of the electorate including its allies within the Left Front? Why did the CPI(M) choose to opt for such a foolish course of action?

The only plausible reason seems to be that the CPI(M) which maintains its stranglehold on West Bengal through a carrot and stick policy – overt and covert forms of terror and coercion for those who are supporters of Opposition parties and all kinds of financial and economic sops and benefits for those who are its supporters – perhaps felt that this mechanism of maintaining control had broken down completely and for ever in Nandigram and that Nandigram can become a model for breaking the party’s stranglehold on other areas in the state. Hence, the people of Nandigram who had dared to unite against the party had to be taught a lesson. The back of the people’s resistance had to broken for good and the party could do so only by sending in its own cadres to first clear up the rebel leadership which is to be followed by entry of central forces such as the CRPF which would make sure that the rebels cannot regroup again in the area.

Several factors are behind this thinking. First, after years of winning elections by “scientific management” of elections (mind you this is not equivalent to rigging as I explain below) the party has lost complete faith in its ability to win the people’s support merely by being close to the people. By “scientific management” I mean the carrot and stick policy mentioned above combined with (a) a close watch on the people through its cadres to identify who deserves the carrot and who the stick and (b) very efficient organization of its potential voters achieved with the help of a very disciplined cadre army. As the last elections in the state proved – the party does not win because of rigging but by “scientific management” as explained above.

The total disarray of the Opposition camp and the extremely whimsical and often foolish leadership of Mamata Bannerjee may have helped but the fact that the Left Front still managed to get only about 51% of the vote (almost the same as in the past two or three elections) under conditions of an average of 75-80% voting show that the people who wanted to vote against the Left Front did so anyway despite the Opposition’s organizational and leadership-related weaknesses.

Yet, my experience of the party’s working at the local level tells me that the party’s organizational strength alone is good enough to help the party to be close to the people and actually earn their support in the most voluntary way possible provided the party has any faith in the very policy of being close to the people to earn their support. The party and it’s mass fronts are organized in such a way that it is easy for the party to be really close to the people, stand by them in their times of need and thereby earn their genuine heartfelt support. But the party leadership does not have much faith in this process mainly because it knows that after years of being the ruling party and after years of enjoying the fruits of power, the party’s rank and file is today no more as committed to the people as it once was.

The very fact that getting a party membership today is almost a cake walk compared to the long drawn process that it was in the past – even thirty years back – is proof of the declining standards of the party cadre. Also, my experience at the local level tells me that with most of the people associated with the party having become fairly rich and well-established during the last thirty years’ rule of the Left Front – many of them having achieved that by resorting to all kinds of anti-people work and corruption – they are no more bothered about the really needy people in society who actually need the help of a party that they can call their own to survive. Most lower and middle level party leaders today have absolutely no idea of what poverty and deprivation means to those who are really poor or deprived.

To take just one example by way of substantiation of this point, if any are needed, the party’s women wing leaders in Ward # 100 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation due to sheer pig-headedness, egotism and utter insensitivity to the needs of the poor have deprived and are still depriving many really poor and needy women in the ward from the benefits they could have got from organizing themselves into self-help groups under the central government’s Swarnajayanti Shohure Swarozgar Yojona. The main reason for this is none of these women leaders have ever experienced any real poverty in their lives. To them joining the party’s women’s wing is like joining a high society women’s club where they do some social work out of a sense of pity and philanthropy for the poor – not because they have any political awareness and therefore personally feel the need to be with the poor in their fight for their rights.

This lack of political awareness and sensitivity for the people is a general phenomenon among most party leaders who have come to enjoy positions of power in the party during the last three decades. Many have become leaders by supporting the illegal activities of real estate sharks, promoters, petty businessmen relying on government orders for all their income and all kinds of unscrupulous people indulging in all kinds of anti-people work. The party leadership, therefore, knows it would be foolish to have faith in the ability of the party’s lower and middle level leaders to actually work among the people and earn their support. The party today relies entirely on its ability to “scientifically manage” elections.

Second, by being in power for years together and having in the process completely penetrated the state’s police force the party has now become used to using the police and state administration for its own political purposes. The events over the last one month provide ample proof of this. When the party wanted to send in its cadres at Nandigram the police were mute bystanders. Yet the same police very actively went about arresting more than 60 intellectuals who were peacefully protesting against the bloodshed at Nandigram at Nandan, the city auditorium where the 13th Kolkata International Film Festival is now going on.

The process is dialectical so the police too depend on the party and the administration to bail it out of all wrong-doings. So we have the Rizwanur incident where the police in a totally illegal manner interfered in a legal marriage and helped to break it up with the administration doing its best to protect the errant police officers concerned. Examples can be multiplied but the point is that the party now believes that the state’s police force can be manipulated to always do its bidding so that to meet any particular political objective it can unleash its cadre force without interference from the police. If what Narendra Modi did in Gujarat is a shame, what Buddha Babu is doing in West Bengal is equally shameful – both have shamelessly used the state administration and the police force to further their own political agenda.

Third, by being in power for three decades by participating in the “pig sty” that is parliamentary democracy, the party has become just another political organization that upholds and looks after the interest of the ruling elite rather than of the people. This is bound to happen in a class riven society since if you enjoy political power in such a society and if you do not bring about any real structural change then after a period of time you too will become a part of the ruling elite – this is what happened to communist parties after capturing political power in the erstwhile socialist states such as Soviet Russia, China, Vietnam etc and this is what has happened here as well. Net result: the party’s basic policy has changed from “People First” to “People Last”.

Thus, despite the questionable role of the media and the intelligentsia, it is the CPI(M) party that should be blamed for the Nandigram fiasco. Its eagerness to maintain political hegemony led it to make one mistake after another. Instead of “de-liberating” the area almost immediately after it was “liberated” by use of police and central forces if necessary the party chose to wait till the time was ripe for”recapturing” Nandigram by its own cadres. Second, it chose to do so by sending its own cadres instead of relying on the state machinery to carry out counter-insurgency operations. Third, instead of relying on a democratic political process based on making the people of Nandigram understand that the government will not work against them, the party continued to behave in a hegemonic manner in such a way that the people of Nandigram have lost all faith in Buddha Babu’s government and its pronouncements. The party may have recaptured the territory in and around Nandigram but it is a long way from recapturing the hearts of the people of Nandigram. Fourth, the party has began to panic when faced with any genuine people’s resistance and instead of relying on its own ability to win over people through democratic processes chose to resort to violence in a bid to break such resistance. Fifth, by making all these mistakes it has begun to lose the support of the society’s opinion builders, the intelligentsia, although they were firmly behind the party even a few months back and would have remained with the party had it not handled the Nandigram issue so poorly.

All this is reason for apprehension and grief. Apprehension that come next elections the world’s longest surviving elected Leftist government may not survive anymore, and, grief that one more political organization that calls itself a communist party has betrayed the people although being in power in a democratic set up it could have done a lot for the people and could have helped to “recapture” at least some of the ground that communists have lost among the world’s people over the last 160 years since the publication of The Communist Manifesto!

For the first time during the last thirty years in West Bengal, I will be afraid and sad when I wake up tomorrow!

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