LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

June 1--15, 2003 - Vol. 12, No. 11

Editorial by Arabinda Ghose

Marxist Subversion of Democracy in West Bengal

Dear Reader

Namaste!

Those present in West Bengal during the farcical Panchayat elections in mid-May were "fortunate" to have been able to compreshend what an "election" under the auspices of a Stalinist outfit called the Communist Party of India -Marxist really means. One is reminded in this connection a cartoon by the celebrated Shankar, published in Shankar's Weekly in the mid-fifties of the last century, showing Stalin "begging" for votes for an election presumably for the post of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Since Stalin was the only candidate, he attired himself in various garbs -showed the cartoon - and asked for votes adopting different physical postures. This would have been the ideal type of elections under the Marxist rule, but for the fact that the country they are living in now is called India and the region in which they have been ruling is called West Bengal. India happens to be a democracy under which Marxists live a very uncomfortable life ideologically while enjoying all other benefits the system provides.

That is why they had to permit other parties too to contest the Panchayat polls but taking care that not too many "infidels" are allowed to file their nomination papers and not too many active workers of these "infidels" are able to canvass or even remain alive if they do. So for the blood-thirsty Stalinists, innocent villagers became very soft targets for honing their proficiency in shooting, stabbing and smashing non-Marxists' not merely bones but heads too. These were obviously virtuous acts for Marxists, taught by their great ancestor, Stalin.

In eighteenth century Bengal, there were local gangs of "Pindaris", called "Thayngares" who used to kill highway travellers by bludgeoning them with "lathis" and often breaking the necks of their victims with the help of the "lathis" (Laloo Yadav may kindly note). Often these highway robbers would, after mistaken idenity, kill their own progenies too. One such event was that of one "thyangarey" in the process of killing the victim heard him saying that he was the father of the would be victim. "Everyone says this before dying", the dacoit murmured, before breaking the neck of his (in real life) son.

A similar thing happened during these elections too. Only the siblings whose necks the CPI-M goons broke were those of their allies like the Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party. No regrets of course on the part of the Marxists, and after making a great deal of noise, the RSP has once again resumed its role of being the doormat of the big brother.

The Marxists, however, had met their match in Murshidabad district where the Congress M.P. Adhir Chowdhury gave a lesson or two to the CPI-M in their own game. That is why in the sum total, the Leftists lost more lives than their opponenets taken together. The Marxists and the people of West Bengal might consider the scenario if there is an Adhir Chowdhury in every district in future elections in the State. They could also ask themselves, is that desirable for democracy and the culture of West Bengal?

(AG)