This Time I Felt Like Openly Protesting

 

 

 

I first resigned and then I was expelled from the party. I don’t want to make out anything from the expulsion. All that I can say is I am not a party member now.

 

 

Comrade VS has been censured apparently because he spoke out against the brutal murder of a political leader in his state belonging to another leftwing party. I personally think there is nothing wrong in condemning the murder of T.P. Chandrashekharan and demanding action against the guilty. But his case is not comparable to mine. He is a senior mass leader. I am simply an activist.

 

I have had disagreements with several major decisions of the party on which I wrote letters to the polit bureau. In all I gave six letters…the first one I wrote was in 2006 on the issue of industrialization and land acquisition in West Bengal. I never made those letters public. But this time I felt like openly protesting against the decision to support Pranab Mukherjee because that was not in keeping with the party congress decision. I resigned to go public with my protest. 

 

 

Not any individual leader but yes I think that the leadership as a whole is unable to decide which political direction to take collectively.

 

You are hinting that party top leadership is confused on how to tackle the state issues, or they are deliberately doing this or they are unable to control the crisis at states?

 

I do not think this is deliberate. I am sure that party leadership also wants to resolve these issues. The problem is that the approach is incorrect. The political direction should be decided through an informed debate involving the rank and file, through democratic discussions. Unfortunately, the structure of the party does not permit this. There is a problem with inner party democracy. Activists are feeling more and more suffocated because their voices are not heard. This is quite unfortunate.

 

 

Democratic centralism should mean that the flow of opinions is in both directions. Right now it only works in one direction – from the top to lower levels. Feedback or criticism from below is not reaching the top. While reviewing major decisions, nodescription is held properly accountable. If we keep going like this, we are bound to repeat the mistakes.

 

Supporting Pranab Mukherjee is not the first mistake committed by the party. There has been one mistake after another in recent years. This is not a good thing and this is affecting the credibility and popularity of the party.

 

 

I resigned before going public. I am not raising personal or individual issues; I am raising political issues which have an impact on the larger Left movement.

 

 

I don’t see the problem in that way at all, especially with Comrade Karat. The problem is with the decision-making process of the leadership. Our generation views things in a different manner…it is more result oriented, it demands more clarity, transparency and accountability and there is a greater impatience with mistakes. The leadership should address this. There is a need to change the style of functioning. 

 

 

I have less to speak on Kerala. I come from West Bengal. There is a serious problem with the direction of the party in my state for some time. The tactic to divide the Trinamul Congress and Congress at all costs have not served any purpose. Party’s position on the nuclear deal was compromised by allowing the UPA-I government to go to the IAEA with the safeguards agreement. Narrow considerations related to panchayat elections prevailed. This turned out to be a mistake. Again a similar mistake was repeated by supporting Pranab Mukherjee. Within weeks, we find ourselves voting along with the TMC for a Congress candidate in the Presidential polls. This is happening because there is a problem with the political direction of the party.

 

 

I am not talking about the age of party leaders. Party’s decision making process is non-transparent. Major decisions are being taken which are not based on sound political principles. And the style of functioning of the party is also leading to a disconnect with the younger generation.

 

 

I don’t think that is the case. Anna’s movement is basically a middle class movement. He is addressing the unrest of the middle class. I don’t see it like Anna Hazare coming and replacing the Left. But yes, I agree that the Left should have gone more on the offensive against corruption. In late ‘80s and then during Narsimha Rao’s time, the Left was in the forefront of the anti-corruption movement. That helped the Left too. That initiative is missing.

 

 

The SFI leaders in JNU have minds of their own and they can comment or react on issues independently. They are taking political positions given their political interests and experiences in JNU. Some of their positions are similar to the positions I have taken. The way this drastic disciplinary action has been taken and the SFI unit has been dissolved in an unprecedented manner over political differences is very unfortunate and a wrong move. This four decade old unit has contributed a lot to the Left movement.

 

 

Intolerance towards dissent has become a big problem for the party as well as for the larger Left.

 

 

I don’t want to give unsolicited advice. I’m raising some critical issues. I think that there is a problem with the political direction, which the party is unable to resolve. Second, the manner in which the party is trying to resolve it is not a very democratic and transparent method. A clearer political direction and more democratic space inside the party is needed.

 

 

In interest of the larger Left movement, I would like to write about issues which I consider relevant in order to promote debates, discussions and dialogue. Recent developments from across the world suggest that the only Left which has been able to grow and flourish in the times of capitalist crisis is a united, non-sectarian and radical Left. The Left movement in India has to address these issues while facing the challenges before it.

 

I don’t have any immediate plans to join any party. In the medium term, I am not closing the option of joining any left party, including the CPI (M).