Old order

Sir — I share Ashok Mitra’s view that the Left is on the path of self-destruction (“Fated to fade away”, Nov 6). At the same time, I disagree with some of the other points that Mitra raised in his article, which should have come much earlier to break the Left Front’s slumber in West Bengal. Human beings, demanding the right to survive with dignity and justice, cannot be suppressed beyond a point. All political parties, whether national or regional outfits, offer more or less similar solutions in their manifestoes to improve the lot of the poor and the oppressed. Phrases such as “garibi hatao”, “aam aadmi” or “ma, mati, manush” testify to this sad truth. But none of these parties has been able to fulfil its pledges or rid itself of its dictatorial tendencies. However, unlike Mitra, I find no harm in the Left Front government’s “zeal to invite capital” as people’s lives cannot be improved without money.

The decline of the Left can be attributed to a number of factors: filling up educational institutions and panchayats in West Bengal with party supporters, the proliferation of promoters and anti-social elements among cadres, and suchlike. Moreover, in the recent Lok Sabha polls, the Left decided to form a third front, a move that cost the party dearly.

Mitra’s article seems to be directed at the general public and at the Left cadre. But one wonders whether there are any true communists left in Bengal. The people know that their goodwill and their patience have been exploited. If the Left were to wear its “thinking cap”, it would have to start from scratch. But staging a comeback with an eroded base and tainted ideology will prove to be a difficult task for the party.

Yours faithfully,
Ranesh Ch. Dey, Calcutta

Sir — Ashok Mitra has taken a dig at the people who parted ways with the Congress Socialist Party. Mitra claims that “only the communists... could claim the socialist inheritance”, but what is so special about socialists? Are they the only ones who want a welfare society? Mitra has wrongly associated socialism with social welfare. Socialism is a doctrine, which believes that lives of people can be improved only by the public ownership of the means of production. But critics of this doctrine believe that the path to prosperity lies through the accumulation of private capital. The history of economic development of several nations bears testimony to this point.

Mitra mentions that Minoo Masani, once a great admirer of Soviet collectivization, changed sides to become a “foaming-in-the-mouth anti-communist”. But the truth is that Masani was disillusioned with Russia having witnessed the torture and terror associated with its collectivization program. Besides, Masani’s faith in socialism, which he thought was a harbinger of prosperity, was shaken after he saw that a small number of Russia’s farmers worked hard to produce the entire nation’s vegetable output. So if the socialists in India moved away from the CSP, there was nothing wrong with that.

Karl Marx had prophesied that capitalism would collapse because of its inherent contradictions. But in reality, it is socialism that is on its way out. The Labour Party in Britain does not dare to nationalize industries any more. Even China, which embraced the Western capitalist model and has a large number of millionaires, believes that it is glorious to be rich. It seems that the Marxist dream of an egalitarian society has been given a quiet burial.

Yours faithfully,
Asoke C. Banerjee, Calcutta

Sir — When a political party comes to power, the people who vote for it are less interested in its beliefs or ideals. They are more keen to find out how it implements its policies and programmes. The people need not be politically educated to evaluate the state of affairs related to education, healthcare and employment. Left leaders are endlessly debating how the party has failed to make the people understand its agenda. But the Left never progressed from the first phase — that of capturing political power — to the next — of making strategic plans for effective governance.

As pointed out by the editorial, “Old form” (Nov 6), the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government seems to be in stuck in a vestigial state. But governance is more about owning up to responsibilities and taking action. As a consequence of the Left’s failure to govern, the people of West Bengal will vote in a different party. But this may be a regressive step and might plunge the state into an endless cycle of violence and disorder. Moreover, an agrarian society in transition has its own dynamics. To maintain the pace of change, a party in power needs to be proactive.

Intellectuals like Mitra must address these issues to find out a solution to avoid the inevitable demise of the Left. Mitra’s question as to whether the Left is to fade away is rhetorical. The Left must reinvent itself to survive. Marxism may be passé but the people’s misery is not.

Yours faithfully,
Ajit Kumar Kundu, Calcutta