Tuesday

Communist Party of India (Manuwadi) – CPI(M)

In Tamil Nadu, among radical political circles, the common talk that goes around is this: “when the red fades, it is  saffron.

Champions of secularism, vanguards in the struggle against communalism, vehement crusaders (note: no jihadis) fighting America’s nuclear deal, uncompromising patriots – this is the self image that the CPI(M) often projects about itself in its political rhetoric. But, in spite of such proclamations, when it comes to core issues of democracy, the party has time and again proved itself that its policy and practice does not differ much from the Hindutva brigade, perhaps even worse.

Saffron Sickle

The recent verdict of the Kerala High Court upholding the state government’s order providing reservation for financially backward students of forward communities for UG and PG courses in government educational institutions has brought to light once again the CPM’s policy towards reservation. The significant point here is that, the CPM has proved it has the guts to pursue what even the Congress or the BJP would hesitate and pursue carefully by creating a consensus through propaganda and persuasion.

One might contend that the CPM’s policy towards reservation is its Achilles heel, and does not at all compromise the party’s struggle against the Hindutva brigade, which is of extreme significance. But two seemingly unconnected ‘minor incidents’ suggest otherwise.

The first one: the recent amendment to the West Bengal Special Marriage Act and West Bengal Hindu Marriage Act made by the Left Front government headed by the CPM in its bastion. The law would make it mandatory that couples’ parents or legal guardians be informed before the marriages are solemnized. From now on, couples who fall in love and wish to marry on their own will have to submit their recent photographs, documents verifying residential address, names and other details of parents or legal guardians!

Contrast this with the Hindutva brigade’s tirade against lovers and Valentine Day celebrations in Bangalore, Mumbai and other cities. The Hindutva hooligans’ violence was directed against such couples forcing them to tie the knot at the spot. To put it in simple terms even the Hindutva brigade is not against love marriages (the brigade might refer to “kandharva vivaha” from the epics). They did not coerce the couples to get their parent’s permission. But the “red brigade” makes it mandatory by law!

The second one relates to another ‘minor mishap’ that happened down south, in Kerala. Paul Zacharia, Kerala’s most noted contemporary short story writer and novelist was beaten up by a six member-gang belonging to Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the CPI (M)’s youth wing on the streets on January 9.

The gang’s attack was provoked by a speech the author had made a day before, criticizing the government led by the CPM in relation to a ’sex scandal’. The incident relates to the CPM cadres’ moral policing action, moving bluntly into the house of a woman at midnight over camera, with whom a Congress leader was found in an ‘objectionable state’. The same “red brigade” which condemned the “saffron brigade” vociferously, for its attack on the renowned artist MF Husain, in the north, is in the forefront in the south, leading an attack on a renowned author, just for his critical remarks.

Some might wonder what sort of paradox is this. But, here down south in Tamil Nadu, among radical political circles, the common talk that goes around is this: “when the red fades, it is saffron”.