The Passing of the Left Era

On a day when one of the veteral old guard of the Communist Party of India, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, passed away, the CPM also got another jolt - in the form of a hard-hitting statement by Lok Sabha speaker and expelled senior leader Somnath Chatterjee. Well, old leaders die and the CPM has expelled veteral leaders earlier in their history, too. So these are two things that need no special comment. But I am feeling the current mainstream Leftist ideology in the country as represented by the CPM and CPI and some other smaller parties that constitue the Left Front is entering the last lap. The Leftists have long ago become political players more interested in power politics than their constituency - the rural poor. And their hunger for power and machinations to hang on to or get closer to power has create a vacuum, which is now being occupied by the Naxals. If you look at the map of India, you will find the Naxals are almost everywhere. That is because our democratic politics, with all its lofty ideals, has failed to alleviate the suffering of the rural poor. Even in the much-touted Leftist bastion of West Bengal, the poor lead a dog's life. Often it seems as the comrades want to keep the poor confined to their wretched existence for fear of being robbed of their vote bank - in much the same way the Congree wants to keep Muslims as a discriminated community. We can brush the threat of Naxals as being financed by China or as the handiwork of radical Leftist elements, but that would do little in tackling the situation.I am not happy to see the Leftists' influence waning, for whatever faults they had, they still acted as a stabilizing force against the likes of Nehru and Indira Gandhi and now the US agents like Sonia and Manmohan Singh.But I guess that has not been enough. And as the system itself is collapsing, the Left is no exception. Where will all this end? I don't know. I just know that change is inevitable.