The results of the 2009 elections are out.Left parties have obtained much less number of seats than they are used to, so have many regional parties like RJD and TDP.Many "pundits"have taken this as an opportunity for Left bashing and hate speech, but we should see what are the real things , what role the Left has played in the history of our country and what role it shall play in its future.
Many conservatives try to establish that somehow Left is anti-development.But development is an all encompassing term,we cannot equate the short term prosperity of a few people of the higher strata of the society as development.One oft cited example is that the Left parties opposed the introduction of computers and usage of mechanized farm equipment.If the Left have opposed these , then it was a reasonable stand at that point of time.
Computerization would have lead to a certain degree of job losses as many tasks would be mechanized and would not require human intervention.So even as computerization would create a few jobs for well-skilled personal , a lot of existing workers could lose their jobs ,if they became redundant. It would also have made us owners of large amounts of proprietary systems ,and we
would had have to give away huge sums as contract charges to international concerns like IBM and Unisys. We would have been locked into these vendors software and hardware , and would have no option but to keep paying them forever.Besides if we had bought lots of expensive stuff then , by now we would have lots off stuff worth pennies,which would have to be sold for scrap.
Similarly farm machinery also posed a genuine risk of pushing unskilled labourers into unemployment and starvation. We expect the government to take care of all the people , not just a few well-off people in the big cities. But unfortunately many governments fail to see things clearly , and someone has to do something so that government does not do the wrong thing.And Left has done this very well in the past and continue to do so.
Right wing commentators often depict the left-block as a hindrance to taking decisions , because the left does not allow to take steps designed to serve the vested interests of the right wing and its backers. Contrariwise,I would say that the Left's opposition to the nuclear deal was in our people's interests.One of the greatest decisions ever taken by the Left was that of withdrawing support for the UPA,over the Indo-U.S nuclear deal.The Congress was seen to be pushing for deal ,without any semblance of transparency.
The urgency with which the government acted on the nuclear-deal issue is strange and uncalled for and raises questions as to what where the real motives behind it. The best recourse for the situation was to pull the support for government and dissociate from the nuclear deal and build up public opinion from the outside.
The power at centre is not to be used for giving special bonuses and freebies to different regions as the regional parties are doing. By doing this the regional parties are diluting our national purpose.In exchange for regional benefits ,they are sacrificing their stake of opinion on economic and foreign policy issues which are of paramount importance, and have an impact over the entire country for all of the future. In the choice between using the influence of a political party to either strive for regional development or get a decisive role in setting national policy , the latter is certainly a better choice.But short-sighted commentators still clamour for narrow development.
The role of Left will not be diminished by a singular electoral debacle.If we let the Congress ,which has the ideological depth of a doughnut,have its way, we might be on the way to see rampant opportunism and hypocrisy:Its leaders not having any unifying philosophy to guide them , and acting purely on individual whims and fancies.And its allies true blooded regional parties ,who will give the government nightmares while dealing with issues concerning the concerned regions.
So Left will resurrect , because the 'right' just doesn't take care of anybody else.We need social security and free medical care and education for our needy citizens. Even so many years after our county's birth ,it is strange that the government has no obligation to take care of its citizens.All these can change only with major influence of the Left.
Many conservatives try to establish that somehow Left is anti-development.But development is an all encompassing term,we cannot equate the short term prosperity of a few people of the higher strata of the society as development.One oft cited example is that the Left parties opposed the introduction of computers and usage of mechanized farm equipment.If the Left have opposed these , then it was a reasonable stand at that point of time.
Computerization would have lead to a certain degree of job losses as many tasks would be mechanized and would not require human intervention.So even as computerization would create a few jobs for well-skilled personal , a lot of existing workers could lose their jobs ,if they became redundant. It would also have made us owners of large amounts of proprietary systems ,and we
would had have to give away huge sums as contract charges to international concerns like IBM and Unisys. We would have been locked into these vendors software and hardware , and would have no option but to keep paying them forever.Besides if we had bought lots of expensive stuff then , by now we would have lots off stuff worth pennies,which would have to be sold for scrap.
Similarly farm machinery also posed a genuine risk of pushing unskilled labourers into unemployment and starvation. We expect the government to take care of all the people , not just a few well-off people in the big cities. But unfortunately many governments fail to see things clearly , and someone has to do something so that government does not do the wrong thing.And Left has done this very well in the past and continue to do so.
Right wing commentators often depict the left-block as a hindrance to taking decisions , because the left does not allow to take steps designed to serve the vested interests of the right wing and its backers. Contrariwise,I would say that the Left's opposition to the nuclear deal was in our people's interests.One of the greatest decisions ever taken by the Left was that of withdrawing support for the UPA,over the Indo-U.S nuclear deal.The Congress was seen to be pushing for deal ,without any semblance of transparency.
The urgency with which the government acted on the nuclear-deal issue is strange and uncalled for and raises questions as to what where the real motives behind it. The best recourse for the situation was to pull the support for government and dissociate from the nuclear deal and build up public opinion from the outside.
The power at centre is not to be used for giving special bonuses and freebies to different regions as the regional parties are doing. By doing this the regional parties are diluting our national purpose.In exchange for regional benefits ,they are sacrificing their stake of opinion on economic and foreign policy issues which are of paramount importance, and have an impact over the entire country for all of the future. In the choice between using the influence of a political party to either strive for regional development or get a decisive role in setting national policy , the latter is certainly a better choice.But short-sighted commentators still clamour for narrow development.
The role of Left will not be diminished by a singular electoral debacle.If we let the Congress ,which has the ideological depth of a doughnut,have its way, we might be on the way to see rampant opportunism and hypocrisy:Its leaders not having any unifying philosophy to guide them , and acting purely on individual whims and fancies.And its allies true blooded regional parties ,who will give the government nightmares while dealing with issues concerning the concerned regions.
So Left will resurrect , because the 'right' just doesn't take care of anybody else.We need social security and free medical care and education for our needy citizens. Even so many years after our county's birth ,it is strange that the government has no obligation to take care of its citizens.All these can change only with major influence of the Left.
Posts
2 comments:
Nice one...
I would say it's nothing but a frustrated view of a hardcore left front fan or follower..whatever you have said has truth but it's just one side of the coin. I agree the Left has (had rather !?) principles. but all of them have been resulted in nothing which is clearly seen in west bengal and kerala .. that's why the ppl are showing them their way. If we go on discussing..have too many points..would like to say one thing ..as you have only taken up Left's history in india ..my dear friend please do not forget how the left parties behaved when china attacked india ...how the left acted then, the whole country knows. They were no less than traitors. I hope the communists update their views and learn a lesson and come back to their glory again
Post a Comment