An editorial in People’s Democracy makes it clear that the Left had given the UPA support because it wanted to fight both imperialism and communalism with equal force. But, as long as the direction of India’s foreign policy bends to the US, the CPM feels that it cannot possibly support the government.

It repeats an earlier claim: “to our detractors, we once again repeat that they either come up with substantive arguments on the merits of our opposition to this Indo-US nuclear deal or accept that they do not have any substantive critique.”

Planting hope

An article by the vice-chairman of the Kerala Planning Board claims that farmer suicides “have stopped” in Left-ruled states. This is because, “Kerala has set up a Debt

Relief Commission, which at this very moment is engaged in a case-by-case scrutiny of the magnitude of debt and the requisite relief in the Wayanad district. The important thing about the commission is not the actual amount of relief it has provided (Rs 130 crore, paltry relative to the size of the debt); the important thing is that it has brought a measure of hope to the distressed peasantry. And it is this hope, that something is at last being done for them, which has prevented peasants from taking the ultimate drastic step. For this very reason, however, one cannot be complacent about the end of suicides in Kerala. Any dashing of peasant hopes, and any reversal in their fortunes because of a lowering of output and prices, will once again revive the dismal saga of suicides.”

In bad company

This issue also carries a report about CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury’s speech at a training camp of SFI activists from the northern states. It says, “Sitaram Yechury spoke about the ongoing philosophy of ‘Chak De’, which preaches that old values and ideas do not carry any importance. For individual benefit, people need only modern advances.”

He also pointed out that only 6 lakh young people work in the IT sector (the number of youth in the country is 55 crore), and thus, a vast majority still represents a ‘Suffering India’. He reminded them of the legacy of Bhagat Singh and his comrades, who laid down their lives for the country.

Yechury also said that for the last 30 years, US companies that produce nuclear reactors have not received any orders. The Indo-US deal is, therefore, in accordance with the plans of George Bush. He also pointed out that all of Bush’s close associates — Britain’s Tony Blair, Japan’s Shinzo Abe, and even Australia’s John Howard — have either been forced to quit office or are on their way out. He then asked the Indian prime minister not be on the same track.