The rancor of the Left Front which is giving outside support to the Manmohan Singh led government and the fact that the former is virtually trying to control the strings that operate the country’s economic and foreign policy is once again clearly evident from the opposition to the UPA Government’s nuclear (123) agreement with the United States. Despite such vociferous opposition, past records proves that the Left has always shied away from taking up responsibility. How would one explain the fact that the Left never joined the government at the Centre despite ample opportunities to partake in the governance of the country? If the Left does have a view or have to address their known constituency, it would have been a worthier cause if they participated inside the government. That way, at least power and responsibility will go hand in hand.
As far as the Left questioning the government’s stand on the nuclear deal with the US, it should first contemplate on the confusing opinions being generated from within its own circles whether on the nuclear deal or other issues. Likewise, the Left should start making efforts to understand the changing nature of international politics rather than pulsating in the ideological moorings of the past. The Marxists have been criticized for operating in the realm of double standard politics. So privatization and capitalism are bad for India but good for China. And if being a double talking jive is the inspiration of the Indian Marxists why even bother looking at China when its very own West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has turned Marxism upside down. So before contemplating to take on the nuclear deal through its hibernated cold war prism, the Left Front should first make clear the ambiguity surrounding its own ‘common minimum program’ including on the nuclear deal.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had told Parliament last year as well, India’s Foreign Policy continues to be guided by an enlightened national interest. And this goes much beyond the cold war cliché of non-alignment which the Left would like to dearly hold onto. The Left should take a cue from the fast changing global politics and try to evolve an ‘out of the box’ thinking rather than languishing in its past ideological wharf. This means that the Indian Marxists should start looking at issues on merits. While one must be guided by the experiences of the past, one need not be constrained by it.
Coming back to the high profile Nuclear Agreement between the two countries, both New Delhi and Washington must go home with the satisfaction that the agreement takes into account the interests of both nations. And once this basic premise is understood on reasonable grounds, a mutually beneficial agreement should be there for the taking despite all the Left rhetoric. If the deal is good for America, India and good for the international community, there is no reason why the Left Front should oppose it. The nuclear deal after all is certainly not about bashing up Capitalism but about energy security, nuclear non proliferation and transfer of technology—all within the lexicon of enlightened national interest which, not surprisingly, the Left is failing to grasp.
