Eyes wide shut, in glass houses

Why are CPM politicos and Left intellectuals in Kerala so stunningly silent on Nandigram?

Jeemon Jacob Thiruvananthapuram

In Kerala, it seems, nobody is bothered about Nandigram. Comrades find no pleasure in discussing the Nandigram violence in West Bengal as the debate exposes the chinks in the CPM armoury. Besides, it is a fact that comrades in Kerala have been fascinated by the West Bengal model for the past 30 years as a 'laboratory' of success. They have always wanted to copy the magical Bengal formula of winning successive elections and experiment it in Kerala. Now, that dream seems to be shattering.

Despite the Left's best efforts, the Congress has offered effective political resistance over the years in Kerala. The CPM leadership has always blamed communal combinations whenever the Congress won. The feudal Nairs, elite Christians and Muslims have usually favoured the Congress. The strong presence of an anti-communist media has made things easier for the Congress.

Among Kerala comrades, only Pinarayi Vijayan, the controversial state secretary of CPM and arch-rival of Chief Minister VS Achutanandan, defended the party's organized atrocities in Nandigram. According to him, recapturing Nandigram was necessary because thousands of party workers had fled from their villages when the Maoist-backed Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) violently evicted them in March this year.

In his speech, he criticised media campaigns painting the CPM cadres as perpetrators of violence backed by the West Bengal government.  Indeed, he will be the last person to compare Buddhadeb Bhattacharya with Narendra Modi, as is being widely said across the country. “We are proud as the party could recapture the villages from the control of Maoists. Those who weep in the name of Nandigram should realise that we have lost many party workers in Nandigram when BUPC sponsored massive violence in the villages,”  he said. Vijayan cheered his comrades in Kottayam. But he didn't elaborate how his comrades in Bengal so brutally and meticulously executed the 'Operation Recapture', which has been condemned across the country, including by Left intellectually. 

Achuthanandan avoided the issue as if Nandigram exists in some other planet. A traditional Marxist and a master campaigner for the protection of farm lands and farmers in Kerala, VS conveniently avoided touching the issue involving the farmers' resistance in Nandigram. The uncanny truth is, he desperately needs his Bengal comrades' support while cornering Vijayan. His friends attribute his silence as strategic while his foes label it as opportunistic. 

It is surprising that many cultural icons and intellectuals in Kerala have been reluctant to make statements against the violence in Nandigram. Activist-novelist Sara Joseph, novelist Anand, environmentalist CR Neelakandan, poet Vishnu Narayanan Nambothiri and historian MGS Narayanan were among the few who condemned the State-sponsored atrocities. “Nandigram is an eye-opener and a disgrace to communists. It shows how a government can execute violence against the poor farmers and distort facts,” said Sara Joseph. In response, CPM leader G Sudhakaran called her a CIA agent.

Nandigram failed to evoke any response from other literary giants such as M Mukundan, writer Sukumar Azheekode and poet Sachithanandan. Their silence has surprised many. Mukundan, president of the state Sahitya Akademi, avoided the issue due to professional compulsions. Azheekode, who claims to be the public conscience of Kerala, distanced himself from Nandigram as it may anger party bosses in Kerala. Over the years, his conscience seems to have turned 'CPM-red' and the 81-year-old writer might actually choose to believe that communism can replace Gandhian idealism in the era of globalisation.

Other cultural commissars have their own reasons to be silent. Many of them are eyeing prestigious awards, fellowships or memberships in literary bodies. Indeed, they seem to believe that Nandigram will be forgotten after a few years. And Modi has proved in Gujarat that lack of public memory and social conscience always helps the privileged and the powerful.

Thirty years ago, when Jyoti Basu came to head the Left Front government in West Bengal, he assured that his government would deliver a free and fair rule. “Let me tell you that this government is your own. You have installed it in office, and it is for you to give it necessary direction and guidance through your democratic organisations. We shall do our best to serve the interests of the people in the political, economic and social spheres and protect their living standards. We will offer you relief from the disastrous consequences of the misrule of the previous government. We shall spare no efforts to move forward to a new future basing ourselves on our past successes and failures,” Jyoti Basu said in his message to the people on June 22, 1977.

It will be worthwhile if his successor reads this message instead of paying back in the same coin.