The Great Left Debate: Chomsky to Saddam, Iraq to Nandigram By Subrata nagchoudhury & Somnath Dasgupta 5 Dec 07 (http://www.indianexpress.com/story/246969.html)
Nandigram drives a wedge in cyberspace, on Kolkata streets as all jump in — Ramsey Clark to Mahashweta to fence-sitters
KOLKATA, DECEMBER 4: What will Noam Chomsky say now? Will Arundhati Roy's outrage be dimmed? Today, when West Bengal Chief Minister finally regretted his us-and-them remarks on Nandigram, could he have done enough to begin to heal the rift between buddhi-jibis (Bengali for intellectuals) and Buddha-jibis (those loyal to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee)?
The streets of Kolkata and cyberspace have been crackling with a confrontation amongst the Left sparked off by the events at Nandigram. Statements and counter-statements had been flying so thick and fast that a split even loomed over the Fourth Internationalist.
Consider the dimensions of the confrontation. Former Viswa Bharati Vice-Chancellor and painter Shuvaprasanna use the word "fascist" for Buddhadeb's government. Aparna Sen, who absented herself from the Kolkata film festival, says, "I could not bring myself to be associated with it after the renewed spate of violence in Nandigram."
But actor Saumitra Chatterjee counters: "Those who had been evicted have got back to their homes by cunning, strength and manipulation (chale, bole and koushole). What is wrong in that? They (referring to intellectuals who had condemned the CPM's role in Nandigram) are not "buddhijibi" (intellectuals) but "buddhujibi" (dim witted)."
Then there are those sitting on the fence. Filmmaker Gautam Ghose, who attended both the pro- and anti-CPM rallies, was nonetheless aghast at Buddhadeb's talk of "our people" (CPM activists) and "they" (opposition workers): "A political leader can make a distinction between 'us' and 'them', but a chief minister can't. What he has said is uncivil. He shouldn't have used such language."
Filmmaker Mrinal Sen, also seen to be a fence-sitter, is simply cautious: "I don't want to say anything on this. Media often misquotes me."
But perhaps the most quoted person in this debate has been Noam Chomsky, as close as the Left gets to an international presiding deity. Last month he headed a list of signatories to a letter to their "friends in Bengal". They underlined the dangers in allowing Nandigram to divide the Left, at a time when "a world power has demolished one state (Iraq) and is not threatening another (Iran)".
The letter said: "We send our fullest solidarity to the peasants who have been forcibly dispossessed. We understand that the government has promised not to build a chemical hub in the area around Nandigram. We understand that those who had been dispossessed by the violence are now being allowed back to their homes, without recrimination. We understand that there is now talk of reconciliation. This is what we favour."
The signature campaign is believed to have been coordinated by Vijay Prashad, professor of international studies at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. Among the signatories: Tariq Ali (editor, New Left Review), Howard Zinn (American historian), Mahmood Mamdani (professor at New York's Columbia University and author of Good Muslim, Bad Muslim) and Akeel Bilgrami (philosophy professor at Columbia).
It instantly drew forth a response from the India-based Left. Signed by, among others, Mahashweta Devi, Sumit Sarkar and Arundhati Roy, it said: "Regaining control over Nandigram is vital for the CPM to reassure its corporate partners that it is in complete control of the situation and that any kind of resistance will be comprehensively crushed. The euphemism for this in the free marketplace is 'creating a good investment climate'." And: "History has shown us that internal dissent is invariably silenced by dominant forces claiming that a bigger enemy is at the gate. Iraq and Iran are not the only targets of that bigger enemy. The struggle against SEZs and corporate globalisation is an intrinsic part of the struggle against US imperialism."
It is this view that dominated amongst delegates from 13 countries who attended the International Anti-imperialist Conference in Kolkata over November 28-29, with representatives coming from France, the US, Russia, Canada, Syria, Iran, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Germany, Palestine, Lebanon and Turkey.
One of the resolutions, for instance, equated the scene in Iraq with that in Nandigram. The conference was organized by SUCI, a Left party that has never been part of the Left Front. At Nandigram, it backed the Bhumi Uchched Protirodh Committee, the organisation behind the peoples' protests.
Among other resolutions: "Hailing the victory of Lebanon Resistance under the leadership of Hizbullah and others (not specified)." "Solidarity with the Bolivarian model of development in Latin America, condemning imperialist aggression and destabilization campaigns against Cuba, Venezuela and Latin America as a whole" (the CPM leadership is an advocate of stronger ties with Cuba and Venezuela).
The most startling comment came from Ramsey Clark, the former US attorney general or top law officer, who drove down to Nandigram accompanied by SUCI leaders: "Let us stop talking and start acting to resist imperialism. Let us stand up against ongoing imperialism in Iraq and in Nandigram."
Interestingly, one of the signatories to the original Prashad letter, Susan George, a fellow at the Transnational Institute, a global network for "progressive politics", later withdrew her signature. She said she hoped her "Indian friends" would accept her "regrets for having signed a letter which has been used politically in India in ways I cannot condone and do not approve".
It is not clear what those "ways" she referred to are. But the Chomsky letter has been prominently printed in Ganashakti, the CPM mouthpiece.
Chomsky, however, has also been invoked by the anti-Nandigram intellectuals, and at a public rally director Aparna Sen was seen holding up a placard with a quote purportedly from Chomsky: "I have been following these grim events of Nandigram and their consequences for he victims. I am worried."
In this context, the fence-sitters in West Bengal have been duly noted. Gautam Ghose and Mrinal Sen, for instance, have made it a point to be seen at both pro and anti-CPM rallies, claiming that they are with any group that preaches peace.
The fight for the Communist soul is clearly far from finished.
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