By IANS
Kolkata : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday organised a mega rally here, with its leaders explaining the rationale behind warming up to capitalism to wooing farmers and flaying the US for dictating India’s foreign policy.
“The US wants India as its junior partner to launch attack against countries like Iran and other West Asian nations. India should not fall into that trap,” CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said at the rally at the Brigade Parade ground here.
“America is pressuring India to follow in its footsteps. They want us as their junior partner. So we oppose India’s military agreement with the US and the joint exercises. It is against our sovereign foreign policy,” said Karat.
“The US has destroyed Iraq and now has trained its eyes on Iran for gas and oil. Our policy instead should be to go with Iran,” Karat said.
Slamming the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Karat said: “It is not nuclear cooperation. It means our foreign policy would be dictated by the US.”
With the Nandigram episode creating an open rift between the CPI-M and its Left Front allies like Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), the CPI-M leader called for a left unity to pave the way for a third alternative in the centre.
“There is a conspiracy to weaken the left unity in West Bengal. The turnout at the rally proves how we have fought for the farmers, labourers and minority community. But all left parties should come together now,” he said.
“The CPI-M, being the largest party, has more responsibility to keep the unity intact. We want a third alternative but that is only possible when we unite. Bengal is on the vanguard of this movement because for three decades we are in power here,” he said.
Speaking at the rally, communist patriarch Jyoti Basu said the debate of socialism versus capitalism is meaningless since a single province of India (West Bengal) cannot implement socialism in an isolated manner.
“Socialism is never possible in a single state. Socialism is far way now. We have to first seize power at the centre and then implement it. We cannot lie now living in a capitalist system,” the 94-year-old leader said.
“In the last election, 80 percent vote was cast in West Bengal. Of that, we got 50 percent votes. But we have no room for complacency,” he said.
“We never lie. Even our chief minister (Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee) apologises when he makes a mistake,” Basu said.
While Karat flayed the US and Basu explained the rationale behind warming up to capitalism, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee harped on improving agricultural produce further while taking forward industrialisation.
“We are not bothered about the price of a car. We are bothered about the 6,000 people who would get jobs in Singur. Whether it is Singur or Siliguri (north Bengal), we will try to acquire land as little as possible and ensure that the land losers are looked after by our government,” Bhattacharjee said.
“We don’t care if America or China or Tata and Birla is coming. We want employment,” said Bhattacharjee, welcoming capital irrespective of the colour of the currency.
“We could not do it in Nandigram but now we will set up the chemical hub in Nayachar (a river island in the same East Midnapore district). So many people would get jobs,” Bhattacharjee said.
The chief minister said it is only in West Bengal that 86 percent of the poor in villages are farmland owners.
“You will not find this in Bihar. It is only possible in Bengal,” he said.
“We are on the forefront in agriculture but we need to develop it further so that the farmer can earn more,” Bhattacharya said.