Kolkata MUST rise

Kolkata MUST rise
ND Batra

Ashok Malik’s “A Place Time Forgot” (TOI) is an intriguing commentary on what Jyoti Basu and CPM did or failed to do in West Bengal during the three long decades of complete sway on political power in the state.

Interestingly, his commentary builds upon what historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee wrote in the Telegraph (“Minds in thrall”), explaining the compelling historical circumstances and the powerful influence of men like Rajani Palme Dutt in the “conversion” of privileged young Bengalis like Jyoti Basu and others to communism.

Between the two commentaries, however, there is an intellectual gap, which puzzles me. For example, what kind of political apparatus and propaganda methods CPM used to keep the otherwise intense and individualistic Bengali mind enthralled for so long? How did “a closing of the Bengali mind” occur?

For more than a decade I wrote a weekly column for a Kolkata newspaper and I used to receive lot of e-mail messages from readers. One of my readers describing CPM’s political method of command and control used the expression “goon-o-cracy.” Is this the same as “cadre-cracy”? Why did the news media and the academia succumb to CPM’s influence? What was CPM’s meta-narrative or state fantasy that captured the minds of the people?

What a historical coincident! In 1977 when Jyoti Basu became the chief minister of West Bengal, Deng Xiapeng had ushered in the “Beijing Spring.” Consolidating his political control over China, Deng started gradually opening up the country to marketplace economy and foreign direct investment.

In 1979 Deng visited the United States and China never looked back. Instead of making frequent visits to London, Jyoti Basu should have come to New York. Johnny Walker depressed him, perhaps; California wines would have uplifted his spirits and done some good for West Bengal.

Kolkata and West Bengal are too important to be consigned to the dust bin of history or the catacomb of time past. Thanks to India’s dynamic federalism and diversity, some states like Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra have followed different models and have very done well. Gujarat, for example, has been growing at more than 11.5 percent during the past five years. In spite of Ahmedabad 2002, Gujarat is a very cheerful place to live and work. I know because I lived and worked there before I moved to the US. Open markets create open minds. And that’s how the Bengali mind would liberate itself from the tyranny of the past three decades.

A different kind of renaissance would begin, one based on information technology.

Jyoti Basu like Vladimir Lenin will be forgotten.In India’s best national interest,

Kolkata MUST rise and shine and compete with Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. It is not a pipe dream; it is an economic and political necessity for India’s “look-east” policy.