Voice of India Features Newsletter - 24 January 2009

jan 30th, 2010

i don't understand why there is any need to eulogize jyoti basu just because he's dead. he was a communist monster, a comprador, and a quisling. it's worth saying this whether he's alive or dead or embalmed to be worshiped as stalin and mao are.

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From: VOI Features <voi.features@vhs-net.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 3:42 PM
Subject: Voice of India Features Newsletter - 24 January 2009
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Editorial: Jyoti Basu and Marxism The Editorial Team Mass politics of Communism is on decline in India. Though political parties swearing by communism could never come to power at the centre on their own, they did play important roles in government formations at centre and in various states from time to time. Various Communist parties in the name of Left-Front are now in government in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura out of which they are expected to lose West Bengal and Kerala in the next assembly elections. Read more... Jyoti Basu and The Unnecessary Success of Indian Communism Koenraad Elst Jyoti Basu's demise is not the end of an era. The heyday of Communism in India is over, that turn has already been taken some years ago, with the electoral defeat of the Communist Parties of 2009 a major step downwards. Neither is the end near, for in India Communism is far more alive and combative than in almost any other country, with a formidable presence on the ground (Northeast, Jharkhand-Telengana corridor), in the trade-unions, in academe and in the parliaments of several states. Communism's persistent grip on West Bengal in particular is very largely Jyoti Basu's own work. While the CPI supported the Emergency and took a leadershiop role in its enforcement, Jyoti Basu's CPM opposed it, and he rode the wave of anti-Emergency resistance to power in 1977. After he led the state for 23 years, his successor Buddhadev Bhattacharya is still capitalizing on the party's power position that Mr. Basu built. His personal character shines rather brightly compared with the venality of hollowness of so many Congress, casteist and even BJP politicians. Like his Kerala counterpart, the late E.M.S. Namboodiripad, he showed that Marxism-Leninism requires from its votaries a lifestyle of discipline and dedication. The Communists, both inside and outside his own party, have reason to deplore the passing of a hero of their movement Read more... Tormented Legacy Chandan Mitra India has always defied Shakespeare's famous observation in Julius Caesar: "The good that men do are oft interred with their bones." Here, cultural norms dictate silence about a dead person's faults, no matter how glaring, while his achievements are showered with fulsome praise, even if concocted and mythical. It was not surprising therefore to be subjected to a barrage of purple prose extolling the virtues of Red baron Jyoti Basu - ranging from his contribution to the Communist movement, to success in hanging on as Chief Minister of West Bengal for 23 uninterrupted years and, finally, his allegedly Spartan lifestyle. Much of what was said by way of tribute to the 95-year-old Communist patriarch consisted of large doses of hyperbole and retrospective imagination Read more... A Perfect Narakloka Lt. Col. (Retd.) Mahendra Mathur Place of higher consciousness is regarded as the Devaloka and the place of lower consciousness the Narakaloka. The Devaloka is a heaven world and the Narakaloka is a hell world. The Narakaloka exists wherever violence and hurtfulness take place, whether in the inner or outer world. We see such things in action on television. Children who are born in the Narakaloka will not respond to meditation, yoga or any kind of quieting controls. Ever since Zia's Islamising policies and their fallout began ringing alarm bells in foreign capitals, Pakistan has come to be seen as the source of many problems. It is no longer viewed as part of the solution to the dilemmas of the day. Rather, its violence, terrorism and madrassas are poisoning atmosphere of the whole world. Equally importantly, India's rise as a spiritual and economic power has made the world admire and respect it. Pakistan's demand to be treated as an equal to India is considered to be frivolous. Its international agenda has been reduced to Kashmir and security issues like Islamic terrorism. Read more... Jyoti Basu and Demise Communism Amba Charan Vashishtha It is an Indian tradition that we recall only the good deeds, the positive aspects of the life of a person on his death. We only eulogise that person, never find fault with him even if he had numerous. And that is what we should do on the sad demise of the veteran CPI (M) leader and former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu. He was a man of character and high principles. Although at the helm of West Bengal affairs for the longest period, yet he came out clean, without a blemish. Even his detractors could not allege his involvement in any scam or scandal. Since independence, sticking to power and chair has become a great national malaise with our political class. No leader wishes to quit office in government and not even in a political organization he leads. That is why it is now an accepted fact that in India politicians are either kicked out by the electorate or when they refuse to vacate their gaddi on their own, God makes them leave this ugly world for ever. Read more... Your Subscription: Change your subscription Unsubscribe