Veteran and most respected Marxist leader of India, Jyoti Basu's latest statement has certainly undermined his own goodness as a person. It is a surprising thing to know as to how even such a leader can fall in his opinion clearly supporting a capitalist approach of development in the fag end of his pro-people life telling people about his “government's inability” to return the lands, which have been taken from the people under SEZs (Special Economic Zones), to the people on account of “legal obstacles”.
More honest statement would have been that government or the ruling Left Front is not willing to return the lands to the farmers because they have decided to go ahead with the New Economic Policy.
It is worth mentioning here that it is the Left Front that has all along been resisting the New Economic Policy right from its implementation in India by the then Congress regime at the Centre with the Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who is now the Prime Minister of India, and whose UPA government survives now on the support of Left Front. Left front still criticizes his economic policies in public, but inside the government they are hobnobbing partners.
People cannot be made fools for all the time. Even the statement from the most respectful leader like Jyoti Basu cannot do that.
Examples would make it more evident. Therefore, let us take examples only to make it home the fact that people badly treated by all of our political establishments.
There was a legal hurdle in acquisition of farm land. There are many acts in India that defines land. Barren lands are those that do not produce crops and Farm lands are those that produce crops. This is the definition that is well accepted in all over the world. Our people and our laws have also been traditionally accepting this definition. Most of the lands in India produce one yield (crop) a year because they are rain-fed and there are little facilities for our farmers to produce multi-crops (more than one yield a year) for the reasons ranging from neglect of the agricultural labours and farmers to over emphasis on industrialization and urbanization at the cost of rural folk.
However, the legal hurdles in acquisition of farm land in favour of select industries from India and abroad, was done away with the enactment of SEZ laws. This new law defines agricultural land differently. It does not consider a piece of land “agriculture land” which produces one or less yield a year.
When government decided to remove this hurdle, they removed it. Governments all over India went on acquisition spree for SEZs, including the Left Front government in West Bengal. The government that implemented land reforms in favour of the common man is now relapsing. There was a time in West Bengal when people were given agricultural land (under traditional legal definition) to survive, but now under new legal definition under SEZ the only means of survival is being snatched from the farmers. In this act, the Left Front government did not talk about any hurdle, legal or otherwise.
Whatever happened in Nandigram and Singur was the logical offshoot of this attitude. People resisted tooth and nail the acquisition of their farmland in favour of SEZs. All the movements are eventually led by one or the other politician, and Ms Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the Trinmool Congress came into the forefront. It is well known fact that She is the only political rival of some worth for the ruling Left Front in West Bengal. In this backdrop, it is but natural, that the ruling establishment has made it a prestige issue not to accept the people's genuine demand lest she take political advantage of the situation. People are suffering in this petty politics.
Now, the biggest and most respected Marxist leader, Jyoti Basu fell prey to the petty politics which is least expected from him.
He made a public statement yesterday in a rally in Baguihati area that “there are legal obstacles in returning the land acquired” … as is being demanded by Trinmool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee. He, however, said the alternative worked out by the state government ensures the peasants a better option. He added that returning the acquired land was not possible because of a Supreme Court ruling… and the people have been given highest compensation for their land compared to the rest of the country.
Questions could be asked to him why the ruling establishments change the laws and rulings of the Supreme or High courts to do the things they want to do? Why they express inabilities quoting the hurdles of laws and rulings for the works they do not want to do? Selective obedience and violation of the laws and rulings is not a pro-people politics, but smacks some selfish narrow approach for the benefit of some. #