APRIL 14, 1968

PAUSE IN VIETNAM?

T would be irresponsible not to welcome any prospect of peace in On Other Pages IVietnam, but it would be premature to conclude that such a prospect has already been opened up. There is a little hope; the aggressor is COMMENTS (continued) 2 frustrated and is not altogether unwilling to eXiPlorenew ways out of what 'CALCUTTA DIARY would always be a frustrating situation. Whether this search will have CHARAN GUPTA 4 any bearing on the basic issues in the conflict remains to be seen; much VIEW FROM DELHI has changed, but to what extent Washington will allow this change to affect KITCHE.N DIPLOMACY 6 its policy aims is not yet clear. First the nature and extent of the change. The Tet offensive began FROM A POLITICAl. COR- RESPONDENT 6 at the end of January; at the end of March Mr Johnson announced a limitation of the bombing of North Vietnam. What happened in the POLITICS, BOMBAY STYLE intervening two months has had consequences whose significance is yet to 1. AKHTAR 7 be fully assessed. One consequence has been a realization even in THE MADRAS SCENE hitherto confident American circles that not all the men and arms that the A. S. SATYAMURTHI 9 dollar can buy can win the war. The realization was painful and hence THE BLACK REVOLUTION reluctant. Even after the first shock the U. S. Government and its MARC GREENBERG 11 propagandists elsewhere claimed that the offensive had failed to realize "THE GRAND GESTURE" any of its objectives. In retro~pect, it can be seen that it has succeeded M. S. PRABHAKAR 12 in the area most central to the future of Vietnam; it has shown the futility THE PRESS of even the most massive foreign intervention to s\lppress the struggle JOHNSON'S CHOICE 13 of the Vietnamese people. REMEMBERING GORKY Far too many people have pretended to know in advance what General SARO] ACHARYA 15 Giap's objectives were, and presumed to pronounce on his success and KABI KAHINI 16 failure on the basis of what they thought he intended to do. Almost all FIRST SHOW 1 7 such calculations went wrong; he did not even care to oblige the pundits "SCHOLAR EXCHANGE" 1 7 by attempting another Dienbienphu at Khe Sanh. But it is now possible to see what he and the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam have •LETTERS 17 achieved. First, they have established that North Vietnam, as Mr Robert McNamara once put it, cannot be bombed to the negotiating table. Second, and more important, the NLF has shown that the PlliPpet regime in Saigon and its supporters cannot be protected by the Americans and their allies. Washington and Saigon sought comfort from the thought that the Tet offensive had not inspired a general., uprising in South Vietnam; yet PIUNTE.r, AT MODERN' INDIA PRESS', 7, RAJA SUBODH MULLICK SQUARE, they must have pondered l.1owthe Vietcong !presence in the country could CALCUTTA-13 AND PUBLISHED BY SAMAR be s widespread and powerful without the support of the general population. SEN FROM 61, MOTT LANE, CALCUTTA-13 , FRONTIER ther Ki~ It will never be the same again in even emerge as a national hero on to a coalition Government in Sou vitably l! South Vietnam. The Americans had the eve of the election. Vietnam, with the NLF as the domi- g of Mah to destroy much of it in order to save Heavy bombing, over a much nant element. But neither Washingtoa t over t it; American bombing had to kill larger area than first indicated by Mr nor Saigon is likely to give the nces art thousands of those they had come to Johnson, continued even after his the recognition it deserves. Ford hting for protect. Ordinary people will never announcement, and now a big land Ministers of the' countries in the Am all mino forget it; even American reports have offensive is on, but Hanoi seized the rican camp in Vietnam, who metre- ldiers an .recorded the fact that after the first diplomatic initiative by agreeing to cently in Wellington, New Zealan~ ore than thrust of the Tet offensive, most of discuss a total and unconditional end specifically rejected the coalitionidea. dian pea the destruction and killing was caus- to the bombing and all other acts If this represents the unchangeable t great ed by reckless American bombing of of war against North Vietnam. Wash- American position, negotiations Cal 'ng was populated areas. Yet the Americans ington's bona fides will now be put bardly serve any purpose. However, n of nOl have not been able to demonstrate on test. It will probably ask for re- the racial turmoil that threatens o million that they can assure the security of ciprocal de-escalation, but clearly Little Golden America may in tum merican those who seek their protection. Hanoi cannot be expected to stop all profoundly influenoe the course of illion. The U. S. forces could not even aid to the NLF in South Vietnam. events in South Vietnam. The chic- ought a ensure their own security. Their In fact, Hanoi has made it clear kens are coming home to roost. 1947 ? casualties reached a level unprece- ti1at its readiness to discuss an end to e contr dented in the war, and it was small American bombing does not imply any A, the comfort that the casulties on the .;h,mge in its basic stand on iPolitical A Sermon On A Priest ther fac' other side were ,re/por:tedly ,much nsues. The statement in which it s not b larger. For weeks, some five thou- announced its readiness to meet U.S. THe beginning of Aldous Hux- e Qui' sand Marines were at General Giap's reprtsentatives "to decide on the un- ley's minor novel, Ape and not ~ mercy; the psychological effect of conditional cessation of the bombing Essence, was rather amusing. lilt as luck the siege, whether on the Marines and other war acts against the DRV" was the day of Gandhi's assassination; reach~ themselves or on people in the Unit- also St\id: "They (the Americans) but on Calvary the sightseers werein- ve ha ed States, has been no less shattering mUSl withdraw their troops and the terested in the contents of their picnic ith, hi! than the likely impact of another troop~ uf their satellites out of South baskets .. Ptolemy was perfectly right: it b~ Dienbienphu. Vietnam, and leave the internal affairs the centre of the earth is here,not The h It was the effect in America that of Vietk; m to the Vietnamese people. there.. And Gandhi, I reflected,just s cruel must have rattled Mr Johnson most. The position of /peace and independ- couldn't do anything but resist oppres- . Dew The anti-war camJpaign spread and ence of, the Vietnamese people i.s the sion non-violently and go to prisOD e ferti powerful voices began to question four-point position of the NRV, and and finally get shot. .So there he (Bob e Heb not only the merits of his war strate- the NLF political programme. This Brigges) was, bound and committed itted i gy but also the fundamental assump- political programme .... must serve to adultery no less irrevocably than 'on req tions about the wal1and its aims. An as the correct basis for a political solu- Gandhi had been bound and committ- e few anti-war candidate for the Presidency tion in South Vietnam." ed to non-violence". Then this bit annib£ severely mauled him at the New Getting North Vietnamese represen- of diologue: at the Hampshire primary and was on the tatives at the negotiating table will not uman. point of trouncing him at Wisconsin. be the central task for an acceptable "Do you think Gandhi was interested e axil His nomination was gravely in doubt, settlement; the party more directly in art?" I asked. ciety re-election increasingly problematical. concerned is the NLF. Meaningful "Gandhi? No, of course not." of the Faced with such a situation, the talks can begin only when the NLF "I think you're right," I agreed. labour crafty politician thought up a course joins them. Despite Saigon's objec- "Neither in art nor in science. outh that might afford him the only chance tions, the Americans may eventually And that's why we killed him," a mora of political survival. By simultaneous- agree to the NLF's participation, but "We?" and de ly withdrawing from the Presidential what role they will be pre:pared to ''Yes, we. The intelligent, the active, in its' race and announcing a partial halt to allow the NLF in the affairs of the forward-looking, the believen most s the bombing of North Vietnam, he South Vietnam is far from clear. in Order and perfection, Whereas stitutic That the internal affairs of South Gandhi was a reactionary whobe- tried to give himself a new image .. Denm; Vietnam must be settled in accordance lieved in people. Squalid little If Hanoi refused to respond, he would listed with the NLF's programme is one of -rindividuals governi9g themselves, the ci be free to escalate the war still fur- the four !points consistently insisted •...villageby village, and worshipping ther without inhibitions over effects one 0: upon by North Vietnam and the NLF; the Brahman who is also Alman. volt .~ on electoral prospects. If Hanoi did in other words, the NLF must control It was intolerable, No wonder we is no respond, he would be able to claim the Government of South Vietnam bumped him off," More credit for a major step to end a parti- after a political settlement. To start dpati cularly unpopular war, ano might with, Hanoi and the NLF might agree The assassination FRONTIER

erKing in Memphis, Tennessee, remains subhuman-politically, eco- home; Vietnam has only provided mt in South '!ablyreminded many of the kill- nomically and socially. And the myth concentrated area for cruelty to men, as the domi- ofMahatma Gandhi in New Delhi that the Negro likes his slavery, that women and children of another colour. . Washington overtwenty years ago. The diff- freedom is too g

4 APRIL 14, I FRONTIER

wenton and on, with most of Ito • bridge between the established politi- abinetMinisters dozing round the Meanwhile, only the studentil con- cal leadership on the Left and the stu- , All of a sudden, however, tinue to be unquiet. They are of course dents. It is not so much a lack of wascommotion. An innocuous in turmoil everywhere, as much in East charisma: charisma, after all, is some- gein the Plan had suggested that Europe as in the United States, and thing which you either have or have er to have any sizable increase there can be any number of learned not. Some gesture of care and sym- grains /production in the coun- explanations of this worldwide pheno- pathy from even those leaders whose itwouldbe necessary to have in- menon of alienation. The develop- natural endowment does not go very ent of a certain order. Imme- ments in and around Calcutta have far could have helped matters. In Iy Mr ~a'fi Ahmed Kidwai, who however one or two points of /particu- this res/pect I must say there has been then the Food and Agriculture lar significance, It is not my yiew a wholesale abdication of responsi- 'ter, raised his voice of protest. that, in the series of incidents that bility. after all, was his portfolio, and have taken place during recent weeks, planningpeople must leave food the student community as a whole has This failure of leadership is again of their business ; besides, what been altogether without blame. No the main reason why close to two rth has investment to do with the doubt they have sometimes been im- dozen parties dare to try to exploit so ction of food ~ I am told Mr petuous, no doubt they have been on cynically the general sentiment in this 3S mak , whowas sitting next to Mr Kid- occasion wild and irresponsible in the State against the Congress and for c into th tried to pacify him: "Please way they have gone about. But there socialism. Many of the smaller parties comme take any umbrage, the /planners is the other side of the coin. After are paper organizations and do not 'e choo intend to do any harm. They an interregnum of several years, stu- ret.Pifesent more than a handful of ~r han to write these things in planning; dents in this State have rediscovered people. It could be that some of these Jly take do not mean anything." Given their heritage of social awareness: individuals feel strongly about the Atroph solidassurance, Mr Kidwai relent- Given the economic background of the ideological issues which keep them ['he land odthe Cabinet Secretary resumed overwhelmingly large majority of stu- apart from the major parties of the when w reading. dents, there would have been some- Left. But the other aspect cannot be arture 0 is this great Indian conformity thing wrong if this awareness were not ignored either-the gains which follow :g1ed int hisnow spreading: the conformity forthcoming. There is also no ques- in a period of confusion, such as the :Jovernor h comes from the acceptance of tion that, whatever the reason, most iP,resentone, when there is a premium ~r is ve notionthat words are not intended of the politically active students con- on insubordination. If a group of w grou andfor any programme of action. sider the hocus-pocus of conventional unscrupulous men decide to make hay, l~d ump Left politicians do not obviously politics totally useless. It would be they can now easily do so by staking liS reca much when they demand the re- silly to suggest that, all of a sudden, out their separate claim, a claim which a.n eve of the Governor; naturally, the the entire generation of students in this more often then not is atrociously un- :entation rehas taken the cue. Mr Dharma State, having turned wild, are bent on reasonable. And yet, if there were a draw hi appears to be very much there adqpting irresponsible, anarchist and proper mixture of tact and imagination matter y. enioying his untrammelled reign adventurist lines of action. There is in the dealings of the major parties, on th West Bengal. There is an all something in the quality of the hinter- the smaller groups could have been rotesting, tran~rent attempt on the part land, in the working of the social pro- oeither isolated or assimilated. This lithin the several newspaper proprietors to cesses, in the way politics has shaped, has not come about: any change fol- implicit- to project a benign image of the which have carried the students for- lowing the mid-term election is equal- Ie adver- emor, and to prove how much ward to where they have reached ly unlikely. The existence of these Ihosh has he is doing to the State by his today. What I find frightening is the mousy little 'lparties' would make it the mid- asing effort and con~tant vigil, total breakdown of communications extremely difficult to have a stable Left :re is al- the chaos let loose during the between these young men and women administration, in this State even if bygones twelvemonths. The game of the and the earlier generation of political the Congress could be crushed. paper proprietors is perfectly leaders. Students will be students: clers go :to :{. t nobody rstandable, but what I do not it would in fact have been somewhat rstand is the alacrity with which of a surprise if they did not tum to Trepidation in my heart, let me now )ocrypha. politicians of the 'revolutionary' radical philosophies and give vent to complete this mouthful by directing a 'irst Five 'es have fallen in. The lure of an excess of emotions. It is the func- few words to those students and others rmulatcd. ing the election, I must say, is a tion of leadersh~p.to try to understand who are preaching instant revolution. nmensely civiliser: with the date of the these strands of emotions and to mould They have taken a terrible responsi- [sted that 'on hardly six months away, none them into a form which could help to bility upon themselves. Under aU read out e dignitaries of the United Front strengthen the core of the political seasons it requires great courage to' : Plan to eager to rock the boat by raising movement. Most of the time, how- set oneself athwart the mainstream of ding ses- they now consider to be a minor ever, the leaders have been in hiding. the political movement. They may Little has been done to develop a say that the parting has not been on 4, 1966 FRONTIER

their own choosing, and it is not they the benefit of the Prime Minister's the Soviet Union has done India's who have deviated. Yet, where do wisdom until New Delhi had ascer- business and its Government a we go from here? To be candid, tained from our dtplomats what every- service. Perhaps the Soviet U' de~ite the angry words spilled in one else thinks about it. When Mrs should prefer India not signingthe Calcutta, it does not seem that much Gandhi did make the statement, it prolif,eration treaty, despite its pu is happening in the way of establish- amounted to equating the aggressor postures in favour of the treaty. ing Lin Piao in the countryside. The and the victim in Vietnam and a gra- Soviet interests lie in India goingin situation may be revolutionary, but the tuitous offer to mediate to end the a heavy defence budget? India's masses are not. I know the retort "mutual distrust and suspicion." business would like it too. will be that this is precisely why a India's foreign policy is now an Soviet stakes in the Indian nationalisation of politics is called for, aggregate of ad hoc responses, with are high. The Pentagon's 'Seventh the masses will not turn revolutionary no continuity to it. Diplomatic pres- strategy to contain China has been unless they are consciously guided to sure to get India to sign the non- dered obsolete by the Asian bo do so. My difficulty still persists. proliferation treaty has been mounting The Seventh Fleet moved into There may be isolated activities here but Mrs Gandhi's hint that we should Indian Ocean when it became ee and there; but by and large they do be prepared to go without economic that there were a few weak links not add up to any revolutionary con- aid does not convey much. The first the chain of Anglo-American vulsion. The sprouting of romantic threat along these lines came from from the Rhine to Singapore. Wi talk in Calcutta is a poor substitute Canada, and the United States has the British decision to pull out for the promised encirclement of dropped a broad hint. But the Soviet Singapore, the Pentagon's strategy the towns and! cities by the myriad of attitude is puzzling. Prof Hiren Mu- to undergo a drastic change villages. kherji left his party colleagues intri- again. To what extent Soviet inte gued by declaring in the Lok Sabha coincide with those of the Uni that India should reject the draft. States in the Indian Ocean is hard View from Delhi Could it be that the Soviet Union does judge now. But Soviet activityin not really want India to sign it? The Indian Ocean, which seems to have CPI has been rather soft on the Gov- tacit endorsement of India, should Kitchen Diplomacy ernment over the huge defence spend- several issues. The Soviets badly ing. There is no sign of any anxiety a submarine base in the Indian From A Political Correspondent on t~e CPI's part over the staggering and who would oblige first remains burden it imposes on the common be seen. A LL the kitchen gimmicks have man. In contrast, the CPI (M) has Soviet diplomatic effort is been overdone and yet Mrs been outspoken in its demand for a directed towards Burma and India, Gandhi's record as External Affairs cut in defence spending. The Govern- the search for bases. Gen Ne Wi Minister is pitifully poor. Our fore- ment's claim that the defence forces informal visit to India last month ign policy continues to be out of are now better equipped is justified. amidst this effort. Some one pi alignment with the proclaimed princi- The five-year-plan for modernisation a story in a Calcutta newspaper ples. Mr Johnson's Vietnam offer of our defence set-up has been imple- a Madras newspaper about Bu stole on the self-pitying Chairman of mented to schedule and the military occupation of the Narcondam is\ the International Control Commission balance vis-a-vis Pakistan is now i~ in the Andamans. New Delhim unawares. Beyond platitudes about India's favour. To that extent our tains that the island is in India's our martyrdom precious little had efforts to lfind a solution to the out- session and Gen Ne Win did not been about Vietnam. Even Mrs Vijaya- standing Indo-Pakistani issues would any dispute with Mrs Gandhi du' lakshmi Pandit thinks India could have be inhibited. While frowning upon their talks. done more. India's special position some third country routing U.S. mili- Burma's economy is tottering as the chairman of the commission was tary hardware to Pakistan, India has a crashing fall in rice production. held out as an alibi for inaction. When had no cOIDJPunctions about getting Ne Win's present estrangement • Mr Johnson's offer came, New Delhi massive Soviet military aid. The day Peking provides the opportunity~ had no reaction of its own. A junior will soon come when the Soviet Union him to sound both the United St Minister, Mr B. R. Bhagat, just back would be obliged to route military and the Soviet Union for eeono after a rebuff in Nairobi, issued a hardware to Pakistan through Iran. aid. New Delhi could be useful statement while the Prime Minister India's reliance is more and more this. Mrs Gandhi and Gen Ne own chose to be silent. The anonymous on the Soviet Union-tanks, bombers, appear to have agreed at the De as of a spokesman of the External Affairs fighter planes and submarines. There talks that China is a hostile neighbo f the aq Ministry welcomed the proposal but is surreptitious lobbying in New Delhi Short of a joint communique dene e CPI the Prime Minister and her colleagues for the purchase of Soviet civilian air- ing China, Burma and India ha oubts hi were not sure if the statement was craft. With massive orders to boost found a vast area of agreement. f weapol premature. Parliament did not have recession-hit sectors of Indian industry The Naga and Mizo problemsm' ave beel

6 APRIL \4, 1 FRONTIER

common to the two counfries only after a fair interval. And they The CPI (M) seems anxious to dis- Gen Ne Win has his own prob- came from various countries. Some of own elements in the party whom it with the Karens and Kachins. the rockets used to blow up trains cannot control. Government state- er security was the main subject had French markings. Some other me-nts of late take care to emphasise 'cussion. Though Mrs Gandhi has equipment used had Czechoslavak that it is keeping a line on the acti- 'd that the two countries have markings. Nothing of Chinese vities of the "extremist elements" of 'dedon joint patrolling or a secu- origin had been seized or recovered in tbe CPI(M) and not the entire party. corridor,there is little doubt that the past. Is the Government trying to promote ,. co-ordinated action is coming. Obviously~ the subversion plot story a split in the CPI (M) now? In the ,dian Oce is being used as a smokescreen for an CPI(M) parliamentary party, Mr vcnth Fie version Plot" offensive against the CPI (M). But Nllmbiar was pulled up for his indis- as been re utthe enthusiasm with which New the conduct of the CPI (M) leadership ereet question which caused his ,sian born i has been playing up the "sub- has only helped Mr Chavan. When leadership great embarrassment. But d into th 'on!plot" in North-East India and the issue 'came up in the Rajya Sabha, why is the leadership so quiek to dis- :ame certa' repeated suggestioI1-sof Pakistani both the CPI (M) mem~ers chose to owrl some of its elements? What the :ak linh i Chinese involvement in it should be absent and Mr Bhupesh Gupta was extremist elements in the CPI (M) say :rican bas e one wonder about the real in- trying to defend the "splitt('rs.' In about its leadership was being said by pore. Wi 'onsof the Government behind the the Lok Sabha, Mr K. Anandan Nam- the present CPI (M) leadership about pull out ous publicity build-up. The biar played directly into Mr Chavan's the present CPI leadership. Mr Dange strategy h that the Naga underground is hands by reminding him that t3e and his colleagues disowned the hange on 'ngChinese arms is naive if it is arrested persons had been expelled by "splitters" and now the CPI (M) viet interes t to explain Naga hostility. It his party and therefore had nothing leadersh~p' ~s disowning the ultras. mesthat the objective situation for the Unit to do with them. Mr ChaV'an snapped This is what Mr Chavan would wel- , agaor Mizo movements does not n is hard back to say that the CPI (M) disown- come if only it would provide material without external arms aid. It is ed them after they had been arrested :tivity in t for a White Paper of the future to ; to have t naiveas trying to believe that the and tha~ they had links with the party justify a round-up of the ultras and should rai congwould not be fighting the war last year when they were receiving in the process split the CPI (M). ; badly ne out help from North Vietnam. arms training. How come Mr Nam- Centre claims to be in possession biar's party was not aware of it, ndian Oce AiPril 7, 1968 t remains evidenceof a !plot. A joint Naga- Mr Chavan asked. -Kachin uprising was slated for when the monsoons break out thiswas to have Sino-Pak support. ~ also said here that, to justify Politics, Bombay Style ign support to the proposed up- g,the underground has been send- outcirculars to its outposts alerting I. AKHTAR about an imminent semi-military 'n by the Government in July to THE 'Left' or more correctly the so- directed against the Congress. And h all the movements in North- called 'Left' parties have been now the Congress has let loose the ern India. A circular claimed to routed in civic elections to the Bom- same chauvinistic force, which has been seized tried to raise the bay Municipal Corporation. The seeds taken the more virulent form of y of Government action to justify which they had sown have sprouted the Shiv Sena, against the Samiti, underground's own plan for an up- bitter seeds.. It was in the whirlwind whose main pulitical Iplank is the )ttering gin June. days of the mass movement for the struggle for Sampoorna Maharashtra, luction. ssumingthat the plot story circu- creation of a linguistic State of Maha- that is, for the inclusion of Belgaum, gement wi g among top Government officials rashtra that the Samyukta Maharashtra Karwar etc. in Maharashtra, with left- )ortunity ~ edible,one cannot help wondering Samity had been !ormed:. Its chief ist sounding slogans as a side attrac- Jnited Stat e Government is not making poli- architect was Mr. S. A. Dange and tion. The Samiti, always a loose front, out of it. The promptness with other leftists. The movement for has come apart as a result of the civic h the Assam Government let it be a' unilingual State of Maharashtra election. The Samiti fielded 120 can- n that the plastic bomb seized was a perfectly justirfiable movement didates of whom only 8 could scrape of a certain origin and that some in the circumstances. But the through. e arrested persons had links with leftists failed to broaden the people's The leftists, who in their enthusiasm CPI(M) should add to one's political horizon and were themselves had gone to the length of worshipping ts here. In the past, the origin swept off their feet by the regional and regional heroes, now find their DlPpor- eapons and equipment claimed to linguistic chauvinism. tunism of no avail.' In a way, the been seized could be ascertaiqeg In those oays the movement was deserts the 'leftist' have received are FRONTIER

well deserved. And it is very doubt- votes ; in 12 constituencies 7 candi- between the SS, the Congress andi e will kick ful that the 'leftists' are capable of dates were in the fray ; In 4 constitu- !police. atipn. Oth drawing appropriate lessons from their encies 8 candidates fought the battIe of Naturally, the ruling party denied 1n a post debacle. In view of their character- the ballot; In two as many as 9 the allegations but a Congress member under-lead lessness, perhaps they would not even candidates were locked in the while denying the charge of collusio t the SS-P~ know what has overtakerl them. fight. In short, every division and between the SS and the Congress ats in a Still, the overall result of the civic sub-division of castes, region, religion, maintained that the Congress andth tisfaction elections has its own political signifi- language and even private rivalry was SS had "seen to it that the Samitiwas ded the cance, sinister and far-reaching, for given the fullest oPtportunity of public routed in the elections." unist-domi Bombay is a premier industrial city. manifestation. One cannot think of a In all his authoritarian utterance shtra Sam It is the haPiPYhunting ground of the worse device for deepening and con- Mr Thackeray has been vehementin at the I laissez-faire industrialists. And true solidating the artificial divisions among his opposition to the left' parties,while entre and to the dialectical law of "unity of op- the people. The present anarchy in his criticism of the Congress, all too belling thl posites", it has a concentration of in- evidence all over the country is per- occasional, amounts to a zeal to refonn ational an dustrial workers in direct proportion haps the result of the consolidation of the parent body. In a pre-electionin- tion. He to the exploitation. these artificial divisions, which are terview in which "I" was the mostpro- at be disf First, here is the result in a nutshell: rooted in the dark and irrational past. minent feature, he eloquently explain- e real ", In a house of I40 seats the Congress Thirty per cent of the electorate kept ed his opposition to the Communists. e "Mosco contested 124 and won 65. In addi- away from the !polling booths. Evi- He said : "I am a nationalist. If any Although tion, its election ally, Re.publican Party, dently most of than could not care thing hampers the intcrest of the dia later" won 2 seats. The Shiv Sena contested less for this kind' of 'democracy' or at nation, I will clean it. But I believe ntly left I 97 and won no less than 40 ; its least they did not understand its intri- in the freedom of everything. (Em- am his e election ally, the PSP, contested cacies. phasis added). Accordingly as long andhi, Mr 32 seats and succeeded in cap- The Shiv Sena, under the sole com- as we keep them (the Communists) ate the del turing 11. CPI (R) contested 37 mand of the local Maharashtrian under watch with our thumbs ontheir In the sal seats and won-hold your breath, "fuehrer", Mr. Balasaheb Thackeray, spines, all will be well." of M. R. please !--one "evolutionary" seat; has emerged as the second largest In this interview, Mr Thackeray e "architf CPI (M) contested 9 seats and cap- party. And it is in the fitness of more or less equated all those who wed Mr tured 2 " revolutionary" citadels. things ;. for despite the phoney come to Bombay from the North and 's pleasure Swatantra Party contested 46 and won election tussles between the the South as bearers of leprosy. ~ ce and sa one. It is not at all surprising, for the Congress and the SS, it is irrefutably peOiple in other parts of the country troduced Bombay outfit of the Swatantra is evident that the latter is the darling should count themsely.es lucky that ftist partil mainly composed of Parsis and Catho- brainchild of the former. From North- as yet Mr Thackeray has not taken ad come tl lics. Then it has nothing to worry East Bombay had come the first indi- them into his reckoning. The lea about, for other carefully camouflaged cations of this clandestine parentage. The idea of Naxalbari being repeat- own for parties are carrying on Swatantra's The police. also have been too partial ed in Bombay weighs very heavilyon e clean work quite admirably. The Muslim Lea- to the SS and its anarchic activities. Mr Thackerays' sensitive mind. Ex- dmiration gue, a half dead rat, squeaked in with pounding on the theme of banningthe d its id two seats. The Jana Sangh, the Hindu- True To Character Communists, Mr Thackeray said: merica de cum-Hindi party. fought on no less True to its character, the SS cele- "They need not be banned as longas ith tactic than 70 fronts and just managed to brated its victory with riots and clash- they are kept under watch but", he suddenly unfurl its saffron coloured banner iIi es. It did not take its defeats too warned, "no Naxalbaris are to be re- ilots", Mr 6 constituencies. In the election im- kindly. Dharavi, a slum area where peated anywhere in Bombay and any- all, for i broglio, there were no less than 186 the South Indians predominate, and where else in India." y a B-52 independents. Of them only six slip- Madanpura and its neighbouring Mus- Speaking of his chances in the willgladly ped past the post. Most of the re- lim localities, were the scenes of clash- election, he had said : "I am confident But it is mainder lost their deposits. es. The stage-managed clashes with of victory. There will be only two many big i The fiction of the rule of the major- minority groups confirm the relation.., flags flying over the Municipal Corpo- admitted t1: ity was fully in evidence once again. ship between the !p~rent body and its ration building, those of the ShivSena aam is a II This fiction is a constant fact of freak offspring. and the Praja Socialists, after the unavoidable bourgeois elections. Most of the 'suc- The Samiti opposition in the Maha- election." For exan cessful' candidates won on a minority rashtra Assembly moved an adjourn- Fortunately or unfortunately, his theweekly' of votes, for invariably all the oppo- ment motion on the post civic election prediction has not turned out to be 10 long age nents collectively polled more votes riots. (Predictably the PSP opposed exactly true, but he should take heart, raid by th than the 'successf!!l' candidate. the motion). Members of the opposi- for the Congress flag is as good!asthe ranch offi . In 26 constituencies at least 5 can- tion spoke of the reign of terror let flags of the Shiv Sena and the Praia Party. didates were in the field; in 17 con'sti- loose in MadatliPura andDharavi. Some Socialists. The BOl tuencies 6 candidates begged for members gave instances of collusion The SS leader has averred that reproduced

8 APRIL 14, 1968 APRIL 14 FRONTIER

gress 'I kick politics out of the Corpo- in its issue of December 16, 1967. themselves of the allegations." , Otherwise he is very political. According to the report published It is not known whether the Govern- ~arty deni a post-election statement the SS in "Blitz", the Ceylon weekly wrote: ment made proper enquiries or the ress mem er-leader expressed satisfaction "News has also filtered into political persons concerned cleared themselves of collusi SS-PSP success in capturing 51 circles that evidence has become of the allegations. e Congr in alliance, He noted with available of embarrassingly intimate Still one might ask: What has all ress and ction that the alliance had connections between certain mem- this got to do with Bombay's civic ~ Samiti w d the monQIXlly of the Com- bers of the Praja Socialist Party elections, with the PSP and the SS? 'st-dominated Sampoorna Maha- (PSP) and the CIA. The Bombay In the circumstances, the answer 11 utteranc a Samiti, The SS leader hoped iPOlice,it is now known, had recent- would be : Nothing whatsoever, noth- vehement the powers that be at the ly searched the branch office of the ing at all. tarties, who re and in the State would cease PSP in Bombay, \Onct: upon a time, Mr Shripad ress, all t ing the Shiv Sena as an anti- "What has shocked official circles Amrit Dange was considered an un- ~alto refo onal and anti-democratic organi- is that the police discovered in the disputed leader of Bombay's industrial :-election i n, He demanded that the powers office US made radio transmitters workers I I Now the SS has conquered be most pr be display more courage to curb and more than 50,000 American all of his strongholds in the working ltly explai real "anti-national activities" of dollars in notes. The police, it is class areas. This should provide ...• ' _ommullIs "Moscow-Peking-Pindi" agents. reported, have taken into custody a Mr Dange with some food for .list. If an though the "Maharashtra first, group of PSP leaders, including thought, provided he has not had 'est of t later" super !patriot has conveni- Mr...... who has long been enough of it. Or do we have to wait ut I belie left out "Washington agents" connected with the well-known for the proclamation of Mr. Thacke- zing. (E his elaborate list, Mrs Indira Indian Committee for Cultural ray as a "great socialist leader" who gly as 10 hi,Mr Chavan & Co. may kindly Freedom, which is admittedly CIA ardently believes in the "non-calPitalist :ommunist the demand. lfinanced. Mr...... had also path of development"?/ nbs on the' the same column the PSP leader often visited the USA on the invi- In the meanwhile, Mr S. K. PatH, M. R. Dandavate, described as tation of another CIA sponsored the boss of the Bombay Pradesh "architect of the alliance", fol- organisation, the MRA (Moral Re- Congress, .has hailed the SS. He said d Mr Thackeray in expressing armament Movement). No expla- that the Congress Party in the civic pleasureat the success of the alli- nation has yet been forthcoming to body would respond to the "construc- and said that the "dirty politics" explain the vast amount of US dol- tive approach" which the Shiv Sena uced into civic affairs by the lars or the radio transmitters found pfOlposed to take in the Municipal 'stparties in the garb of the Samiti in the office of the Bombay branch Corporation. come to an end. of the PSP". Mr Patil assured Mr Thackeray, e learned! Professor is well "Blitz" had written at the end: "The "The Congress is bound to respect wnfor his gushing admiration for allegations made in this report are of this attitude. The Shiv Sena leader clean American politics. His a very serious nature. "Blitz" repro- need not call himself an opposition." iration for American democracy duces this in the lPublic interest so A passing thought: Is the !present its ideals is so great that if that the Government may make pro- centrifugal situation in the country rica decides to devastate Vietnam per enquiries and reveal the truth and symptomatic of the pantheistic anar- tactical nuclear bombs and the persons concerned may also clear chy of the Hindu mind ? ddenly runs short of "courageous ", Mr. Johnson need not worry I, for if Professor Dandavate can a B-52 or even a Tiger Moth, he The Madras Scene gladly volunteer to do the job. ut it is just a conjecture with so y big ifs, that it must be readily A. S. SATYAMURTHI 'tted that from Bombay to Viet- is a long jump. But jumps are FOR the first time since it was 1965, and though the DMK was not oidable in these jumpy times. returned to power a year ago, directly involved in the stir, it provid- orexample, of all places, in Ceylon the DMK Government is in serious ed the in!ij)iration that kept the agita- mately, weekly"Tribune" had published not trouble. Trouble, not emanating from tion alive for months. Students paid out to kmgago a sensational report of a its opponents, as one might normally back their debt of gratitude to the take hea by the Bombay !police on the expect, but from the innermost core DMK by campaigning hard for the good! as th ch office of the Praja Socialist ·of its supporters-the student com- party and trouncing the then Congress d the Praj munity. President, Mr Kamaraj, in his home e Bombay weekly "Blitz" had The students moved close to the town, Sattur. oduced!the Ceylon weekly report DMK during the anti-Hindi stir in In twelve months, the canvas has FRONTIER changed. The DMK and the students particularly picked out for a brutal against the Transport Minister, Mr The BI< now find themselves arrayed against attack. Karunanidhi, and demanded his resig. each other in an open, bitter fight. nation. During the recent disturban· This is hardly a sudden development. Merciless Beating ces, Mr Karunanidhi is reported to Discontent within the student commu- One could say without any qualms have made a statement which showed nity, centred round the DMK's failure of conscience that even during the whiclr way his mind was working, He ALTHOU to prrovide a satisfactory solution, to British Raj students were not beaten is stat¥ to have assured tranSQJOrl been nl the language problem, has been brew- up so mercilessly or !p'roperty damaged workers that while crowds of workers ophesyzing, ing for some time and has in recent in the way it was by the employees of were being dispersed with tear-gas, 'th the statel days taken a positive anti-DMK shape. the State Transport Department on the students were being shot. Though aintains itl Knowing fully well that, the DMK night of March 25-26 under the very the statement has since been denied, cessarily bl is in no mood to continue the language nose of the DMK Council of Ministers. students have refused to be takenin. e United S agitation (party leaders' have been Of course in the clashes both students An effigy of Mr Karunanidhi wasburnt the oppn appealing to students to quit politics and work~rs were injured. But what by them and the Chief Minister was me, by CJ and go back to their studies), a sec- was the provocation for the workers heckled at a meeting in the Madras tion, 'and c tion of students has irritated the DMK to attack several hundred students Medical College when he made a luke· 'rtually pre< by raising the cry of a separate Tamil- living !peacefully in hostels in different warm effort to defend Mr Karunani· peaceful I nad. Student leaders in the districts parts of the city in the wake of a dhi. (We beg of you not to speak ct the que have held mammoth public meetings trivial, isolated incident betw~en law on behalf of Mr Karunanidhi, We sed to pe: and hoisted the Independent Tamilnad college students and a bus conductor? have got faith in you-the students nfronts the flag in defi~nce of the DMK, and the Who gave the green signal to trans- said). ople in the Government had to order their arrest port workers to go about the City in It may not be out of place an it does to remove the impression that it had State transport buses, gathering goon- to mention here that the reo ird Wod< anything to do at all with the separa- das and threatening the students with lations between the two stalwarts cist nature tist cry. In fact the DMK, which had dire consequences? What were the within the DMK- Mr Anna· tructure has for a long time toyed with the idea of police doing when frantic appeals for durai and Mr Karunanidhi-have not hoice in fa a separate Tamilnad, was highly em- !p'rotection were made by students in been particularly happy. Mr Anna· Historicall barrassed by repeated enquiries from distress? dU!l'aihas always considered Mr Karu· tion does, the Centre about the activities of the Behind the student-worker clash nanidhi as a !potential troublemaker a position students who are known to have play- lies an entire history of the DMK and even during the formation of the cans. Its ed an active role in voting the DMK Government's pampering of transport DMK Ministry in March last year, !Iected by to power. workers to make its half-baked policy Mr Karunanidhi created difficultiesfor f American Shrewd political observers see in of bus nationalisation a success. In the Chief Minister by demandingthe zure of Ian last month's violent clashes between a bid to honour one of its election Home portfolio, which, of course, he consequ students and tranSjport workers the pledges, the DMK, immediately on was not given to him. The fall inhis ural, agrici hidden hand of the DMK Party to its coming to power, announced its prestige is, therefore, reported to have rban, indw teach the former a lesson for over- intention to nationalise the bus trans- given Mr Annadurai some secret greatly assis stepping their limits. Indeed the orgy port service. But this did not prove pleasure. millions of of violence in the heart of this metro- an easy task. Most of the senior bus In the meantime the Congressbythe explo politan city leaves wide scope for the drivers and conductors had to be per- party, waiting for an opportunityto , the facto belief that the Government deliberate- suaded to go to the districts to man hit out at the DMK, has utilisedthe ways of the ly adopted a !partisan attitude against the long-distance routes and for this situation to make fresh contactswest. The the students, leaving them entiFely at the Government had to make many with the student community. Congresstrial capitali the mercy of six thousand half-edu- concessions to the transport workers, leaders have made heroic speechesin teenth centl cated, frenzied transport workers. who have been practically dictating the assembly in defence of the stu· United State It will be interesting to note that terms to the Transport Department. dents and staged several walk-outsin search 0 raw materi: students who suffered most in the re- Also hundreds of new workers have after frequent references to the law panding pro cent outbreak of violence are those been recruited to man the City routes and order situation. who are vehemently opposed to the and these workers, raw and untrained, The contra( That the situation in Madras i~ tative systen Government's policy of doing away are a menace to the travelling public. abnormal does not need to be exposed Their utter lack of sympathy for the bythe use I with English at higher levels of edu- by the Congress. The very factthat cation. In fact, medical, law and passengers and indifference to their trol where' every bus that runs in the city hasa engineering students have been the safety and comfort have shocked the complete Sl police escort and that the newly-erec. most vociferous in their !protest against citizens of Madras, though the Gov- home by m the introduction of Tamil as the me- ernment has chosen to be extremely ted statue of Mr Annadurai on Mount body, the dium for higher e'ducation; they think tolerant towards them. Road is under police guard speak years the that this would bar the door to higher This is the main reason why stu- eloquently of the state of turmoilin United Stal knowledge, and: it appears 'they were dents have directed their venom the city. presses de

APRIL 14, 1968 APRIL 14 10 it Milliste,r, Black Revolutioh Cuba, fot example, rose up in arms to it. Advanced "riot-control" devices landed his resi expel imperialism for ever. In the have been jpe'rfected, urban police ecent disturb Dominican Republic similar antago- forces are adding thousands more to is reported MARC GREENBERG nisms were momentarily halted when their numbers, and National Guard It which show American Marines put down the 1965 units are already on the alert. The as working. LTHOUGH the Bible has not revolution. The people of Vietnam, black people, too, are preparing them- Isu'red tranSjpo been noted for its accuracy in however, are proving to the world that selves for the confrontation with capi- Iwds of worke esyzing,we may today agree the contradictions within the. Ameri- talist America. They are being armed with tear-g thestatement that a society which can imperialist system are fatal and and psychologically trained for the shot. Thou tains itself by violence must can only lead to the inevitable down- eventual struggle ;. they are coming to ;e been denie sarilybe destroyed by violence. fall of that o,W)ressivesystem. realize exactly what is needed. to be taken i UnitedStates, a nation subsisting The black people in America, too, Total revolutionary unity would be lOidhi was bu meoPiPression of the blacks at are quickly reaching a stage in their required among the youth and a strong ~f Minister w , by exploitation, counter-revo- development which marks the begin- revolutionary nationalist spirit would in the Madr n, and colonial wars abroad, has ning of the end of the U.S. capitalist have to prevail throughout the land. le made a luk allyprecluded the possibility of system. As former Vice-President The spirit of self-sacrifice, selfless Mr Karuna . aceful domestic revolution. In Richard M. Nixon said on January 8, dedication to the triumph of a 1 not to spe the question of violence as op- 1968: the United States can expect cause greater than any single in- runanidhi. 'W to peaceful change no longer "not riot in the streets, but war in the dividual, a feeling of confidencein ulti- .-the stude antsthe twenty-two million black streets" in summer. He further added mate victory, unshakable courage, and Iein the United States, any more that a riot is spontaneous, but identification with the struggling opp- out it does the rest of the so-called "a war is subject to advance ressed peoples of the world would be that World. The oppressive and planning and the radicals are some of the salient attributes for the t nature of the American power presently planning the destruction success of a minority revolution. In lurehas resolved the question of of public facilities and the bringing of keeping with the principles of people's .e in favour of violence. great cities to their, knees." The U.S. war, wherein the great masses of ex- 'storicaIly, as any imperialist is "tom apart by a race conflict that ploited peoples of the world represent .n does, the United States rose runs very deep." The "race conflict" the rural masses surrounding the cities aposition of power through violent is so deep in fact, that even men such (the exploiting industrial countries) s, Its ter,ritorial expansion was as Nixon foresee the inevitability of the Afro-American revolutionaries re- ted by the slaughter of millions violent revolution in the United States. present a mighty urban underground AmericanIndians and by the sei- For the very nature of clljpitalism is within the city. Our people must fur- of lands belonging to Mexico. at once both the cause of "race con- ther develop and master people's consequent transformation from a flict" (i.e., class conflict) and the warfare.' I, agricultural America into an eventual gravedigger of itself. And The stage of black !political consci- n, industrial capitalist State, was the black people are reaching that ousness within the United States is t1yassisted by the enslavement of stage where revolution becomes inevi- comparable to the stage reached by an 'ons of blacks in the South, and table. oppressed colonized people who have the Congre theexploitation of immigrant labour In human history, antagonism bet- realized that their only hope lies in Jpportunity t thefactories, stockyards, and rail- ween classes exists as a particular a national war of liberation. It is a as utilised th of the North, Midwest, and Far- manifestation of the struggle of oppo- necessary stage for American blacks resh contac t. The crystallization of indus- sites. Consider the contradiction bet- to have reached, but it must not be a nity. Congre capitalism by the end of the nine- ween the exploiting and the exploited final one. The Black Revolution, ic speeches in th century necessarily forced the classes. Such contradictory classes co- which will inevitably bring U.S. capi- e of the stu 'tedStates into overseas imperialism exist for a long time in the same talism "to its knees," must not halt ral walk-ou search of markets and sources of society, be it slave society, feudal so- there. A trained -leadership with a ciety or capitalist society, and they .s to the la materials to satisfy the ever-ex- socialist ideology will emerge and dingproduction of its corporations. struggle with each other; but it is not assume control. At present this black contradictions within this exploi- until the contradiction between the leadership, as with all revolutionary 'vesystem were temporarily resolved two classes develops to a certain stage leadership, is arising out of the very theuse of force and economic con- that it assumeSithe form of open anta- struggle for liberation. The present wherever needed, and by the gonism and develops into revolution. leadership realizes the vital necessity of plete suppression of the poor at The same holds for the transforma tion such. a trained, IPOlitically committed, e by means of a domestia military of peace into war in class society.! and experienced core of revolution- y, the police force. In recent The white power structure in the aries. rs the antagonisms between the U.S. not only realizes that a revolution The task of th~ black leadership 'ted States and the {Peoples it op- is about to occur within its own bord- must have as its overriding concern, sses developed into revolution; ers, but is attempting to prepare for the expo~ure of what the revolution really is-a class war. It must see represent a minority does not in the The Grand Gesture e major to it that the revolution will not have least ~eclude the possibility of their ds to 1: as its objective simply destruction and winning the revolution. On the con- r one fe~ vindictive violence against the whites, trary, the black people are in the most M. S. PRABHAKAR 1 in ma: but must look beyond the veil of raci- advantageous position conceivable. ±>ression sm, to the class nature of capitalism. They are located directly within the THE best that one can say abo estate] Once the black peOjple are aware that complex of production, communica- Mr Johnson's announcement' rted fc capitalism itself is responsible! for raci- tions, and commerce. The paralysis that it was made on the eve of AprilI pril 2) sm and exploitation, the revolution can of these systems would rende'r the en- and yet, it is not going to fool an If-truth! then have as its objective not only the tire continent helpless and create chao- body. Here, we need not con those destruction of the white c~italist tic conditions resulting in the collapse ourselves with his decision not to ad not ~ power structure, but the construction of the social superstructure. The or accept his [party's nomination apiPla of a new socialist America, based on United States is so dependent on auto- Presidency. Of course, no tears anted tl real equailty, an equality which black mation that without electrical power, shed for his departure; but it is ot reall; people already fully understand. Robert without modern tranSjportation, with- cause for jubilation either. Whoev ov,ernm F. Williams notes the importance of a out the industrial apparatus on which succeeds Mr Johnson can be coun atemenl trained and tested leadership, but that it thrives, the nation would be totally upon to carry out faithfully 'the po' e exte must not be the only qualifications devoid of resistance. And "Out of cies of President Johnson, not becauae agn~fic which a leader would possess. Lenin the ashes of anarchy and chaos a new they were his policies, but beca ificent said: "Without a revolutionary theory order could be reconstituted."4 they are part of American glo d that there can be no revolutionary move- To repeat, the white power struc- strategy. Every U. S. President haa 'al ad ment."3 Without a revolutionary ture is well aware of the potential not merely been an initiator of cold authoriti theory, the black revolutionary move- consequences of a Black Revolution. war !policies, but often their instru- sive bo ment in the United States will be one It is !preparing its defence and will ment as well. If the example of JFK areas oj of destruction only. stop at nothing, probably not even has not cured us of our illusions about ietnan Since the Black Revolution is not nuclear weapons, to ensure its sur- liberal American Presidents, only we till Mr only a national but an international vival. Both sides realize that atteIDiPts are to blame. In spite of John Ken- authorit struggle for liberation, it must look tQ improve the condition of the blacks nedy's record, one committed thG bow tb Cuban and the Chinese revolutions. are hypocritical and are merely frantic mistake of pinning one's faith on him distingl abroad and prO'fit from the experiences efforts at capitalist self-perpetuation. (surely a triumph of good public but wa of other peoples. The Cubans, for The demands of the oppressed can relations). The result was the inva- it was instance, won a revolution in 1959 never be met through cajpitalism. sion of Cuba, and later its blockade. marsha through armed struggle, but had to The. outcome of the Black Revolu- But at least one thing has to be said dumps undergo a second, socialist revolution; tion in 'the United States will have in favour of Mr Johnson. He is SO numbe for capitalism is no longer an alter- important ramifications for the remain- immensely crude, so folksy and SO was a native to the Ojppressed peoples of the der of the oppressed world. If the much a !parody of himself that like F( world. China underwent a series of revolution destroys the capitalist sys- at least no one can be deceived about eyewit revolutions before conditions were tem in the U.S., it will at the same him. The same cannot be said of hi lian c: present for a socialist revolution to be time be freeing much of Latin Ame- predecessor, or his possible successor. were victorious. The American blacks must rica, Asia, and Af.rica from the noxi- The danger of the Kennedys lies in prop a, likewise become aware of the fact that ous, stultifying, dehumanizing system their sophistication, in their image,in cause. their revolution is an anti-capitalist, which grips them so tightly. Every their command, not merely of vast have anti-imperialist struggle, not unlike the effort must be made to assist the sums of money and all the appurte- acknc Once this is realized the future of a revolutoin, every sacrifice, however nances of the K,ennedy machine, but and y socialist America is secure. great, must be made without hesitation also of sufficient liberal jargon, good bomb The fact that the American blacks to further the cause. The success of public relations, glamour, and since acknc the Black Revolution,' however, is 1963, the aura of martyrdom, tragedy. crime 1 Mao Tse-Tung, On Contradiction, directly linked \liP with the success of But one can surely count upon the New Four Essays on PhiLosophy (Peking, the international revolution. The coming Kennedy to be as ruthless in Free 1966) p. 69. heroic Vietnamese people are a major the prosecution of the. cold war, have 2 Robert F. Williams, The Crusader sourCl:! of inspiration for the American through he would be much more ment Newsletter (Peking, September-Octo- blacks as well as for other oppressed graceful and subtle than the present their ber 1967) p. 2. !peoples. Their successes are giving leader of "the Free World." M

3 V. 1. Lenin, What is to be Done? tremendous impetus to the Black Re- But while Mr Johnson's decision mef( (New York, 1929), p. 28. • volution in the United States, and not to run again for Presidency would a c1 'Williams, op. cit., p. 12. the \final victory over imperialism will not really affect the nature or the ob- allsc (This was written before the assassina- mark the beginning of international jectives of 'Pox Americana', his deci· now tien of Dr Marin Luther King). liberation and international equality. sion about stopping the bombing of mili ., ~esture major part of North Vietnam that further efforts would be made to The Press to be examined in some detail, alter the stalemate to America's advan- onefearsthat he has been success- tage.. In ordering partial cessation of lKAR inmaking a generally favourable bombing of North Vi,etnam, Mr John- sian with his 'generous gesture'. son has done what even knowledge- Johnson's Choice :an say abo statement itself (even in its re- able military expert~ in the U. S. itself ouncement d form in The Statesman of had been stressing: that the bombing COMMENTATOR ve of April I , 2) is so full of contradictions, was having no significant ilIllPact on to fool an ths, threats, that one wonders the DRV's capacity to move men and WHETHER April will prove DOt eonce ose who applaud the statement supplies to their compatriots in the the cruellest month for n not to sc not already made up their minds South. One might even hazard a sup- American hawks is not yet known. Imination t applaud whatever Mr Johnson position that !perhaps the World War But Mr Johnson's sudden decision to no tears a d to be applauded. So one is II stockpile of ammunition and bombs drop out of the presidential race has but it is n reallysurprised to learn that the Jon American bases in the Paci'fic released a s,pate of speculations. Not r. 'Whoev ernment of India welcomed his Islands has been exhausted. But apart all commentators are prepared to 1 be count mentand Mr Desai even went to from this admittedly odd kind of accept- the presidential broadcast at lly 'the po' extent of saying that it was a 'peace gesture', the rest of Mr John- its face value; nor would they agree not bccau ni,ficent.step'. What is this mag- son's speech is only a thinly veiled as to his motive. Some would call it but becau ent step, in essence? First, we ultimatum to the Vietnamese people: a gambit; others a retreat, In the rican glob that the statement is the first offi- Either agree to my terms, or else,. . .. meantime, the babbling and the bomb- 'resident h acknowledgement by the U. S. is indeed an odd peace gesture which ing of North Vietnam continue, and ator of col orities that there has been exten- announces a further build-up of com- unrest over the murder of Dr King their instru bombing of heavily !populated bat troops, increasing the level to spreads. Though the cessation of Ame- nple of JF of the Democratic Republic of 550,000, and an additional de- riean bombing is only partial, Hanoi has usions abou tnam. As far as I can remember, fence expenditure of over $5 billion. agreed to negotiate with Washington. ,ts, only w Mr Johnson announced, the U. S. (more that 4,000 crores of rupees) Regardless of whether any country is : John Ken orities had been only emphasizing during the current and next fiscal year. pr~pared to listen to it, the Govern- unitted th their bombing was not merely Surely all that money is not going to ment of India has contacted several aith on hi 'nguished by pinpoint accuracy, be spent in pursuit of peace! envoys in New Delhi to explore the ood public was strictly selective, directed as Mr Johnson is :11<;0 reported to have possibilities of peace talks. The 58- IS the inva- 'asonly to bridges, railway tracks, said tl1at the U. S. had no intention of day session of the second United :s blockade. hailing yards, ammunition and oil widening the war (··We seek no Nations Conference on Trade and to be said ps etc. Any suggestion that large wider war" : Catch any echo?), but Development has ended in New Delhi. He is so bers of civilians were being killed would not accept a "fake solution. . .. The presidentship of the conference ~sy and so officially scoffed at and peQple and call it peace." It is precisely this apart, India appears to have had other mself that Felix Greene who came back with danger that the Vietnamese peopl~ expectations from the conference ~ived about witness reports of large-scale civi- ought to guard against. No people - which have not been fulfilled. Mr said of his casualties as early as early 1966 have fought so valiantly against:.a pre- Dinesh Singh is sore that the confer- : successor. e dismissed as, at best, unwitting datory imperialism as the Vietnamese ence could not evolve a global strategy dys lies in pagandists of the Communist people have done these past years; no of development and an international r image, in se. But now, all of a sudden we people have suffered and endured !programme of cooperation for the eli- ly of vast 'e The Great President Himself more, sacrificed more, and nobo~ has mination of poverty. Some news- Ie appurte .• owledging that all these month~ any right to tell them when or how papers tried to make up for the loss ichine, but years, populated areas were being they should sue for peace. But' it is of interest in the conference with tid- rgon, good bed. This brazen and cynical also true that twice, within living me- bits on delegates and the conference and since nowledgement of a barbarous mory, when real victory was at hand, staff, enlivened by photographs of m, tragedy. e is atPplauded by his minions in it was cheated out of them at confer- stenogr3jphers and interpreters shop- upon the IV Delhi and other parts of the ence tables, and the dream of national ping or coyly mimicking Khajuraho ruthless in World. Even if people do not unification remained a dream. All the figurines, of course with clothes on. ' cold war, e such short memories, govem- suffering, all the sacrifice, all the blood The Union Home Ministry has llch more nts can be counted upon to have spilled on the battle'fields, all these can- brought out a document suggesting ,he present ir memories conveniently short. not be, should: not be, in vain. And -.that the Prime Minister and the State Mr Johnson's statement is not nobody knows it better than the Viet- Chief Ministers should be given the s decision rely a cynical acknowledgement of namese that what they have been right to seek diss.olution of legislatures ncy would chain of barbarous crimes. It is waging all these years is part of a while still in command of a majority in or the ob- o a curious combination of an ack- worldwide struggle of the world's dis- the House as a m~asure to prevent , his deci- ledgement of what is, at best, a possessed against a system, a peo;ple- freql:lent floor-crossing. The Minis- )mbing of 'tary stalemate, and veiled threats who have dispossessed them. try's concern is understandable, for FRONTIER

the Congress has, of all the parties, at-his disgust at the !prospect of Hanoi wants but also what is re have fared the worst in the game of defec- nasty and! brutish intra-party quarrel able. Yet the extent of de-escala' ves with tions. It has lost I75 members and in the remaining four months before ordered is too large to warrant su noi acc« gained only 138. The CPI (M) is the the convention. It is also not impos- cions that the gesture is a fake or hoson's only party to have remained unaffect- sible that the growing vehemence of ruse. The pC\tPerthinks that there nal prest. ed by defections either way. The De- his critics and the sheer strain of con- be little sense in Hanoi waiting for d the pa fence Minister has assured that there ducting U. S. policies in a most diffi- ing business with some other Ameri 's might would be no let-up on defence prepa- cult phase of its history has affected President. One sure result of such r a rous rations and should the occasion arise, his stamina and self-confidence and course would be to prolong the fi nt camp~ India would be able to give a better his desire to continue in office. If ing and the suffering for at least per plea account of itself than in the past. anything is certain, it is that the ther seven months. And there is n to de The Prime Minister and the Home stress hereafter is going to be on certainty that the next President ' imposiJ Minister have both denied! that there change rather than on continuity. be a dove. merican was a rift between them; it seems that Against the background of either The Hindustan Times has not oval and reports of a rift are persisting despite direct or indirect admission by almost that an incumbent President has d goodw the Prime Minister's angry denial of all the contestants for presidentship of been denied nomination since 1884 ntext, h them in Calcutta last month. The the need for a change in U. S. !policy, but Mr Johnson has preferred not ould ov~ Home Minister refuses to ac- President Johnson's announcement of risk it. The war in Vietnam has beea political Cl1Pt the CPI (M) Politburo's denial a halt to the bombing of North Viet- his undoing; he has been humbled not ent of It of the party's connection with extre- nam is unlikely to evoke any response so much by the North Vietnamese or ount cOl mists in Assam, and his anger at the from Hanoi. (This was written be- the Vietcong as by mounting public sisting ~ party has not abated. More reports fore Hanoi's move was announced). opinion in his own country against rties to of a triangular collusion between the His reaffirmation of his desire to con- the war. The bombing pause withno hieve thil CPI(M) extremists, Naga hostiles and tinue to insist on such peace terms time limit is a notable advance on built-in China have appeared, and pressure as are acceptable to him has simply President Johnson's San Antonio e side. for a ban on communists is mounting. ceased to be credible. Hanoi can statement of Se,ptember 29 where clination' The communal flaroe-up at Tinsukia is also assert, without contradicting what accent was on assurances from Hanoi 'mes" hac the latest in a chain; the Home Minis- it has been saying earlier, that no before a pause could be ordered. internati ter's directive to the State Govern- peace talks can start unless the 'bomb- What makes .the diffd.re~e 'is that .d has tG ments to deal firmly with communa- ing of North Vietnam is stopped to- Hanoi must now take into account stead of lists is yet to show result. The MPs tally and! unconditionally. It is un- Mr Johnson's decision to retire as an ~n one may be unreasonable but the Railway likely that President Johnson will de- earnest of the U. S. desire for a poli- r-esile fr Minister cannot be. Having offered escalate further and halt all bombings tical settlement. After this, the 01\llS ry comrr to resign once and being advised by in a bid to win the peace. clearly falls on Hanoi to demonstrate e other the Prime Minister not to press it, he To The Statesman Mr Johnson's its interest in bringing peace to a war- me to th is, therefore, silent after the train ac- decision to bow out of a contest for ravaged country. Speculating on the t lie witl1 cident near Allahabad in which twenty the sake, of party or national unity effect of the statement on U. S, rela. pre-conci people were killed. What Prof M. S. hardly seems in character. By step- tions with Russia, the paper says that hould get Thacker does when news of the de- ping aside, he lias saved himself from Moscow's re!ld'Onse hitherto had been r else give mand in Parliament for his removal embarrassment, if not humiliation, to blame U. S. policy outright and ohnson h from the chairmanship of the Indus- that seemed increasingly likely. What- criticise President Johoson for not ay. It trial Licensing Policy Enquiry Com- ever the calculations behind it, the stopping the bombing of North Viet. hairman mittee reaches him in the U. S. re- decision will be widely welcomed, nam. But the changed situation poses ommissio mains to be seen. But the Industry for Mr Johnson's way of doing things a genuine challenge to Moscow to Moscow to Minister has declared that no action has often earned American policies exert its intJ.uence on Hanoi tq engage nse. by the Government is called for, as greater ~probrium than they deserv- in fruitful talks. Peking may pull in Refusing the professor has turned down the ed. Mr Johnson's temperament and the o{J!posite direction and will certain. changed hi! offer of directorship of a bank though style often lent them a brusque abra- ly interpret Mr Johnson's speech as a American ~ he attended a meeting of the board of siveness which did nothing to add to victory for Mao's Thought--especiallv ning politic' directors. their strength. He has also changed on the art of in;filtration and subver- ched peace sion. policy emphases and thereby content, his warlike Johnson's Motive almost always for the worse so far as offer diffe Like the commentators, the leader- Vietnam is concerned. If he is now Warm Praise because he writers are also at a loss to fathom sincere in trying to reverse the trend, The immediate reaction of The out of the the motive of ~resident Johnson. his next few months in office may Indian Express was one of warm ap- he still s,pe The Times of India believes that the redeem much of his past record. Mr preciation of Mr Johnson's decision, real reason for Mr Johnson's with- Johnson's gesture ordering de-escala- for "by this simple, single, superbly to defend drawal is exactly what he hl\s hinted tion has fallen short of not only what contirved act President Johnson seems c ntinues t

) FRONTIER

\'0 hoisted the hawks and the for an unconditional cessation of bom- namese people have been deceived with their own petard". Whether bing. The announcement is a drama- once and they are no longer willing . accepts his gesture or not, Mr tic move by a master of political to iPut their trust in mere words. Mr en's political position and per- chicanery. There is no mention of Johnson can prove the sincerity of his prestige stand to be strengthened, any negotiations with the National quest for peace only by an uncondi- thepaper cannot rule out that all Liberation Front, which is bearing the tional cessation of bombing and nego- mightprove to be a curtain-raiser brunt of fighting in the south. It is tiating the modalities of American a rousing Draft-Johnson-for-Presi- the future of South Vietnam that is withdrawal from Vietnam. He has to campaign. In a second editorial the the real issue, and any negotiations accept that Vietnam is a single coun- r pleads that Mr Johnson's deci- which exclude the representatives of try, and the kind of government which to de-escalate the Vietnam war the people of South Vietnam cannot the Vietnamese people elect is a mat- 'mposing a "massive clamp" on lead to concrete results. The Viet- ter for concern only to themselves. rican bombing deserves the ap- has note (I and support of men of !peace It has n goodwill the world over. In this nee 188 ext, humanitarian considerations Remembering Gorky red not Id override the tugs of ideological a has bee political attachments. The Govern- SARa] ACHARYA Imbled n t of India should keep this para- namese 0 t consideration in mind whiJe ing publi ting the way of all contending HE hasn't been always that actual links with it were unknown to ry again 'es to the negotiating table. To remote and shadowy as now us. se with n , ve this, New Delhi should control in his centenary year. Ritual, a All we could feel was that he hated :1vance a built-in tendency to lean heavily to !properly formal duty, makes him look tyranny and exploitation. So did we. Antoni side. The Government's "fatal even more remote; also, alas, too He was bitter, too, but in a large way where th 'nation" to support "selective re- solemn to be the living, moving force and never with any personal grievance 'am Hano' s" has cost this country heavily as Maxim Gorky really was to us, say, to air about. In a large way, we, ~ ordered. international influence and prestige forty years back. Memory is a sleep- too, shared that bitterness; it was the :e 'is that has too often protracted conflict ing giant, and remembering Gorky is bitterness of a rising generation of o accoun tead of helping to restore peace. like remembering one's lost youth, youth in a colonial country. Gorky :tire as an ~none party to a dispute is willing one's hopes and illusions all. deepened our understanding of the :or a poli- resilefrom "90 per cent of a miIi- Today's youth has little or nothing nature of the political conflict which, , the OI~uS . commitment" in the hope that to remember of Maxim Gorky. There we began to sense, was at bottom a ~monstrate other party might be induced to is the inevitable generation gap. But universal social conflict. to a war- e to the negotiating table, it does there is more to it than mere. distance More than Marx and Lenin, it was ng Oili the lie with aj peace-maker to insist as in time. A sense of indirection seems Gorky who made us aware of the J. S. rela- pre-condition that the other party to have distracted many of the, present contradictions of capitalism; in other , says that uld get the entire 100 !per cent- generation, and to them Gorky has words, he "blew the dust off our souls" had been elsegive peace the go-by. President become just one of those effigies of with the great cleansing wind of doc- tright and n!lon has come 90 per cent of the literature known to all but read by trine sweeping through his Chelkash, ; for not y. It is India's plain duty, as few. Mother, The Lower Depths, The Phi- orth Viet- airman of the International Control It was not so in the early 1920s; listines, The Creatures That Once tion poses mmission, to persuade Hanoi and from then onward up to the 1940s Were Men and several other pieces of [oscow to cow to move I 0 per cent in res- Gorky, together with other great lite- marvellous power and beauty. tq engage se. rary crusaders like Shaw and Romain Marx said, quoting Goethe, in the ay pull in Refusing to believe that Mr Johnson Rolland, held us in spell, helped us beginning was the deed; so it was with Gorky. He took us by surprise ill certain- nged his spots Patriot says that the understand the present and strive for better things. Gorky came upon us and overwhelmed us. We didn't have leech as a erican President is a wily and cun- unannounced in the early 1920s. The to wait for recognizing Maxim Gorky -especially g politician who has regularly laun- Id subver- effect was immediate and overpower- as a.n institution, as the father-figure d peace offensives to camouflage ing, although at first in a vague way. of Socialist Realism. He came first warlike intentions. The present We didn't know-at least not many and he stood, and still stands, above r differs from the previous - ones of us knew then-who Maxim Gorky and beyond the reach of the tricks and ause he has been compelled to bow 1 of The was, what position he held in the tortured course of the credo of Socia- warm ap- of the race for nominations. But world of letters and what exactly he list Realism. "- decision, still Sjpeaks of America's willingness wanted us to accept. The Bolshevik Our youth owes him some of the superbly defend an "honoured cause" and Revolution conveyed very little sense noblest strivings for active humanity. son seems ntinues to ignore Hanoi's demand to u~ then. Also Gorky's Sipiritual or FOr the h,uman situation remains basi-

14, 1968 RIL 14, 1968 P'RONTI~lt 'ng of Pan cally tho same, certainly at least in our of contemporary playwrights whose and secret literary ambitions. less schoc part of the world. The creatures that modernity and inventive command poet does not arrive but a jOUrn3\i 's Mohon, once were men are still with us; the over form were beyond dispute. But working in the rival candidate's pa rthy becal Lower Depths are not far to seek and even then most people did not recol- and impersonating the poet, dO~I. Wi ge measun the Enemy, the Philistines, are deter- lect or did not know that he had him- election politics, modern poetry, es from a mined more than ever to defend their self produced and acted in plays long imposter, one young women an Kabi Kahil privilege, resist change and divide and before Ebong lndrajit was staged by several young men, the situation is tion. No weaken the will of the oppressed mass- Souvanik. That was before he went course eXJplosive and crackers, tog which it es in order to put off the day of final to live abroad and was long ago. It ther with several well-timed min r to wh: reckoning. In several parts of the came therefore as a surprise to many planted cunningly, go off at a bris medy in th world the working class has come to when, a few months ago, Badal Sarkar rate. But even as they go off and on t let us hOli terms with th~ rule of capital in ex- announced that a new theatre group is genuinely amused, an undercurre dal Sarkar, change for crumbs of comfort. formed by him, Satabdi, would pro- of disappointment is difficult to avoi be an actl "Not even an ocean of blood can duce a new play by him, Kabi Kahini, The characters are quite openly dra an order, drown the truth", Gorky's Mother with two shows every Sunday on the from set types. The s¢ni-litera xt productil proclaimed. The truth now seems in Rabindra Sarobar stage. The news candidate, the overbearing party boss it than Ka danger of being drowned in hire-pur- naturally raised con~siderable hope the local touch, the impossible wife, chase happiness and promises of high and expectation. But at the same the vacuous daughter--one has m consumption benefits. Since the trend time it was not without some appre- them all before. Nor are the struc· appears to be strong in both the capi- hension that one went to see the play tural levers-the election battle farce talist and socialist sectors of the world, which one had already heard describ- and the comedy of error-particularly F celebrating the Gorky centenary might ed as a "light comedy." original. Even some of the scenes, as well be the end of the stormy It need not be a paradox that, as as for instance, the one where the fake By petrel. it turned out, while the expectation poet composes modem poems out of was at least partially fulfilled, the ap- advertisements and household lette" MAREN prehension "{as found to be iustified ring a faint bell of recognition and painter as well. Kabi Kahini is in the vein one has an uneasy feeling that the gag veral grouf Kabi Kahini of the author's earlier comedies. The has been used before. It is not sug· India, hac author has found it necessary to print gested that there is any element of Calcutta 1 By A DRAMA CRITIC a statement in the programme notes copy in the play. Its ambience is the Acad( to say that Kabi Kahini was written entirely indigenous and the details the exhibil BADAL Sarkar's entry into the circle after and not before EbonR lndrajit. are both clever and fresh. Badal llages. of contemporary Bengali play- One sees his !point but chronolol!)7 does Sarkar's undoubted talent and com· One's ifirsj wrights has been with a bang. When not di~prov a reversion and if in petence rescue Kabi Kahini from being e hall was Ebong lndrajit was 'first published in Kabi Kahini there is ample evidece a humdrum comedy but they have sincere arti! the July '65 issue of Bohurupee maga- of the author's remarkable grasp over not been able to transform the conven· erable tho zine it evoked immediate interest, the craft of playwriting-his unfailing tional set of comic situations into a 'ng to exte admiration and surprise. The sur- sense of the theatre. his easv build-up play which one had hoped would do 's innermo prise was because those who had read situations, his sureness of touch in for the comedy what Ebong lndrajit always su his earlier published !plays like Ram writing theatrical dialogues and his did for serious drama, that is, achieve ident in a Shyam Jadu or Baro Pishima, or had nimble wit-it reveals at the same a breakthrough. ses. His seen them on the stage had not ima- time a certain care for safety l'Ind a The regret might have been less if mmands I gined that a dramatist with only a rel!ard for caution, if not actually for the production did not leave some· ere are, Ul few slender comedies to his credit the conventional. Kabi Kahini is a thing more to be desired. The set les where tl; could suddenly write as serious and very well-made play but well-madeness and the lighting could have been de· ickness, bo disturbing a playas Ebong lndrajit is not exactly what one hQpefuIly Qoes vised more imaginatively to under- please. and succeed at the same time with a to look for in a new play by Badal score the funny situations and the all the n formal experiment that was almost Sarkar, satire. The female roles have not ere are a revolutionary. In any case acquain- been cast to best advantage nor bas e emotiom tance with his earlier plays could not Set Tv~es the deficiency been overcome by 8m Among M have been wide and to most who read Kabi Kahini is a satirical comedy Putul Sarkar and Sm Bijaya Sarkar's ibits were, or saw it performed Ebong lndrajit "bout an aspiring political climber acting. A pleasant surprise was to . o. 6), wil was Badal Sarkar's first play. With preparing for an election with an find in Badal Sarkar an actor of can· uid forms, Bahumpee's production of his next aSlP~rinl! literary climber for a wife siderable ability. Himangshu Chatterji, 'th its intej published play Baki ltihas his reputa- . preparing for a literary soiree which formerly of BohuTUlpee, could be ex- ayed" (No tion as a serious "ind gifted dramatist "the famous modem poet" Smaraiit pected to exploit fully the ample scope space is c became secure and he came to be re- is expected to attend as the chief the role. of the fake poet allows. He nt of col, garded as ODf" of the most important guest. The daughter has both suitors did so with practised ease. The ren· of Pankaj Munshi's Sanat, the "Scholar Exchange~' Now I see-and I hope that the .s. school teacher, and Suphal American public and the Congress can lurna}i Mohon,the local tough, is praise- (From The Denver Post) see-b!etter than last summer why the 's pap because they succeeded in Indian parliament rejected Vice Presi- e5. Wi measure in redeeming the type WHILE doing research and travel- dent Humphrey's a'p'parently generous etry, froma rusty, dichetic fate. - ing in India, last summer offer to assist Indian education by the 'n an i Kahini is Satabdi's first 1"1'0- under the auspices of the U.S. Edu- amount of $300 million and hundreds Dn is . n. No one will grudge it a long cational Foundation in India (Ful- of American educators. s, tog whichit deserves, being far supe- bright programme) I was very surprised FOREST WILLIAMS, I min to what commonly goes for to be asked by a number of Indian in- (Professor, University of Colorado) a bris y in the Bengali theatre today, tellectuals whether American students and on t us hope, at the same time, that and scholars in India might not really Letters rcurre Sarkar, now that we know him be fronting for the Central Intelligence ) avoi an actor and a director of no Agency (CIA). The notion seemed I am afraid something more solid r dra order, will choose as Satabdi's to me ridiculous and I reassured th'elItl and lasting requires to be done if a -literat production a play with more meat that this was a false rumour. paper is not to fall a victim to finan- ty boss than Kabi Kahini. I ask now what the State Depart- cial sharks. Ie wife ment and the CIA would have me I would like to discuss the whole as me write to those Indian scholars. Shall question with you in detail. ~ strue I write that our conVle!rsations about Y. KOLHATKAR e fare Indian philosophy, education and poli- Poona icularl First Show tics were indeed in good faith on my scenes, part at least? That I was not be- I would do all I can for the new he fak By An Art Critic holden to CIA funds (although, in venture; for me it would not only be out 0 fact, perhaps I was without my know- love's labour, it would be hate's labour letters MARENDRA Lal Chowdhury, a ledge)? That I listened with an open also, if you know what I mean. )n and painter who has !participated in mind and was not gathering informa- I. AKHTAIl the gag al group shows in various cities tion for an American espionage Bombay ot sug- India had his first solo exhibition agency? lent of alcdtta last week at the premises And if I do say so, apologizing Our aim is Scienti'fic Socialism. :nee is theAcademy of Fine Arts. Most for whatever deception must unfortu- Ours is a student organisation which details theexhibits were in oils, and some nately haVle;been practised upon them fights to defeat U.S. imperialism and Badal ges. by some American students and scho- world revisionism headed by Soviet I com- ne's lfirst impression on entering MS, what reason would they have to Russia, in order to give a push for the 1 being hall was that Mr Chowdhury is believe my present statements, since success of the !proletarian revolution. f have . cere artist and that he devotes con- that is exactly what would now be said We hOiPe that your new weekly will onven- rable thought to his work, strug- by a scholar who had already exploit- be an instrument against U. S. Impe- into a g to exteorize, in line and colour, ed his status as a university professor rialism and Soviet revisionism and we uld do innermost emotions. Not that to stage', for the ben~fit of the CIA, hope that your weekly will be the 'ndrajit alwayssucceeds, but his striving is supposedly above-board discussions ? mouthpiece of the proletarian class. lchieve ent in a large number of his can- The Fulbright programme must have G. RAMMAIAH s. His grammar is sound and he spent about $ 4,000 on my travel and Guntur (A.P.) less if mands a good vocabulary. But research. The benefit to me as a .pro- some- e are, unfortunately, a few exam- fessor of philosophy has been enorm- I wonder if you received my previ- he set where there is a tendency towards ous, but the main purpose of the pro- ous post-card in which I had inform- en de- kness, born out of a desire .easily gramme is cultural exchange. By my ed you that I am greatly interested in under- please. This commercial attitude modest p'resence in India I was sup- your fOIthcoming journal. I shall be .d the all the more unfortunate because posed to contribute something to Indian happy to receive a specimen copy. 'e not re are a good many pictures that intellectual life, too. But the govern- . S. S. MIRAJKAR )1' has emotionally crystallized. ment which sent me there has, through Bombay )y Sm AmongMr Chowdhury's better ex- its CIA operations, cancelled out any 3rkar's its .were, we thougnt, "Still Life" such possible benefit. Indeed, so far as Indian understanding and trust of vas to . 6), with its vibrant colours and FRONTIER is available from f con- 'd forms, "Still L~fe" (No. 16) , American scholars are concerned, it S. P. CHATT-ERJEE atterji, its integrated patterns, and "Dis- would have been better had I and others be ex- ed" (No. 11), where the division nev.er gone to India, if we were to be Steel Market scope space is competent and the arrange- disgraced before the world six months Statesman Offi.ce He nt of colours dextrous. later. Durgap-q,r-4 e ren-

\ 1968 As a token at my appreciation and I have just heard from my colleague We are getting enough of that from wi~:hing you all success in your new . . .. that you intend to bring out a impotent left politicians. When acti venture I am enclosing a small cheque, weekly magazine in the near future. fails miserably, what is the use which I hope, you will find useful. You probably don't remember me, your crying in the wilderness? I per The only !point I wish to make clear- but I met you with some friends at sonally feel this type of naggingwitlr I would rather your started a weekly Calcutta on New Year's Eve 1966, out action creates a sense of he1p1e which follows closely the CPC line of being the Englishman you so gently ness, drives man to fatalism and tu thinking than a weekly which has no insulted. . L him into a hollow man, uselessfort clear-cut view of its own. As a regular reader of I was very purpose for which you stand. RAO C. S. very disappointed when your connec- D. CHAKRABAR Andhra Pradesh tion with it was severed. I am there- fore very interested! in the proposed As you are starting a weekly, I am new magazine, and would appreciate personally with you and assure you For FRONTIER readers in it if you would add my name to the the cooperation of quite a good num- list of subscribers. West India can contact ber of fellows here. You know, our S. D. CHANDAVARKAR Panjab is intellectually barren (al- C. J. W. BANNER most). Anyway we shall try our Bihar 10, Kanara House best. Mogal Lane, Mahim R. K. MEGH Bombay-16 My humble suggestion is that you Punjab should, devote more space in your I look forward to your next venture, weekly to factual articles on world FRONTIER is available at ,especially if it turns out to be less !poli- events and on socia-political and socio- tico-cultural and more culturo-literary. economic conditions in India and CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY SUJIT MUKHERJEE other countries, rather than stereo- 23/90 Connaught Place Poona typed criticism of our !present rulers. New Delhi-l

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