PRJCE 30 PAJSE MARCH 17, '967
ira Gandhi Again. If'hat Is Going To Be West gal's Food Policy? • The Svetlana Affair. Bold Step Tanzania • Delhi Letter: How P.M. iPas Elected Plight Of Bihar • China: 'Isolationism' And Vietn~m .. -. I. IAN-IND HAS THE EXPERTISE YOU NEED
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odarts 266 Vol. 3: No. 24:: March17, 1967
On Other Pages ALL OUR YESTERDAYS
COMMENTS 4 HE tamasha in New Delhi is over. Mrs Indira Gandhi is to con- T tinue as Prime Minister with a new Cabinet in which her DELHI LETTER favourites have been upgraded and two or three experts included. Mr CONGRESS SKULDUGGERY FROM A POLITICAL Kamaraj, who once introduced a clever plan to revitalise the Grand Old ~ORRESPONDENT 7 Part.y and help Nehru get rid of some dark horses, has seen to it that the most important of them is back. Others had got back earlier. What CALCUTTA DIARY effect their return had on the confidence of the people and on t.he strength CHARAN GUPTA 9 of the party was seen in the last elections. Let us hope that hist.ory will BIHAR'S ANGUISH be repeated sooner than expected. J. ELKAY 11 Not that Mrs Gandhi should have been allowed to have her way in the partv and the Government. Under her regime India has been INDIA'S FOOD CRISIS foJJowing t.he slippery path of capitulation to reaction at home and PHILIP' G. AL TBACH .. 12 abroad. But no chang-e in that policy will occur just because Mr Desai THE U.P, ELECTIONS is in, They will be in the same boat, rocked now and then bv mild R. P. MULLICK 13 tensions between the stern, puritan and the Westernised ladv. This mif!ht in turn revive hopes in the Left E~tablishment in New Delhi that Mrs CHINA AND OUR Gandhi, somewhat chastened after the elections, might twist to the left. MANDARINS . MONITOR 15 There may be another appeal to radical forces in the countrv to rally round the fair lady. Illusion-or political opportunism-dies hard. THE PRESS A theme of absorbinQ' interest is Centre-State relationship. Even some NOT WITH,OUT STINGS .. 19 peoole in the ministerial wing- of the Left cpr seem to have been t 4 MARCH 17, ]967 NOW will put the Centre to test include it could perhaps be argued that even have to, being a member of Parlia- assistance for West Bengal's fourth if one cannot choose one's parents or ment and a Minister, it mai never plan. West Bengal is the only State the country of birth one should be be known what part certain officials "'-whose fourth plan has not been fina- free to choose one's country of resi- played in the whole affaiL The ob- ---r"- lised by the Planning Commission be- dence. iThere is no reason at all solete practice of sparing officials of cause it finds the State's demands why, just because she is Stalin's daugh- criticism, for, in theory, they cannot extravagant. er, Svetlana cannot leave Russia and answer, must really go. Our Minis- The Congress may not take long live in the USA or Switzerland, ters being what tJ1ey are, it i~ hand- to 'reconcile itself to the end of its whichever country will have her. ful of crafty officials who shape po- hegemony over other non-Congress What needs explaining is the in- licy and they should be exposed and States and come to terms with parties volvement of at least four Govern- answerable. But the debate can be- of the right. Any such understaml- ments, including the Indian. In the gin only after Mr Dinesh S~ngh has ing will be pointless if a joint assault Hindusthan Standard (March 12) its spoken. on the left is not planned. There New York correspondent, Dr J. K. are indications that New Delhi's old Banerji, has raised some very inter- A correspondent writes.- attitude 'of hostilit.y towards' the left esting questions; and the Ministry of What lends significance or spice to in West Bengal persists, despite the External Affairs in New Delhi owes the story is that it is the daughter of vote of confidence it has received the country an answer or two, if only Stalin, the architect of modern Rus- from the people. Secret dossiers of because Mr Dinesh Singh, Minister sia, who should desire to leave for good all left leaders of the St.ate, on the of State, is believed to have been her own country, and her uaughter of strength of which some of them had Svetlana's host for more than two of whom she is so fond. What is the been detained under the Defence of months. reason? The denigration of Stalin India Rules, have been removed by Perhaps there is nothing more to or personal frustration? She married the Central Intelligence for safe cus- the story than just bureaucratic ham- twice; Stalin is said to have disliked tody and perhaps necessary action, handedness--Russian, American and both the marriages, particularly her when occasion arises. The transfer Indian-but this needs to be estab- second, with Kaganovitch's SOli. But was at the behest of the Centre which lished before we dismiss suggestions she was the only offspring Stalin was found in the caretaker Cabinet a that there was collusion, involving fond of, and she, with her children, ready accomplice. In the past, the even the notorious Central Intelli- were always allowed into the Krem- Central Intelligence had stalked gence Agency. Not everybody will be lin. She met Brijesh Singh in 1964 their quarry in close cooperation surprised that the USA finally decid- in the hospital for VIPs, herself a with their counterpart in the State. ed to keep Svetlana out of that coun- patient. Another patient was Mr In the new regime this may not be try to save the Kremlin's face; ges- Somnath Lahiri, now in the West possible openly; but it is more than tures of a more substantial nature to Bengal Ministry. Mr Singh and possible that the State Intelligence this end have been made before. If Svetlana lived together, when dis- would be called upon to act as a the Russians wanted to get rid of charged from hospi tal. She wanted double agent of a kind collecting one Stalin's daughter and so let her come to accompany him to India but set of reports for the Government to India, the only thing to be ex- the Russian Government was against here and submitting a different set to plained is why the Kremlin invited it. With, it is said, Mikoyan's the masters in New Delhi. In any so much adverse publicity. Intourist help, Mr Singh was brought again event, the watch on left leaders has can hardly have sought to create the to Moscow and offered a job not been lifted, even though some of impression that the Soviet Union is in the Foreign Languages Pub- them belong to a government to a wonderful country to .t out of. lishing House. A sick man most which the Prime Minister has pro- It seems fairly certain, h .vever, that of the time, he was looked after by mised all cooperation. The reported if Svetlana were politically interest- Svetlana. At his cremation the Upa- decision to locate the regional head- ing she would neither have been let nishad was read and later some sort quarters of the Central Bureau of out of the USSR nor kept out of the of a sradh ceremony was performed. Investigation in Calcutta may not be USA. Then the Russian Government, after exactly without motive; nor may its What is of greater local interest is the usual delay, granted her permis- purpose be as laudable as it appears the extent to which foreign elements sion to carry the ashes to India, where on the surface. Just because the Cen- in Ne"Y Delhi are capable of influ- her arrival and stay were. kept secret. tre put no major obstacle in the way encing the Foreign Office and its po- What is it that made up her mind of the United Front's assuming office, licy such as it is. Soon after it meets, not to go back home? How did she it does not mean that it has given up Parliament needs to demand of Mr come in touch with the CIA man? all its designs. What plan it has up- Dinesh Singh, to say nothing of the In any case, ideology does not seem its sleeve will perhaps be revealed Prime Minister, a statement as to so strong a factor in t.he Soviet Union gradl lly. ' how New Delhi got involved in an these days. affair of potential explosiveness and L'affaire Svetlana why. It needs to be known too how Arusha Declaration much the Prime Minister or even the It is not altogether fanciful to think Foreign Minister knew of what was When President Nyerere came out that there is more to the escapade of going on when a Russian citizen was with his Arusha Declaration, Wes- Stalin's daughter, Svetlana, than has offering herself to the U.S. Embassy. tern observers wondered if the school- so far met our ear. If ours were Even after Mr Dinesh Singh has told master meant what he said and if he what is so often called the free world his part of the story, and he may meant so, how he dared. But Pre- MARCH 17, 1967 NOW sident Nyerere did not encourage exchanging joke-books with the directed and all that. The fact yet speculation; he meant to tackle the white sophisticates must have caused remains that, in spite of sustained dis- wobbly economy of Tanzania on 'a great apprehensions to President crimination by Delhi, Calcutta l a war-footing and not by bandying Nyerere who cannot heip noticing city of immense importance to * words. Immediately after the Decla- what happens to a mass party whose rest of the country. It is congested; ration, he nationalized foreign banks, leaders get drunk with the heady the districts have lost their pristine mills, insurance business and major wine of superi or culture., The lustre. It is possible to be sentimen- eX'fort-import houses. He fought Arusha Declaration was intended to tal about these and other develop- against heavy odds. Western aid, turn Tanzania into an egalitarian ments. It can still be asserted tha' government and private, it was threa- community of farmers and workers today, Calcutta is Bengal. Ten years tened, would be frozen; expatriate and to put the erring leaders on the ago political contrariness made the managerial and technical staff would right track. • Congress, always dependent on the be withdrawn; the foreign exchange rural vote, ignore Calcutta. Five years reserves which came down to $58.8 The Lost City ? ago electoral fortunes suggested at- million would be dried off in paying tention, West Bengal's new non- the nationalized firms; there was,)1o The Romans feared the Greeks Congress Government has to restore immediate prospect of diversifymg when they came with gifts. The the balance without thinking always agriculture, because there was a con- people of Calcutta may be wondering of the election five years hence. The tinuing fall in world commodity whether they should not equally fear city is more than itself; it represents, prices of cotton, coffee and sisal, the European and A erican gentlemen even now, a certain attitude, frequent- three foreign exchange earners of when they come, ith cameras or tape- ly cynical but almost as often creative Tanzania. recorders. It may be remembered in unpredictable ways. The United· Interested parties waited to see and how a "Vest German television team Front will be totally wrong to think believe that the. heavy rump of filmed goings-on at a meeting of the that spending more money in Midna- foreign capitalists could be so quietly Calcutta Corporation; there have ap- pore and less in Calcutta will be a heaved off. They were so very eager parently been stories, features and zood investment. India is too big a to prop up the' shaky government of other things since on this poor city proposition. In West Bengal it can the country where the per capita of ours, Calcutta. where many get well be laid down that nobody lives D annual income was less than $fiO. rich and more get poorer. It is all if Calcutta dies. And Calcutta is But President Nyerere, the romantic very well for visiting firemen to write dying on its feet. Let us see if the socialist, what a pity, would not allow off Calcutta as a lost city; even some Centre heIrs Calcutta if Calcutta them to do it. Indians have been known to take this helps itself. The President is, of course, very attitude; but the implications and clear about his intentions. He de- far-reaching consequences of any such Gift For The General fined the limits of public ownership thing coming about is scarcely under- and left a vast number of industries stood by glib cameramen, or even Let military experts debate Gene- in which he invited foreign entre- politicians who ought to know better. ral J. N. Chaudhuri's abilities, as c preneurs to invest their money. Con- One of the best' ~hings in Miss soldier and commander. We have sidering the reputation of Nyerere as Padmaja Naidu's inaugural address had General B. M. Kaul's adverse a man of his words, outsiders should last week was the emphasis on Cal· account; we have also seen the pre- 109 not hesitate to move into these sec- cutta, its problems. The main pro· sent High Commissioner to Canada releva tors. Moreover, scared as they are, blem, of course, is the Corporation described as an outstanding military lope they would not possibly dare to leave as now constituted; this body demon- leader, the preserver of India's ho- mana the market wide open to the Commu- strated its egregious incompetence so nour during the conflict with Pakis- ~orps flists who are waiting in the wings shamelessly 'that even the Congress tan. We are in no position to judge, lO rep to come and turn the nationalist- party, whose people profited the most although we can still see the econo· of chi bourgeois democracy into a truly from its power of patronage, was mic and political consequences of the one Communist State. In fact. President obliged to supersede it more than 22 dav,,' war. Nobody will hold Ge- the Nyerere is all too conscious that lie once. Nobody need be reminded of neral Chandhuri responsible for that ing th has taken a well calculated risk-the how the Congress Municipal Associa- war, even if he had had anything to semi-c Western imperialists cannot but tion manipulated things to enable do in extending the conflict beyond exerClS ignore the stmging slap and his eco- Mr Atulya Ghosh, now a lame Ban- unavoidable dimensions. He had been would nomy was by no means going to kura horse, to nominate the Mayor of given a job to do and probably he history crumble. On the other hand, his Calcutta y~r after year. It must be tried no more than to do it in the paste-p Arusha Declaration, which was meant admitted that the Opposition did not manner he thought most effective. Ever to be a double-edged sword, would behave much better. Only on Friday New Delhi was satisfied with his to win~ act as a stabiliser for his party. Some last a meeting was adjourned because performance and gave him a com- a cont prominent leaders of T ANU, the Mr B. K. Banerjee had been elected fortable civil appointment after ment's party that guided the country to in- Speaker 'of the Legislative Assembly. his retirement from military service. Americ dependence and absorbs 95% of the How frivolous can you get? Perhaps Even those of his countrymen who ned un adult population as its members, are the first nor'wester to hit Calcutta were intoxicated by India's military certain slipping. They are being increas- was slightly hurt that there was no "victory" under his command thought Dange. ingly tempted by the managerial posts adjournment to greet it. , this to be ample recognition o( his in the in foreign companies and the sight Calcutta was the product of a poli- services to the nation. But the P. C. of defe of them moving in, Svelte cars and tical gamble, chance-erected, chance- Sen Government thought of a most 6 MARCH 17. 1967 NOW extraordinary way of showing its Government decide to maka. such a have meant a revolt against bossism. yet gratitude to General Chaudhuri. g'ift? The practice may be common The much-vaunted power of. the dis- Why West Bengal? Presumably be- in prosperous Punjab and orderly strongmen from the States would have ca~se Chaudhuri is a Bengali, and Madras, but times have changed. been put to test in a conte . And ~ parochial pride has never been We doubt if the British Govern- this is what everyone wanted to d; the least conspicuous trait of the ment, for example, 'would have avoid. tine Beng-aIi character. Even more curious thought of rewarding Field Marshal It was no secret that Mr Kamaraj en- than this aspect of the business is the Montgomery in similar fashion. Did and the Syndicate did not want.nrs op- nature of the token by which Mr P. the Congress Government in West Indira Gandhi to win. But she had hat, C. Sen's Government sought to show Bengal have any particular reason rallied the most important Chief ears its appreciation of the General's per- to be anxious to see that the re- Ministers round her and had the the formance. Details are not clear; it tired General settled in Bengal after edge all the time. She could have the seems that General Chaudhuri was his foreign assignment? Or perhaps won a contest hands down at any ars offered a farmland il}. Kharagpur but the Congress Government at the Cen- stage. The discredited rump of a at- he preferred to have a house in Cal- Syndicate and Mr K,amaraj knew this. lOn- tre would like to see one of its trust- cutta. In an interview last week, he ed military men maintain an unob- The most they could do in such a tore regrett.ed that newspapers had pub- situation was to rehabilitate them- trusive link between the Centre and ays lished the news of the offer, which selves by promoting Mr Morarji an u1lcertain State like 'West Bengal !rhe he said he did not need. But then Desai, not to the point of contesting nts, why did he accept the offer? He or Kentla? As an Indian citizen, the electIOn but to the point of wres- nt- seems to suggest that he will not put General Chaudhuri should be wel- ting certain concessions from Mrs In- tive the house, if, it is offered, to per- come to live wherever he likes in this dira Gandhi. ited sonal use. Why did he not suggest country. But why should the Gov- The compromise formula mooted ink some public use of the property in ernment, in West Bengal or at the by Mr Kamaraj was in fact au~hored na- the first instance? Centre, take any special interest in by Mr PatiI. Mr Morarji Desai was e a More important, why did the Sen his post-retirement plans? to get the Deputy Prime Minister- ig a ship, the Home portfolio and leader- can ship of the House in the Lok Sabha- 'ves Delhi Letter in short the position held by Sardar IS Patel in the Nehru Government. It the was not their solicitude for Mr Itta Congress Skulduggery Morarji Desai so much as it was an anxiety to retrieye their lost image. The formula was also aimed at dis- FROM A POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT lodging Mr Y. B. Chavan from his key position as No.2 and Home Min- ene- CONGRESS politics should be clothesme.n, society women, contact ister. as judged by degenerate Congress men of doubtful reputation, journal- The State Department was for Mrs ave standards but the skulduggery witness- ists ready to jump on the bandwagon Indira Gandhi's re-election because erse ed here these few days were sicken- and their wives nd in-laws. The the political assessment in many quar- re- ing- by any set of norms. The bosses Congress MPs wh( were to elect the ters is that she would not last more ada relevant to the situation have deve- leader were a hopeless minority in than a year. When she is out, the ary loped a certain finesse in stage- the Central Hall on Sunday. Mr State Department would like Mr Y. ho- managing successions and the Press Kamaraj and a section of the splin- B. Chavan to take over and in the kis- corps has developed its own finesse tered syndicate wanted Mr Morarji meantime, Mr Chavan should have ge, in reporting the unedifying spectacles Desai to win but took him for a ride. the time to build his own all-India no- of chicanery and intrigue of the kind The man who on Friday had declared faction, which is what he has been the one has read about the last days of his "ultimate" resolve to fight it out doing all these months. A certain Ce- the Moghuls. Nevertheless, record- in the country's interest settled for Big Business house wanted this too, hat ing the happenings in New Delhi's Deputy Prime Ministership, all in because the State Department wanted ~ to semi-colouial quarter is a depressing the country's interest. it. Mr George Fernandes, the SSP's nd exerClse which only Michael Brechers What was achieved was a low-level stormy petrel who trounced Mr S. K. een would relish. But then, it is one way equilibrium on Sunday. The unani- Patil, was invited for a talk by the he history is recorded, even if it be with mit} at the top, bizarre as it was, con- head of this business empire and .the the paste-pot and scisscrs. cealed the factionalism at all levels. conversation turned to the leadership ive. Everyone wanted Mrs Indira Gan- Perhaps with an open contest, the tussle. When Mr Fernandes said he his to win-the State Department (it was present Government at the Centre thought Mr Morarji Desai might win om- a contest between the State Depart- would have collapsed in six months because the Congress MPs were dis- fter ment's candidate and the CIA's, an and necessitated .a mid-term election, illusioned with Mrs Gandhi's weak ICe. American correspondent deadpan- but it might now last two years. In leadership, the inclustrialist said they ho ned uncharitably), the Kremlin, a the bargain, the bosses whose role would not let it happen and they ary certain Big Business House, and Mr would have been anachronistic in a were already working for Mrs Gandhi ght Dange. And she won ritualistically contest have managed to rehabilitate and the Americans were also for her. his in the presence of a large assemblage themselves because a free exercise of Mr Fernandes told some of us about C. of defeated Congress leaders, plain- votes by the Congress MPs would this and wanted it reported. ost MARCH 17, 1967 7 967 NOW The Syndicate and Mr Kamaraj There it. ended and the meeting at was needed was to buy 90 votes with were determined to scuttle Mr Y. B. Mr Kamaraj's place failed as expect- a crore of rupees to subvert demo- Chavan's chances and the formula ed. There was another summit in cracy in the Congress party and the was corurived to deprive him of his the evening which also failed. country. special position in the Cabinet. As The settlement did not come Mrs Indira Gandhi was sure of ~ Home Minister, he had been trying through Mr Kamara j or the Syndi- numerical strength but Mr Morarji to build himself up. / What is more, . cate; it. came through the mediation Desai was relying heavily on the he~ the only leader who had emerg- of Mr·C. B. Gupta, Mr D. P. Mishra strength Mr Kamaraj and the Syn- ed stronger after the elections and in and other bosses from the States. The dicate was claiming. Syndicate was nowhere to be seen. Maharashtra the Congress had im- ( proved its position after the elections By Friday evening, Mr Kamara j Checkmate Politics ~ while it had lost ground in all the was nearly played out. Others had But the shrewd State bosses like t other States. The same reasons that ..taken over. At noon, Mr Morarji Mr C. B. Gupta and Mr D. P. Mishra l' impelled Mr Patil to fight Mrs Gan- Desai announced his candidature. knew that if Mrs Gandhi fought and r; dhi over the Home portfolio after The sympathies of Mr Kamaraj and won an election, it would mean the II Mr Nanda's resignation last Novem- the Syndicate were with Mr Desai end of the party machinery's control iI ber were behind the Syndicate's offen- but the entire support of these dis- over the Central Cabinet and the a sive against Mrs Indira Gandhi's credited elements would not help Prime Minister. The premium was l\i principal lieutenant whose' solid him win the contest. Mr Kamaraj on a weak Prime Minister no doubt si Maharashtra vote was a major factor had to avert the contest if his clay and the bosses would have liked Mrs st in the struggle. feet were not to be exposed. If he Indira Gandhi to win but they would 0< were in a position to muster, say, not have liked her to get unbridled Haggling 70 MPs, he could confront, Mrs Gan- control of the Cabinet. It was check- m Mr Chavan was against any com- dhi with a threat to support Mr mate politics from now on. Forcing pc promise, for understandable reasons Desai and get her to withdraw But' Mrs Gandhi to take Mr Desai into hi even when Mrs Gandhi began waver- he dared not risk backing Mr esai the Cabinet in any capacity would be ha ing. The formula was .not Mr Desai's against her lest she scored a s. ash- a psychological brake on Mrs Gandhi sel but when it was put across to hirp, ing victory over all of them. in the new Government. of he agreed to it. But when Mr Ka- Friday night, the tally was: 125 Mrs Gandhi had relied far too PI; maraj tried to sell it to Mrs Gandhi, hard-core votes for Mrs Gandhi and much on the State bosses but in the the plans went awry. Mrs Gandhi .105 for Mr Desai out of 436. The last minute, she was not too sure of C. did a bit of pla,inspeaking to the Con- rest of the votes had been promised their support. For instance, Mr Ka gress President. She would not tole- to both the sides or were just Nijalingappa was for Mrs Gandhi des rate any pre-conditions to ministry- floating. but only if Mr Desai was also in the making as the price for an uncon- Mr Morarji Desai's hopes lay in a Cabinet. Mr Brahmananda Reddy obt tested return. There was a footnote revolt by the MPs a~inst bossism. was wholly for. Mrs Gandhi while extl of irony to it because Mrs Gandhi A Chief Minister who controlled Mr D. P. Mishra's support could not the was inducted to leadership through the block vote in 1966 and could be taken for granted. Mr C. .8. hav pledge it to one leader or the other a rigged-up election by Mr Kamaraj. Gupta, the V.P. strongman, clinched griF The Syndlcat,e now began lecturing is now a thing of the past. The MPs the issue. When Mrs Gandhi did a IV on the need to let the Congress MPs resented the efforts of the political d bit of loud thinking and told Mr the choose their leader without outside busybodies to manipulate the choic~ Gupta that she had to choose bet.ween to interference. At the same time, Mr of a leader, relegating those who his advice and that of Mr Chavan thin Morarji Desai, who had all along really had to have the say to the who, she said, commanded 45 votes leng protested against the role of the Chief background. The Congress MPs in the contest, Mr Gupta politely re- rOle Ministers and the Congress President, were clearly in a belligerent mood, minded her that he controlled a "few and found himself supported by the ele- out to defy the bosses. But at the more votes" and if he did not sup- dras ments whose role he had detested same time the power of the Big Busi- port her she would lose. supn most. ness house could be felt by those who The "hawks" in Mrs Gandhi's Cent When Mrs Gandhi called on Mr had a ringside seat in the contest. camp were against any settlement and pnn Morarji. Desai on Friday, and offered Limousines of the Big Business house Mr Chavan, Mr Dinesh Singh and supp him the No.2 position in the Cabi- wp.isked off the new MPs the mo- Mr Asoka Mehta led them. The IS a net and nothing more, Mr Desai said ment they alight,ed from train or uncertainty att,aching to the State and the formula was not his but he had aircraft and they were accommodated bosses who had earlier pledged sup- from accepted it in the interest of party 10 hotels and posh guest houses and port to Mrs Indira Gandhi and had waul, unity but she was rejecting the for- herded into Mrs Indira Gandhi's now made their support conditional Chief mula. Whereupon Mrs Gandhi t.ried camp. There was so much money- decided the outcome. Mrs Gandhi MrC to tell him that she had great confi- they say a crore of rupees chasing the had to relent. Homl dence in him and once he was in the floating votes. How vulnerable could Rut what did Mr Morarji Desai build Cabinet the details of other things Indian democracy get t.a be? In the gain? Mr Kamaraj had asked him D. P. could be worked out. Mr Desai said Lok Sabha, the Congress has 280 votes to put off the announcement of his Minis that if she had great confidence in which means a spurious. majority. candidature first. He did it. But Kama him, they could clinch it then and Of the 430 in both the houses, a can- after he had announced it, he was avetti there and there was no point in wait- didate needed only 215 to win. If asked to put off release of his appeal Desai ing until he had joined the Cabinet. the hard core vote was 125, all that to the MPs, which he did. His fol- portfo 8 MARCH 17, 1967 MAR( NOW with lowing was getting demoralised and tice of the Kamaraj Plan has been tically, it would lack direction .• Mr emo- was not sure the strongman would undone. Mr MorarJ1 Desai and Mr' Kamaraj underlined the shortfalls in tl the stay strong to fight it out. In the C. B. Gupta are the two who had implementation when he spoke of m~.antime. the Prime Mimster's been in the political wilderness the the party's election rever s. Hut 'Ii'eutenants had gained the psycholo- longest, thanks to Mr Kamaraj's Mrs Gandhi spoke of the need to orarJl gical edge in the escalating election machinations. I}oth of them are re- avoid the "whirlpool of isms", which the campaign. The formula offered Mr habilitated now. That provides a means the quiet death of democratic Syn- Desai three things-Deputy PrIme cynical footnote to the chapter. socialism and a quiet farewell .~. all Ministership, Home and House lea- Mrs Gandhi lost no time in draw- ideological pretenslOIls No won- dership-but he got none. Because ing up her Cabinet. It is an expand- der one hears such a lot about the Mrs Gandhi made clear on Saturday ed kitchen-cabinet and little more, imminence of a Government of Na- ; like that Deputy Prime Ministership and some said in the Central Hall on tional Coalition with the Jan Sangh ishra No.2 were no different. Mr Kama- Monday. It is a lack-lustre Cabinet and the Swatamra. t and raj's plan was to induct his own men but for a few newcomers. FactlOn- the into the Cabinet through Mr Desai wise. it is the Prime Minister's. Poli- March 13, 1967 mtrol if Deputy Prime Ministership meant l the a veto power in Cabinet format.ion. was Mr Morarji Desai must be a disillu- ' doubt sioned man now. The overrated Calcutta Mrs strongman who promoted him was Diary would no longer strong- though still silent. ridled Mr Desai has now known the hu- CHARAN GUPTA heck- miliation of having to seek the sup- Drcing port. of the man who had trickled FTER the rejoicings and the to 4 lakh tons each of rice and wheat. i into him out of power when he could A celebrations, the time for solid Since particularly nothing has been ~ld be have won it, in the name of a con- homework and hard decision. It is procured, the State Government andhi sensus. Earlier he had g-ot him out no use putting blinkers on, the next would need from outside a minimum of office in the name of the Kamaraj few months are going to be frighten- of 2.5 million tons of foodgrains. r too Plan. ingly difficult from the point of view Perhaps Mr Sen did not care; per- n the o rhe man who prevailed was Mr of food supply. Mr P. C. Sen, during haps he thought that, with the elec- He of C. B. Gupta, another victim of the his reign as Chief Minister, did a' tions safely won, he could afford to Mr Kamara j Plan, the man Mr Kamaraj hundred wrong things, and the peo- cut down further the supply of food ndhi despised most. ple of this State have been the suffer- - to the people; or perhaps he assum- n the The classic factional situation that ers. Now that the will of the people ed that the Centre would bail him eddy obtains in the Congress at all levels has asserted itself, we would have out. while extends to the Central Cabinet but condoned nearly all of Mr Sen's As things stand at the moment, d not the Cong-ress party and its bosses now wr mgdoings, if it were not for what the Centre would simply wring its ~. .B. have a chance of strengthening their h( did during his last two months at hands and plead helplessness. For ched grip over the Government leadershIp, Writers' Building. He was despera- the story of procurement of rice this stocks to the States. And let us be through procurement, no amount of . foreign exchange earned by the na- under no illusions. Mr Atulya Ghosh, evocation of patriotic feelings would tion belongs to all the components in so far as he has still some steam be of any avail. The major task of the nation. If, on account of the left in aim, would surely do his here is to cut down on the distribu- former Congress Chief Ministrfs damnedest to stall the supply of food- tive margin. I don't know what pre- misdemeanour West Bengal is no'w' grains from the Centre to West Ben- cisely is the economics of public dis- short of rice, the Congress Govern- gal during the coming lean months. tribution of food, but something ment at the Centre ought to behave The welfare of the people was never must be, terribly wrong somewhere and release the necessary foreign ex- Mr Ghosh's particular concern. If if, while paddy is obtained from the change so that the rice could be got he thinks that by persuading the growers at less than Rs. 20 per maund, from abroad. A government which Government of India to taper off mo- rice to the consumers is still priced could waste Rs 1000 crores worth of vement of grains to West Bengal, he at 80 paise per kilogram me or there- foreign exchange in course of that could enhance the chances of the abouts. If the waste and corruption two week's silly war With Pakistan Congress party's comeback in this in the Government's distribution pro- in 1965, has little business to mount State, he would not then stint on his cess could be weeded out, it should guard on foreign exchange when the persuasive powers. . be possible both to offer a little more people are going hungry. Mr Ajoy Mukherjee's Government to the growers and to reduce the price This year's emergency apart, there ~Ig must therefore come up with a strate- at the consumers' end. Although the is the problem of the future. Rice me gy to meet the challenge, and soon. Congress almost made it appear so, output in the State has to be raised, tio There is nothing like self-reliance, and corruption need not be a part of our and an increasingly larger proportion the first task is to revive the arrange- daily living; one ,or two deterrent of what is produced has to be pro- .., ments for procurement. Time is run- punishments, handed out swiftly in cured on State account'. It is on ac- ning out; by the end of April scarce- the very first days of the new Gov- count of this that I consider Mr ly any rice will be left for Govern- ernment, would change the com- Harekrishna Konar's appomtment as ment purchase. Still, if the machi- plexion of things in no time .. Minister for Land and Land Reve- nery of the State swings into action One has however to be realistic. nue as the best thing that could have this very week, I see no reason why Despite the best of efforts,' only a happened to West Bengal. There at least one-and-a-half or two lakh modest quantity of rice can be pro- can be little prospect for increase in tons of rice cannot be procured. cured in the State during whatever is pro?uction when the small peasants I There is a danger that at the first left of the present season. If the ex- and agricultural workers are left in of hint of the Government's intentions, isting rationing commitments are to the cold. As General Secretary of bagl traders and rich growers might feel be met, and the supply to the small the West Bengal Kisan Sabha, Mr wa~ tempted to move the rice under- towns and cities, which were so Konar knows what the problems are, quit ground. But they can be stalled if severely affected last year, is to be and can be trusted to launch the hills the United Front keeps the political raised substantially, the new gov- necessary measures. What I hope is rem movement alive. Following the de- ernment will have to look for addi- that there will be no tinkermg with time feat of the Congress, the traders are tional supply from other States. Of the basic issues. The people have with somewhat demoralized; if they are the four non-Congress States along given the mandate, and let not Mr Fr told in plain terms that the people the south-eastern half of the coun- Konar be deterred by stray insll1ua~ mol' will not put up with any of their mon- try's map, West Bengal and Kerala dons about China-type revolutions. ever key tricks, I think they will get the are deficit in rice, while Orissa and The Chinese at least do not go about of ba message. The elections have attract- Madras have substantial surplus. begging for food. I would suggest tilled ed a large number of enthusiastic Whatever may be the intentions of for Mr Konar's consideration whether there young cadres into the fold of the Left the Union Government, I would the system of land revenue could arou parties, particularly the Left Com- suggest that Mr Ajoy Mukherjee not, from next year, be linked with blaze munist Party. This is the time to should take the initiative to convene the procurement arrangements: be- ~cape channelise the energy and idealism a meeting of the Chief Ministers of yond a certain exemption limit, there nel of these cadres. While the Govern- these four States. There will he may be either a sliding scale of levy and ment machinery--either the Food umpteen other reasons why these corresponding to an increasing scale dose Corporation or some other agency- Chief Ministers should act in unison of land revenue payment, or a sliding iug t would do the formal approach to the and evolve an agreed strategy be- scale of land revenue corresponding My traders and the affluent growers, the fore confronting the Congress set-up to a rising scale of sale of grain to distric political cadres must be mobilised to at the Centre. But they can make the State. the ce blanket the countryside. It is for a beginning with food. After all, all that t them to tell the villagers that dis- that Madras and Orissa are interested There must be at least one note of the r gorging the stock from the hands of in is to get a reasonable price for protest recorded. During the period crop' the greedy few is necessary not only their surplus rice, something which February 21 to 25, when the election lakhs for an equal sharing of food, but also both Mr Namboodiripad and Mr results were being announced, at the land b for sustaming the nation's indepen- Mukherjee could promise in ad- peak listening hour, immediately £01· some 9 dence. The appeal must be to the vance. nd if there is still need to lowing the 9 p.m. news broadcast in ed agal people's patriotic emotions. buy food from abroad to meet the English, on each of the days All of 400, But there is no question that the needs of West Bengal and Kerala, India Radio had a programme of Wha growers should get a reasonable price. it is perfectly within bounds for the election analysis, whef(~ an American and lakl If the feeling gets entrenched that Chief Ministers to tell the Union political scientist would ask questions ing du the cultivator is being cheated Govern.rnent where to get off. The of a deputy editor of a Calcutta can· bat prel formt'r 10 MARCH 17. 1967 NOW na- nts contemporary. Demoralisation has were fictitious, and the lakhs of rupees of vaccinators, frequently minus .the the spread so fast that, even after my spent had been shared by the farmer mobility of a jeep, are quite inade- 9f's protest, All India Radio would not on the one hand and the middlemen quate for the job. In one. of the 'low· per hap admit that there was any- on the other-the spoils of Rs. 25 worst affected districts, where the ~rn- thing wrong in getting hold of an per well being divided about equl- Collector proudly informed me that ave American interviewer. The Ameri- Iy. Both were happy. The farmer over Rs. 5 lakhs were spent weekly ex- cans would of course always oblige; (albeit temporarily) because he could on relief projects, I learnt that 27 of g-ot they would like nothing better, they satisfy the hunger of his family for a his 34 jeeps were idle as the sum of ich are in the market to take over all our few days. Nineteen years of similar about. Rs. 25,000 required to put 'them . of institutions, including our news me- treatment have sapped his vol'tion. on the road again had not been sanc- hat dia. But does .-\11 India Radio Middlemen were happy because this tioned from Patna. And tIlis, when ~al1 claim that, it could not find one com- unprecedented human misery had mobility is a vital factor in relief mt petent scholar, who is at the same opened unlimited opportunities for operations. ~he time a citizen of this count.ry. to ex- amassing a quick fortune. change views with another on the And 'both we're oblivious to the Politicians To Blame ~re . significance- of the greatest experi- ghastly danger lurking a little d;s- For this wretched state of indiffer- Ice ment in democracy which our elec- tance away. Water scarcity I An item ence in which officials can with im- ~d, tions have been claimed to be? that PL 480 cannot provide, that ~ur punity shelve responsibility and get on - begging bowls cannot be filled with. away with it, the politicians an~ to :0- Rivers gone dry, wells drying up, and blame. Absorbed in deadly in-fight- IC- woefully inadequate measures by the ing, in vicious squabbles to attain Ifr Bihar's Anguish authorities to meet the grim situa- power the Congress politicians have as tion. The charge that the famine in brutally ignored the plight of the 'e- Bihar consequent on the drought is people of Bihar, and, what is unfor- ve J. ELKAY man-made has substantial basis in givable, have involved the civil ser- re fact. After the failure of the mon- vants in their wranglings. 'n IT was December 1966. Mv first soon in 1965 an assessment had been This is not to say that something ts view of the droughtraffected areas made by experts apd stein warning has not been done. A drought that n of Bihar-PatJla, Ranchi, Hazari- given that urgent steps should be has attracted world-wide attention )f bagh, Palamau and Gaya ~istricts- t,aken to forestall the calamity that had to set in motion remedial mea- [r was aerial. Broad, sandy rIver-beds, would otherwise follow. The warn- sures. But unfortunatelv, even the quite dry, snaked amidst low rocky ings fell on deaf ears. relief operations were i~ some ins- e hills and flat brown land. The pilot There was not a drop of rain· in tances blatantly contorted as a part s reInarked that in other years at this January, nor in February, 1967. The of the election campaign in favour ~ time the fields were lush and green level of the sub-soil water was lower of the ruling party. The tragedy is with the crop. than the usual level in June, and it that the system has become too cor- From the ground the scene was far was sinking further-slowly, inexor- rupt for benefits to be diverted to the more dreary and awesome.· In which- ably. The furrowed brows and the people. There is a singular failure ever direction I travelled lay stretches troubled eyes of the farmers held deep to appreciate the poignancy of the of barren, scorched, gaping earth, un- and growing anxiety. 'We now ask human situation. Otherwise it would tilled, unsown, relieved just here and not so much for water for our fields, not be possible for officials to feast, there by struggling patches of green bu t for ourselves, to drink'. they said often with chickens bought dirt around a kutcha well. The harsh sun in village after village. cheap from t.he indigent villageTS, blazed mercilessly on this bleak land- I met a young, energetic lAS offi- when the people are living on boil- ~cape of brown and sepia and ochre. cer. He was gravely disturbed. At ed leaves and berries, and a wholIv And always the white dust billowed such a time of crisis the senior en- inadequate quota of cereals. ' and twirled tauntingly, following gineers were not cooperating or pool- 'What a crime the administration dose on the tracks of my jeep, chok- ing resources. Rigs, so critically few under the Congress raj has commit- ing the breath. in number, instead of working round ted in Bihar I It was shattering, the My headquarters were at Gaya, the the clock, lay idle. At such a time 1 blind, unqualified t.rust the poor re- district worst hit by the drought of Enmeshed in red-tape the administra- posed in the 'Sarkar'. And the 'Sar- the centuT). T was told by an official tive machinery appeared to have kar' chose to trample this tmst in that the worst was yet to come. It brought constructive work to a halt. the mud and make a mockery of all the rains failed in .January the This numbing paralysis in the face its promi\Ses. The disillusionment crop would be ruined. Only two of grim urgency I encountered time has been well reBect.ed at the polls. lakhs of the 6 lakh acres of cultivable and again. Hospitals have a strange- The people of Bihar, despite their land bad been sown and wit.h luck ly deserted appearance these days- acute angui~h and suffering, have tak- some 90,000 tonnes would be harvest- people are too poor to go there for en the trouble to express their will ed against the average annual yield free hospitalisation. A doctor ex- through the ballot box, and shifted of 400,000 tonnes. pressed the fear that the cumulative their allegiance. Let us hope that vVhat abollt the wells? The lakhs efforts of prolonged malnutrition the United Front will turn its atten- and lakhs of kutcha wells that were be- would face the medical team in a tion to cleaning up the administra- ing dug from November on to com- gigantic wave by about April. Small tion and bettering the lot of the long bat precisely this situation? My in- pox is stalking town and countryside, suffering inarticulate millions in the former .aid that most of these figures often in a virulent form. The teams villages. 17. 1967 ,11 draw rheir aid. There are, in fact, India's Food Crisis- laws which require that American aid be cut off if certain kinds of nat~on- alization ta:\<,e place. Thus, offici.iJ From The U. S. Angle ~merican policy demands the im pos- SIble from the developing countries PHILIP G. ALTBACH to create a modern and progressive economic and social system u§ing tra- INDIA'S current food crisis ha~ parently felt that food aid should. be dition~l methods and refraining from brought India into the minds of used as a bludgeon in "convincing" upsettIng the status quo. For it is Americans-both Government offi- India to undertake American ideas of almost invariably upon the status quo cials and the public. India's prob- economic development. And what that American interests rely. lems have received substantial atten- do the Americans propose for India's In the Ullited States, the public tion in the Press. Articles on the food problems? All that is necessary sees. India as a conflict for foreign h famine, on student unrest, and on is to increase production, it seems, pohcy. On the one hand, there is a an the anti-cow-slaughter movement have and a JIlassive influx of technology substantial sympathy for starving 425 appeared in mass circulation maga- on the American model will succeed children in Bihar and a desire to do be Z1l1es as well as in intellectual jour- in implementing this increase in out· something concrete to help them. of nals. And special television reports put. Indians have to get rid of out- On the other, Indian problems are par have brought the food crisis to the dated notions of .agriculture, build presented _in such a simplistic man- ed attention of the American people. more wells, and use tradors and fer- ner through the mass media that sem such deep-rooted problems as cow What does all this attention mean? tilizers. Nothing is said, about the £175 With the overwhelming American problem of land reform and the diffi- protection, corruption in administra- 7.5 p~eoccupation with the escalating culty of farming on small plots of tion and po!itics, and a seeming con- VIet~am war, India can only have a land. Indeed, American planners tentment WIth very poor conditions abo relatIvely small part in American have a positive aversion to land re- are almost incomprehensible to the thr foreign policy. Yet, the American form, particularly when cooperative American people. And one gets the Ne viewpoint of ~ndiq's problems, and or collective arrangements are the impression from the statements of Ah the Image whIch the mass media result. President Johnson's State of public, officials who should certainly dra present of India to the American the Union ~essage of January 10, know bett.er t?at th.is contradictory a s public, is of significance. 1966 "emphaSIzed that the United and over-sImphfied pIcture of India's Nare Although Americans have been States should aid the. developing problems also holds true among Gov taking an increasing interest in the countries with technological assist- many in high places. Bha outside world since the end of the ance and encourage their progress From a purely pragmatic view- Man Second World War, and the United through "private enterprise". With point, the United States will have to posit States is a major world Power, Ame- this strong bias on the part of Ame- continue to support India, and will and ricans are still a remarkably insular rican planners, it is no-t difficult to have to take whatever steps are neces- have people. Knowledge of the "Third see why their agricultural aid pro- sary to maintain a non-Communist VInce World" particularly is limited, and grammes may fall short of ,the needs Government in India. But this is a timesi two wars in Asia in the -past twenty of a country like India. different policy from supplying the have years have not greatly increased this tools needed for a meaningful social patio knowledge. Even official Americans Ignorance revolution, or even social advance- work. have remained suprisingly uninform- Furthermore, American planners ment. Falling stocks of 'American 'babu ed about Asian problems. There is tend to believe that all the' develop- surplus wheat may mean that the bave no question that the quality of State ing countries need is a massive dose PL4SQ ~ood programme may be pers Department officers has improved in of technological aid-American know- changed In some way, but the United facto recent years, but American diplo- how combined with tractors, farm States will, in the last analysis, have in I mats and those responsible for for- machinery, etc. They often ignOi"e to supply India with a minimum of Wh1 mulatipg American foreign policy are c~mplex problems of caste, regional needed foodstuffs. It should be re- menal often unaware of the subtleties of dIfferences, and the political circums- membered that in the last analysis bel' of economic, social, and political prob- tances. American pressure on India th~ .Ame~ican people have only ~ tion? lems in foreign countries. to devalue the rupee is an example mInIn:al Impact on foreign policy. 1962, An indication of the American of this lilck of political foresight. The Issues are so complex that the among difficulty in foreign ec()nomic and And withholding food aid before a Preside11'f, regardless of his policies to a s social. planning is exemplified in the crucial election is another case in will have a more or less free hand: in 196 Amencan response to the food crisis. point. Thus, in essence, American And when the issues are as complex seek: The Johnson Administration ap· planners want nations like India to and far away as India's development, ineffici transform their societies with half- the Administration will have an al- nomic way measures, not realizing that huge most free hand. ration Now is available from problems require massive solutions. of thl Mr S. P. Chatterjee, Indeed, it is very likely that if India NOW month embarked on a programme which margi Steel Market, , is available at railway would radically change her social on the Statesman Office, structure, such as meaningful land booksellers of coarse Durgapur. reform, the Americans would with· A. H. WHEELER & CO. proxi 12 " . because of his base work among the The U. P. Elections masses. Here Mr Jharkhande Rai, a former Revolutionary Socialist and a R. P. MULLICK Communist for quite a number of years, also retained his seat. Did rebel Congressmen hav~ any T HE elections are not the only ceding the elections.-and an exorbi- impact on the election front? Only aspect of the story of Congress tant increase in land revenue and about five per cent of the 260 can- decline in this northern province, for building-tax. The agitation and dida tes they fielded were successful. long considered the source of power struggle by State employees, from the But one must concede th"at they suc- for the ruling party. But they acted pat.waris and non-gazetted staff to ceeded in accentuating the unseen all the curtain-raiser. the men in the Secretariat, State tensions between different factions In terms of figures, the Congress Transport. men as well as those man- contending for supremacy in the orga- has slumped to a mere 198 seats in ning the judiciary and land revenue nisati0'llal framework of the rul~ng an Assembly whose total strength is collection, teachers as well as students, party. There were two more Im- 425, i.e., to 46.5 % of the total num- took a firm hcld of the political life portant factors.-replacement of ge- ber. In 1962, it commanded 249 out of the province even as far back as nuine Congressmen by fair-weather of 430, i.e., 57.8ro of the total. Com- a year before the elections. The politicians and bigwigs among the paratively, the Congress had captur- food Hisis and the upsurge in West top stratum who could work their ed 61.5% of the total number of As- Bengal in February-March 1966 had way up through a series of manipu- sembly seats all over India in 1962 their effect in V.P. For, though, lations with permits, licences and p 759 out of 2842]. This time, it is V.P. apparently was more affluent in sundry official favours; and, neglect 47.5% approximately. . foodgrains, and other kitchen-require- of revolu tianaries and political suf- There were great expectatIons ments like green vegetables and milk, ferers. In fact Congress prestige was about V.P., the province that had the consumer-goods price index there so low in V.P. this election year that thrown up figures like Jawaharlal was more unbridled, because it was a favourite couplet in Budaun district Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Rafi not a direct importer of many im- was: "Congress has caught fire from Ahmed Kidwai; martyrs like Chan- ported items necessary for the con- the fl4me of its own lamp". dra Sekhar Azad and Ashfaq- Ullah ; sumer goods industries. Then there Much has been made of the fac- a socialist theoretician like Acharya was the fact of economic disparity tional fight between the ruling Kripa- N arendra Deo; and strong men like and uneven development between lini group (originally a political pro- Govind Ballabh Pant, Chandra the western and the eastern parts. It tege of Mr C. B. Gupta, Mrs Kripa- Bhanu Gupta, Asaf Ali and Dr Ram is still there notwithstanding some in- lini managed later to outmeasure Manohar Lohia. Its geo-political dustrial, especially power, develop- the latter's influence and carve out position, its resources, its vast area ment in the wake of the Rihand pro- a place under the sun mainly with arid a huge reservoir of manpower jeot in Mirzapur district. The dis- the help of the ex-PSP defectors in have made V.P. an important pro- tricts known collectively as "Poorbi" the Congress like Mr Genda Singh), vince beyond question. In recent region suffer from chronic food the Kamlapati Tripathi group and times, the great strides its people shortage and were on t.he verge of the C. B. Gupta group. But what have made towards economic eman6- famine in 1966. The drought that was the inner reality? Factional pation, the series of struggles by the hit Bihar, hit this region as well. wranglings and jealousies are the re- working class, the white-collar People lived on roots, leaves, crabs sult, and not the cause of undeserv- 'babus', the teachers and the students and the like. Not unnaturally, the ed acquisition of economic resources have left their mark. Against this Congress suffered its worst defeat in and political power by just those peo- perspective it is essential to study the one such Poorbi district; Bahraich, ple who had the weakest base-links factors behind the electional forces where, along with southern (Bun- with the people .. Hence corruption; in 1966-67. delkhandi) Hamirpur the Congress hence, also, disintegration of the Why and how was it that a pheno- failed to secure a single seat. In once-monolit,bic Congress in V.P. menal increase took place in the num- Banaras, 'another 'Poorbi district, ber of rebel Congressmen in this elec- Congress stalwarts like Mr Kar:nla:pati Crypto-SociaIists tion? From. 122 in 1957 to 163 in Tripathi and Mr Raghunath Singh, There is••another denouement to 1962, the number of contestants from Secretary of the Congress Parliamen- the election story of V.P. It is the among the 'rebel' Congressmen rose tary party, went down, the former near-complete defeat of those leaders to a still higher fig~re, namely, 260 in an Assembly and the latter in a in. the Congress who traded in a in 1967. The reason is not far to . Lok Sabha contest. Out of the 13 crypto-socialism of their own. Some- seek: group rivalry and corruption, Assembly seats in the district the times, mistakenly though, called the inefficiency and favouritism, the eco- Congress could secure only 4. The ginger socialists, they' have mostly nomic crisis, inadequate supply of leading light of the Congress in Go- faded out. N ames lIke that of Mr , rationed foodgrains.-a mere pittance rakhpur, Mr Shibbanlal Saksena, K. D. Malaviya, Mrs Subhadra Joshi of three kilos of wheat/rice per who had given up his opposition and Mr Ansar Harvani come up in month in the capital city leaving the role to don the Congress toga, was this connection. Their defeat shows margin to be covered by purchases defeated. On the other hand, a which way the wind is blowing-evi- on the 'open' market, where even Communist turned Congressman, Mr dently the masses have no patience for coarse foodgrains ,had risen 400/<' ap- Chandra Jeet Yadav, retained his seat the spurious .• proximately in the few months pre- in Azamgarh, another Poorbi district, Two other developments. namely, the an, by wa -, ersJ , Jar inil [Therfeher the tobacco, has The mas tan, and low war; the mat] situ. orier sessi< path: At the richer the taste escap serve ,resull •... -;;( t':":',:'.... recog o ',~:". II IlZlllltllllllllUUlInHlllll\\llIll\ll\l\\\\1\1\\1\1111\111\ \\\11111111111\IIIII . State V1 the fl uncer of th< creet iLook for CHARMlNAR's towarc brief rich, deep hrown tobaccos That . for a throug Rich flavour ... unique taste~ That's and h sition i what special, triple-matured tobaccos able. give Charminar. They've made it In ~ India's first billion-seller ••. this ye opposec and one of the' world's accept top-selling cigarettes r Addn tion me man ass. about c< on to sa breed til yeors. , Tftere;iftothing "ike Charmina •• ( - India's greatest cigarette J D AVAlIR SULTAN PRODUCT - , ABC 32 Aud, MARCH the phenomenal rise of Jan Sangh, and the unseen but insidious working China And Our Mandarins by the neo-political Majlis-e-Mush- W!l-rrat (under Dr A. J. Faridi's lead- ership) should also be noted. About 2. Isolationism? .Jan Sangh, it has to be said that its initial character of Hindu revivalism MONITOR has lately undergone a mutation. The steady influx into its party cadres, mostly by refugees from West Pakis- SOME of the most important 1966) . (Far Eastern Economic Re- tan, small and medium scale traders charges made against China· are view, September 29, 1966). As re- and the petty bourgeois employees of that she is deliberately pursuing a gards the non-SOCIalist world, the low but fixed income groups, has policy of isolation, that she not only f1gures (in the next page) from se- worked a changs in the orientation of refuses to form a joint front with lected countries give some idea. the party's programme, mostly a prag- the USSR against American aggres- These figures show a growing trend matic one fitted to the needs of the sion in Vietnam but also obstructs which is also confirmed by the detail- situation. It is more economically the passage of Soviet aid to Vietnam. ed terms of trade agreements con- oriented now, despite the party's ob- If it is a question of economic iso- cluded between China and these session with Communism and anti- lationism, the charge is palpably un, countries. pathy for the Communist Party. founded. As a matter of fact, China's As regards Sino-Soviet economic re- About the Majlis, it \Should not economic relations with the rest of lations they are undoubtedly at a low escape the attention of political ob- the world ha\e, on the whole, been level and, as they were previously servers that its rise was mostly the steadily growing during the last few the most important for China, quali- result of a legitimate craving for the years after her economic recovery in tatively and quantitatively, their pre- recognition of Urdu as one of the the early sixties. Postponing for the sent decline has coloured her econo- State languages. Coupled with it was moment Sino-Soviet economic rela- mic relations with the entire Soviet the fear-complex and the feeling of tions, this is also true of China's rela- bloc. Much is made of the "frater- uncertainty generated in the minds tions even with those socialist 'coun- nal" Soviet aid to China and, refer- of the Muslims by the not-wo-dis- tries that have important differences ring to K. N. Raj's "quite sympathe- creet exhibition of irate intolerance with her on political and ideological tic analysis of Chinese economic questions. Thus in terms of U.S. dol- towards them during and after the growth", Mohit Sen says still more lars China imported from Cuba 72.74, sympathetically that foreign aid- brief Indo-Pakistan conflict in 1965. 81.40, 97.30 million and exported to meaning, for all political purposes, That the Majlis should have worked Cuba 90.80, 109.30, 128.90 million in Soviet aid-"pushed China to a posi- for a political change this time 1963, 1964 and 1965 respectively, and tion of economic self-reliance". How through the power of the ballot box the trade between the two countries "fraternal" was the fraternal Soviet and helped no less than 125 oppo- continues despite! the hard-hitting aid to China? sition candidates is quite understand- February 1966 criticism of Castro It is undoubtedly true that Soviet able. against China. Last year China was aid to China's economic development In essence, the elections in U.P. expected to export 135,000 tons of was of very great importance and this this year showed that the people rice against Cuban sugar. Cuban was never denied by the Chinese opposed the status quo and would imports from China included a mil- leaders themselves. But this is not to accept nothing as unalterable. lion and a quarter cane-cutting knives deny the low ceiling of Soviet gene- and a million files t? sharpen them .. rosity. There was, first of all, no free (Far Eastern EconomIc Revzew, Hong- grant from the Soviet either in equip- kong, September 29, 1966). Again, ment or in money. Since the Soviet Addressing a small opposition elec- Sino-Rumanian trade figures show Union was practically the only aid- tion meeting in 24-Parganas, a milk- that in terms of U.S. dollars China giver till the early sixties--the aid man asserted that he knew everything imported from Rumania 13.8, 16, from other socialist countries being about cows-and bullocks-and went 26.6 million approximately and ex- negligible-this means that China had on to say that even those of the best ported to Rumania 14.1, 17.9, 21.8 virtually no grant component ih her breed did not last longer than 20 million approximately in 1963, 1964 foreign aid. This is, by the way, in years. and 1965 respeceively. (Far Eastern glaring contrast with India where News-item Trade Development, London, Novem- grants constituted 42.3 per cent and ber, 1966). One optimistic estimate 21.1 per cent of the total foreign as- for the value of Sino-Rumanian trade sistance utilized during the First and in 1966 was around 60 million dol- the Second Five Year Plan periods. Distributors for Now lars. (Far Eastern Economic Review, (V. K. R. V. Rao and Dharam Narain III September 29, 1966) . A Czech-Chinese -Foreign Aid and India's Economic U.K. and Europe trade agreement was signed in early Development (Asia, 1963, p. 56). February 1966 which stated that Though these grants were offered ABC MAGAZINE DISTRI- trade that year would have a "certain mostly by foreign capitalist sources, BUTORS LTD. increase over 1965. There-were simi- India had the good fortune of receiv- lar agreements with Hungary (Feb- ing, during the same epoch, some 32 Audley Road, London N .W. 4 ruary, 1966) and Poland (March, grants also from the Soviet Union in MARCH 17, 1967 1,5 (U.S. $ million) the U: first is China's imports China's exports lution, 1963 1964 1965 1966 1963 1964 1965 1966 antago Burma '13.98 (9) 14.00 (6) 6.30 n.a. 25.82 28.20 (8) 18.60 n:a: ne> bas Cambodia 1.53 6.22 6.51 n.a. 9.78 10.42 (II) 13.07 n.a. . ese lin Ceylon 21.13 25.60 36.12 (4) 35.46 29.01 42.90 23.91 n.a. fested Egypt (UAR) 16.38 16.69 45.13 n.a. 19.90 17:84 26.74 n.a. of Ma' France 58.39 49.61 60.09 (6) 45.2 21.09 30.84 43.70 (6) 28.4 revisiol Japan 62.42 152.75 245.04 (6) 164.08 74.61 157.76 224.71 (6) 156.12 clearly West Germany 15.40 25.47 78.96 (6) 57.4 40.80 51.74 72.70 (6) 45.9 with C ferent [Figures in brackets indicate pOSItIOn of economic self-reliance" 1 finite setbacks not for the Chinese ference number of months. n.a. signifies How foolish the Chinese must have alone but for all revolutionary forces, Sen an 'not available'. been in resenting this brotherly act however this may gladen Mohit Sen "Lenin Source-Official Trade Stastistics of the Big Brother and how faithful and his cohorts. The case of Indo- Sen, b) of listed countries as given in Far has Mohit Sen proved himself to be nesia is particularly tragic. This is against Eastern Economic Review, September to proletarian internationalism rAnd an example where, a Communist silence 29, 1966]. not the Chinese alone. The Ruma- Party professing revolutionary prin- interna, the form of materials and equipment nians must have been equally foolish ciples in theory, no doubt sincerely; Mohit for the mechanised farm of Suratgarh in failing to understand and then 16 MARCH 17, 1967 MARCH NOW the USSR, Bulgaria or France. The socialist States, including the USSR, refusal by accusing the Soviet leader- first is a contradiction between revo- are committed ·to send volunteers to ship of trying for a compromise with lutionaries and revisionists and hence Vietnam on the specific condition of the U.S. Government over Vietnam. antagonistic. For example there is being asked to do so by the Viet- They specified their accusation by a 966 no bOasicdifference between the Chin- namese people. So far they have not series of charges in their statement of l:a: ese line and the Cuban line as mani- made any such demand. How can November 11, 1965, where they point- l.a. fested in the major Granma editorial then China be accused of obstructing ed out how early in the same year l.a. of May 5, 1966 against the Yu~osl.av this aid? As regards the passage of Kosygin transmitted to Hanoi -the Il.a. revisionists. In fact the editonal Soviet military equipment, China has U.S. suggestion that to facilitate ne- 28.4 clearly said that )Cuba's diffelrenc~s given an altogether different version. gotiations North Vietnam stop aiding 150.12 with China were in an altogether dIf- Replying to the Soviet accusation that the NLF in the South. Afterwards 45.7 ferent category compared to her dif- China was hampering the transport Kosygin told the Chinese that the ferences with the revisionists. (Mohit of Soviet aid to Vietnam, the Chinese USA should be helped to find a way linese Sen and his party showed excelle~t Foreign MiI}.istry declared on May 3, out of Vietnam. Following John- forces, "Leninist norms", so dear to Mohlt 1965: "China has never hampered son's proposal for "unconditional dis- it Sen Sen, by publishing Castro's criticism the transit of Soviet aid materials to cussion" Kosygin proposed to North Indo- against China and passing over in Vietnam. All military aid materials Vietnam that an international con- 'his is silence this major document in the which Vietnam asked for and which ference on Indo-China be convened nunist international Communist movement. the Soviet Union delivered ·to China without prior conditions. North Viet- prin~ Mohit Sen may be sdrry to know have been transported to Vietnam by nam rejected the proposal. In spit.e cerely that China published in full Castro's China with priority, high speed a1ld of this and without waiting for 1, spe- criticism against herself). Historical free 'of charge ... 'The Vietnamese China's reaction, the Soviet Govern- on, sO parallels are not altogether lacking. Government is well aware of this. ment proceeded to discuss the sug- offen- Lenin had differences with (the later) And so is the Soviet Government ... gestion with the French Government. epared Kautsky as well as with Rosa Luxem- How can the blame be laid at the The Soviet leadership has not de- This burg. The first was a contradiction door of China when the Soviet Union nied these specific charges. If true they : Chin- between a revolutionary and a revi- is simply unwilling to supply good gO" against the stand of the Viet- peace- sionist, the second between two revo- things in large quantities? Take, fm namese leadership which the Sov~et locracy lutionaries. instance, the first quarter of this year. Union has publicly accepted. Let us suppose that the CCP and For this period the Soviet Union ask- here is a handful of its friends in fact hold ed us to earmark a transport capa- Biggest Obstacle recent a line different from that held by city of 1730 wagons. We agreed and The biggest obstacle to· a united portant the overwhelming majority in the in- readied the wagons. However the front lies in the total opposition be- i them- ternational 'Communist movement. actual Soviet delivery Was only 556 tween the Soviet and the Chinese atti- the CPs That does not ipso facto prove that wagon-loads" . tudes to American imperi111ism in re- Japan. they are wrong, neither does it ot Let us, however, suppose the worst. lation to Vitenam. Unlike the Chin- lportant course prove that they are right. We assume that China is in fact ham- ese the Soviet leadership seems to ese and That is, there can be no value judg- pering the transport to Vietnam of believe that the war in Vietnam is a Reports ment exclusively based on the majo- Soviet aid supplies. Does it absolve local affair where, moreover, the USA ~d from rity-minority calculus. Life alone can the Soviet Union of its responsibility has not committed aggression against )m Bel- show who is right and who is wrong. to socialist Vietnam? If there had the entire socialist world and, second- ptly de- Again, historical parallels are not en- been no {evolution in China and if ly, that it is not a part of the global Ilselves) . tirely lacking. The Bolshevik Party she had remained an ally of Ameri- offensive t.hat American imperialism lowever, and a handful of its friends outside can imperialism, would that have ac- has been waging for several years t is only Russia were in the above sense 'iso- quitted the mightiest socialist Power against all forces of national libera- cally the lated' in the international working- of its bounden duty to the Vietnamese tion and socialism. Otherwise it is he intra- class movement before the October Re- combatants? How do the American difficult to explain the insistence of IDe that volution and Lenin himself was supplies reach South Vietnam? Per- the Soviet leaders that there can be en Com- 'isolated' inside his own party more haps China and North Vietnam are no improvement in Russo-American mely se- than once before and after the Octo- in fact allowing a free passage to relations unless the Vietnam affair :h differ- ber Revolutiqn. History, however, American arms and men I is wound up. That is in bct ·what healthy. 'has proved in ./both cases that the China is also accused of refusing Brezhnev declared last autumn short- las never 'minority' was right and the 'over- to forge a united front against Ame- ly after Gromyko, following three nist par- whelming majority' was wrong. I rican imperialism. Both the Soviet 'working dinners' with Dean Rusk nform to Union and China have, each in its and a long session with .Johnson, had ~ charges Viet~am own way, called for a unit,ed front let it be understood that the USSR was pre- Now we come to the crux of the against American imperialism though, was still interested in a nuclear non- rying to problem-the question of Vietnam. it must be submitted, neither has a proliferation treaty. This is also the ~ interna- There are two charges: the Chinese concrete proposal to offer. The So- burden of what Podgorny told the 1t. There refusal to force a united front against viet leaders are apparently ready to new American Ambassador Thomp- Ild differ. merican imperialism and the Chin- have a joint front with China and son when the latter presented creden- between ese obstruction to the sending of other socialist States while the Chin- tials to him. Again, immediately ba, North Soviet materials and armed volunteers ese leaders seem to be bent upon ex- after the bombings of Hanoi and of verbal to Vietnam across China. The second cluding the Soviet Union from such Haiphong, Marshall Wright, the U.S. rent from charge is disposed of quickly.' The a front. The Chinese justify their State Department official, said, "the the CP of 17 [ 17, 1967 MARCH 17, 1967 .~",,---·~"'-T~~'>:-(j{"', , •.. ~"~~<" .. -~ .•.••.". ."'7.~?~,,: :~'~".:"'_ .- ~";".~i·'T_.;~, .....•~ '. ·..•.• ':'i~ . ..;· " ~ Wi. ~------ ) NOW United States was in' continuous con- between the Soviet Union and the known, is officially committed to the tact with the Soviet Union and other UnitedSqtes". What they said they four points and the five points of the possibl countries on all aspects of the strug- had actually proved during the Vietnamese people and many still ruptcy gle in 'Vietnam", . On .June 30, the Korean war when at the cost of believe that it is sincere in its eom- By the day after the bombings, A. Roschin, "heavy sacrifices", they "stood in the mitment. In such a context it is of part Oi the Soviet representative to the Gene- first line of defence of the socialist course arguable whether it would not partv ( va conference, made it clear (hat the camp by fighting side by side with be wiser on the part of t.he Chinese forg~tt~ bom.bings would not affect the possi- the Korean comrades so that the leadership not to take a completely never u bility of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union might stay in the se- negative stand on the question of a . USA from arriving at some sort of cond line". ("Two Diifferences on joint front with the USSR but to disarmament agreement. In reply to the Question of War and Peace"'- give the Soviet leadership the benefit The a reporter's question he said, "If we Peking Review, No. 47, 1963). of doubt by agreeing to such a front did not consider such a possibility Even if one does not accept the ex- and then exposing, through practice, we would not be here". The Soviet treme Chinese .accusation that the its compromising character. attempt at seeking an overall entente Soviet leadership is for a sell-out of Finally, there is a specific charge with the USA is further illustrated Vietnam to the USA, one cannot help against China. by Adhikari. He re- by the latest space treaty which, as a feeling that Soviet help to the Viet- fers to the famous 1923 statement of West German journal has pictureous. namese freedom fighters is little more Lenin envisaging the united anti- quely put it, will ensure a free play than a trifle compared with the imperialist front of Russia, China of "Soviet-American harmony in' the United States help to its puppets. and India and accuses the CCP of far.away, empty space among the This is highly distressing specially forgetting Lenin's lessons by breaking -T~~e~ stars", The Chinese leaders, for their when one thinks that among the so- with the CPSU. One can as well . the Unit part, believe that t.he American ruling cialist stat.es the USSR alone can make the point, as in fact the CCP State. G class is quite logical in its conduct match the USA in every respect and is making, that the CPSU it.self has Address and that what it wants in South-East that, on that basis, Soviet leadership not only forgotten but also betrayed legislatun Asia is not to conquer some terri- is not undertaking any decisive ac- the anti-imperialist teachings of Le, but not ~ tories but to show that revolutions and tion against the USA. It is such a nino It can lalso be argued that the brevil wars of national liberation cari no feeling that prompted J. Sartre's "Les Lenin could hardly {envisage the than Stan longer succeed in the modern world Temps Modernes" (August, 1966) to degerieration of his great party first reasons fo as it is powerful enough to crush write recently. "To declare solemnly under Stalin and then, more disas- tion govel them. (Edgar Snow-"La Guerre that there is a limit beyond which trously, under the Thermidorians led dIe; what Sino-Americaine". Le Nouval Obser- every blow would be met by a coun- by Khrushchev, in the same way as rule but 1 vateur, July 27-August 2, 1966). The terblow; to assume deliberately the Marx and Engels earlier could not many part Chinese, unfortunately, have been risk of war today; that is the surest agreed to proved, on the whole, right in their way to avoid tomorrow the choice programm~ global analysis of U.S. imperialism, between the reality of the imposed matters an however they might have been dub- war and the destruction, one after Office: 24.5471 If? single bed pessimists ~nd warmongers. In another, of the revolutionary statelY Phone: ernment it' fact, as K. S. Karol has pointed out, and movements in Asia and else- Residence 44-4758 I it to make ever since the signing 'of the partial where". _, [ ment on th test ban treaty of 1963, which was mises. A c supposed to inaugurate an era of Looking For Pretext I elections do harmony and peaceful co-existence, As regards China she can do noth- COSMO-TECH tage. Ther the U.S. imperialism has fomented, that is of r ing against the USA except on land, Iron Foundry & Mechanical supported and made a dozen coups and the USA, while trying to avoid ;hustings gh Engineers triumph in Asia, Africa and Latin any involvement in land with her, never tasted America whereas the USSR and its is looking for the slightest pretext to Specialists in: high idealisl allies could do nothing anywhere. bomb her. It is not China alone given practi, RUBBER & ALLIED ("La Contestation Permanente des that thinks that she is the next Ame- only when t Chinois", ibid.) And if the U.S. im- rican target. Such is also the opi- MACHINERY certained ant perialists have not succeeded every- nion of many acute foreign observers the new Mil where that is not because of the resist- like Edger Snow, Robert Guillain, doing. Hen ance of the USSR but because of the K. S. Karol, et,c. But with all this reticence on invincibility of people's wars waged danger the Chinese leaders, instead COSMO-TECH come in We by the local revolutionaries against of trying to extinguish the flames of however, not< the aggressors.· '. war across her border by some sort RUBBER UNIT sympathiesa. Contrary to Mohit Sen's charge, the of compromise with the imperialists, Manufacturer of have-nots. Chinese have never wanted a Russo- are actualy offering their own terri- Making mu American war by asking the Russians tory as a rear to the Vietnamese Industrial & Auto Rubber Parts of people wh( to provoke America in Europe. When fighters. (Declaration of Liu Shao- I precincts on I such a charge was first made against Chi on behalf of the Government of Office & Works: eminds Mr A them about four years back, they re- China, July, 1966). All this when 38A, TANGRA ROAD, . team that ch~ plied that it was a "sensation-mon- barrackino- an China has far greater reasons than the CALCUTTA. I 5 . b gering calumny" and that they were Soviet Union to be "prudent". 111 the galleril "firmly opposed to a head-on clash The Soviet leadership, as is well- "' """1that attracted were the lou< 18 MARCH 17, 1967 NOW possibly have foreseen the utter bank- the Indian national liberation move- ruptcy of German social democracy. ment, by isolating itself from it and By .the way, what about the Indian thus, in effect, by betraying it, and, DO YOU KNOW? part of the statement? Adhikari's secondly, after independence, by party (undivided) seems also to have swinging from infantile adventurism THERE IS A STATE IN THE forgotten this in practice first by to total capitulation ism. MIDDLE OF EUROPE never understanding the character of (To be continued) which occuPies 92nd place in the world IN AREA 29th plac~ in the world IN The Preu POPULATION but Not Without Stings COMMENTATOR THE Calcutta papers are still feeling and the Chief Minister addressing the their way to a firm policy towards assemblage in the compound of the the United Front Ministry in the Assembly. It says that some parts State. Comments on the Governor's of the new Government will have to Address at the joint session of the make up their mind whether they are legislature are, therefore, Gentative going to operate inside the House or but not without stings. Referring to on the road. The indications on the the brevity of the Address Hindus- day were not definitive. It was ob- than Standauf says that one of the vious, however, that the new non- IN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT reasons for this is that it is a coali- Congress Government of West Ben- IT IS ONE OF THE FIRST TEN tion government that is in the sad- gal was addressing itself to its task STATES OF THE WORLD dle; what we have is not single party with "a due degree" of earnestness. And rule but rule by a combination of The Governor's Address showed ONE OF THE FIRST FIVE STATES many parties. All these parties have every intention of cooperating with OF EUROPE . agreed to implement a minimum the Government of India on unem- The name of this State is ~programme but their views on all ployment and other issues. No wild matters are by no means identical. promises were made; and the note of THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC If a single party had formed the Gov- realism will apparently be reflected ernment it would have been easy for in the budget. So many promises REPUBLIC it to make a categorical policy state- have been made and forgotten in the To know more about this State ment on the basis of its electoral pro- last twenty years, that there is per- Read: mises. A coalition formed after the haps a tendency to trust those who Suchana Patrika elections does not possess that advan- come with fewer assurances of a brave Illustrated J-lindi Monthly tage. There is another factor also new world. Considering the number Britta Patrika that is of relevance. Pledges at the of years many in the Government to- Illustrated Marathi Monthly hustings given by parties that have day spent "fielding and bowling", the Thathya Patrika never tasted power are informed by performance was not bad.at all. The Illustrated Bengali Monthly high idealism. How far they can be new Goverernment had not enough Democratic Germany given practical shape can be known time to lay down new and definite Illustrated English Fortnightly only when the relevant facts are as- policies. It may; however, be mis- Yearly subscription for each: certained and analysed. This is what taken if it thinks that it can take a Rs. 2.00 only he new Ministry must be currently whole year to indicate to the' electo- Please Contact: oing. Hence the understandable rate in Bengal that there has been a TRADE REPRESENTATION OF THE eticence on the shape of things to change. GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC come in West Bengal. The paper, Amrita Bazar Patrika says that the 1/39, Kautilya Marg. owever, notes that the Government's Governor's brief speech highlighted ympathies are obviously with the ·New Delhi. the problems confronting the new Phone: 34206 have-nots. Government without any mention of Making much of the large number 122, Dinshaw Vachha Road, the policies and measures that the Bombay-I. f people who crowded the Assembly Government would adopt. This is Phone: 245051 precincts on the day The Statesman not surprising. For, the -United eminds Mr Ajoy Mukherjee and his P-17, Mission Row Extn., Front Government is barely a week Calcutta-I 3. am that cheering easily turns into old and is still taking stock of the arracking and spectators are better Phone: 23-8531 situation it has fallen to its lot to I / I, Kodambakkam High Road, the galleries. The only novelties grapple with. There is no room for at attracted notice of the paper Madras-34. doubt that in the order of priorities, Phone: 87615 ere the loudspeaker arrangements as thought out by the Mukherjee NOW to act as Ministry, food comes first and fore- party to form the Government. In way. An impression has been creat- The argu most. There is adequate realisation the statement of reasons he has given ed that the Governor invited Mr ignoring or-the magnitude of the food prob- for his decision, Dr Sampurrwmand Sukhadia to form the Government Independ lem. Production of food suffered has himself recognised that the situa- not merely because the Congr.ess i's t nde owing to drought and procurement tion of competing claims emanating the largest single party in the Asset mpurna suffered owing to "administrative both from the Congress and the Op- bly but for other reasons as welI~ iven the ·laxity". It is a depressing back- position required of him to exercise The anger of the opposition partie is impart ground but with courage and popu- his discretion. Such discretion, how- in Rajasthan is, therefore, under ng his e lar support which the new men in ever, is not by way of being an un- standable. It will be difficult to can ances the power possess in abundance they fettered right to choose. It must be vince them that the Governor ha Ie holds should be able to get on to the top exercised on the basis of well-estab- acted in a wholly impartial manner s the imp of the problem. The paper thinks lished conventions of democracy. So Criticising the Governor's "tactIes aj's endor that it can safely conclude from the long as these are respected, it is handling" of the situation the pape ould suggi Governor's speech that high prices "churlish" of the Opposition to hurl says that even if Mr Sukhadia su n Rajasth and unemployment, particularly edu- the charge of partialjty merely be- ceeds in forming a Government i rescribed cated unemployment, will engage the cause the Governor was formerly might not be able to survive for Ion erence who vigorous attention of the Government. a Congressman. If the Congress when it has to face an angry Op ider sho as the largest party were either sition which feeb that it has bee ress and A Rajasthani Tale unable or unwilling to form a very roughly treated. The intere uspects th It will take some more time for government, the Governor would have of the Congress would perhaps h the C many papers to grow out of the' had no choice but to call on the non- been better served if the party iput it in a habit of regarding seriously pious re- Congress coalition of Opposition Rajasthan had chosen to go into O~dditional Sl solves of the Congress. Those who parties. Democratic elements in the position as it had already done iunity shou were hasty in their praise for the Opposition ought to realise that cal- West Bengal and Bihar under broad Governor Congress High Command for its liag the Governor names or provok- similar circumstances. What h ongressma/ directive to the Congress legislature ing their supporters to demonstrate happened in Rajasthan will also tatdded wei parties in States not to go in for min- in the streets against the decision is nish the image of the Congress part~ew Assem' istry-making where they do not have not the democratic way of promoting ~ational leadership by creating t arly as poss absolute majority are now in a fix, their cause. They are only helping impression that its attitude to t elings the over the developments in Rajasthan. to bring democracy into contempt and formation of Congress Governme adership Little had they realised at that time ridicule. If the realisation does not in the various States is governed II Mr Su that within a few days the Congress dawn on the local units, it is time expediency rather than by .any rec oring the President would see nothing wrong their central leadership called them nisa ble principle. ear directi in Mr Sukhadia trying to form a to order. The Opposition's claim of For understandable reasons 1 ~first cha~ Ministry, even though the Congress enjoying majority support in the Statesman was much more seve lOrt of at party in Rajasthan Assembly is four legislature as a result of the electo- Contending that none of the happ eater urge] short of absolute majority and the rate's verdict could easily be made ings in Rajasthan does credit to at the une joint front of non-Congress parties good in the legislature itself; it is democratic process the paper sai e is not f has a higher membership. Most of wrong to want to give a demonstra- It needs no great foresight to ap ight well ! the papers have ignored the volte face tion of it in the streets. ciate that the crisis in Rajasthan icitly given of the High Command and judged In an attempt to appease both sides have wide and serious repercussio ngress Pre the issue from the point of view of The Indian Express endorsed the A loss of confidence in the Cong whether the Governor, Dr Sam pur- Governor's action but criticised the party's sense of fairness to its ri nanand, was constitutionally within manner in which it was taken. It is will 'make it impossible to envis his rights to ask Mr Sukhadia to form certainly right and proper, the paper any kind of cooperation between Ab a Ministry. Even on this question says, that the leader of the largest two sides. The country needs ml opinion varied, and comments ranged single party in the new Assembly than anything else new norms of p IV from complete endorsement to utter should be given an opportunity to tical behaviuur to make a peace) disapproval. form a Government in preference to sharing of power possible. This By A . Forgetting what it had written only other parties even if they combine the aspect which should engage a week ago The Hindustan Times forces under a jointly elected leader. attention of New Delhi, at both said: Mr Sukhadia well understands There is, therefore, nothing undemo- official and the political level, rat ES~ITE f that politics, particularly in a State cratic about Dr. Sampurnanand's de- than the aritlImetic of parties in· tIOn tho like Rajasthan, is more concerned cision in favour of Mr Sukhadia. The Rajasthan Legislature. It will b ~e ~any. 01 with power than ideologies. He pity is that the manner in which this grave mistake to see Rajasth t ~atnc~1 would much rather not risk putting was given was "most maladroit". It problem in a purely constituti matIs!, dIll in the Opposition first for fear of must be asked why the Governor of light, ignoring the strong poli 'l'mll~lc anI large-scale defections from his party's Rajasthan required so much time to overtones. The Governor's in lty as all ranks, reducing its dominant posi- discover that Mr Sukhadia is the lea- tion to Mr Sukha.dia came after ~~a Along· tion today as the largest singIe party der of the largest single party in the non-Congress partIes had forme ve man in the Legislature to that of a per- Assembly. Moreover, it is difficult j1:>int front and elected a coml e~.as .well ; manent minority. The Rajasthan to understand the fuss made over an leader. In view of this develop l~blt of tJ Governor has acted in accordance Opposition leader's alleged'remark to of which the Governor, Dr Sam lI .some ( h with democratic conventions in call- the Governor expressing the hope nanand, was given the fullest det c 111 our ing upon the leader of the Congress that he would act in an impartial it was scarcely open to him to g 20 - MARCH 17, to act as if the Front did not exist. decide to hold the show eight minutes famous screen heroine suddenly de- ~en creat-The argument he put forward for later than the time-schedule? Is it cides to sneak out of her compa~-t.;· rited Mrignoring the present affiliations of because they want us to know that ment and 'the train steams off with- vernmentIndependents is "as unrealistic as it Abhyudaya does not have another im" out her, nothing like it. And ...s6 mgr.ess is.s tendentious". Predictably, Dr portant thing: punctuality? Naayika Sambad, supposed to be a he Asse- mpurnanand's curious logic has Abhyudaya's "Tam Nei is a play romantic corney built on such a situa- as' welldriven the Opposition to question set against the background' of the tion and having all the ingredients )ll partie is impartiality, and people to bern- stage. Following 'the pla.y within a of the popular commercial film, has. • e undering his effigy. This in no way en- play' convention, a story is told about the surest box-office. guarantee. lit to conlances the prestige of the high office five persons with semi-sexual or 'semi- Urmita, a famous film actress is left ~rnor hane holds, but even more disturbing psychological problems in their lives. alone on the platform of a nondes- 1 manners the impression given by Mr Kama- Whatever novelty of them might be cript railway station and this poor • "tactles~aj's endorsement of his action. This claimed in the handbilI, it is a feeble creature goes to the stationmaster's the papeNould. suggest that the developments variation of Pirandellian technique. quarter for shelter. Next morning, hadia sucn Rajasthan have followed a course As a dramatist, Kiron Moitra largely the girl is introduced as the station- rnment i:>rescribed from New Delhi, an in- banks on theatricality; using many master's wife who has arrived with- ve for lon~rence which cannot but lead to a traditional stage-conventions and very out notice and a romance ensues be- 19ry Opp 22 MARCH 17, 1967 the own : on )oli I that cce-• .... I For you !/ lUr- the by at for No me nst th- n· , ie- o- n- It e- n IT y , i~~~t) No. C 287 'NOW March 17, 1967 r u .. RENOWNED MANUFACTURERS Qf • Texiile Mach.iner~ • Machine Tools ." j • Steel_~nd Grey Iron Castings • Rolling Slack • Hydraulic and Heavy Structuses '-, • Suaar~ Mill Mllchinery • S~11 Boilers!. COLLA BORA TORS; • Mis. Howa Machinery Ltd .• JAPAN • MIs. 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