Left bashing on its opposition to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal has, indeed,
become the flavour of the month. I have the prerogative to be the sole exception
to this amongst those occupying this column space. While it would be a pleasure
to meet the arguments of our detractors, much of the attack on the Left has,
unfortunately, been based on age-old prejudices and not reason. A substantial
section of the media continues to conduct a malignant disinformation campaign.
In this context, I am reminded of the following joke told originally by my
maternal uncle: The Pope once decided to send a Bishop on a goodwill mission
to the USA, warning to be careful of the US media, given its reputation. Upon
arrival in New York, the Bishop, besieged by the media was asked, if his
itinerary includes a visit to a night club! Recollecting the Pope’s warning, he
dodged the question retorting, “are there night clubs in New York?”. The next
morning, the papers screamed, “Arriving Bishop’s first question: are there night
clubs in New York?”.
On this page on August 21st, a former senior officer of India’s intelligence
apparatus slandered that the Left’s campaign against India’s nuclear deal is
“driven by China’s concerns”. He alleges that I, personally, had forced this
government to order issue of visas to a thousand Chinese engineers. There is no
iota of substantiation, as indeed, there can be nothing more preposterous. He
further claims that on the walls of Kolkata, the Marxists painted `China’s
Chairman is our Chairman’. Now, everyone knows that this is the slogan of the
naxalites at the height of their campaign against the Marxists. With such
disinformation guiding our intelligence apparatus in the past, it is no wonder
that we lost two Prime Ministers to assassins and continue to pay heavy price
due to intelligence lapses, the latest being the recent terrorist blasts in
Hyderabad. Thanks to small mercies, this gentleman has now retired!
Be that as it may, those who know of the CPI(M)’s birth and history will know
that for nearly two decades both the international Communist giants – the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China –
opposed the CPI(M)’s policies from different perspectives. The CPI(M)’s policy
directions are always determined by its own perceptions of what is in the
interests of India and its people. Those who are willing to eagerly surrender
India’s sovereignty to US imperialism will do well to refrain from offering
unsolicited advise and certificates of patriotism. If our detractors are worthy of
2
character and substance, then they ought to meet our arguments on their merits,
not through perfidy.
It is aggressively argued in these very columns that any attempt to cap India’s
nuclear strategic capabilities will immensely benefit both China and Pakistan.
Who, may we ask, is vigorously pursuing this Indo-US nuclear deal which, we
are told, will limit India’s strategic capacities, thus, providing advantage to our
neighbours? Could I, then allege that those advancing this deal are acting at the
behest of China and Pakistan?
Such slander apart, we are charged with preventing India’s energy augmentation
by opposing this deal. India’s current power generation is 127 gigawatts (gw).
At the current rates of growth of GDP, this needs to grow to 337 gw by 2016-17.
There is no doubt that if this is not achieved, India’s pace of development would
be severely restricted. The moot question, however, is whether nuclear energy
expansion is the only, or, the best option that we have today?
In 2006, 3.9 gw of nuclear power was generated, 3 per cent of India’s total power
generation. In the most optimistic scenario, after the operationalisation of this
deal, this would grow, at best, to 20 gw by 2016, or just over 6 per cent of the
projected generation.
Further, is nuclear power cost-effective? On the contrary, it is the most
expensive option. As compared to coal, it would be one and a half times more
expensive. Compared with gas, it is twice as expensive. So is the case with
hydro electricity.
Given the abundance of coal reserves in India, the Planning Commission
estimates that thermal energy would dominate power generation in India. As far
as hydro electricity is concerned, given the potential of nearly 150 gw, only 33 gw
has been installed as of 2006. In addition, over 55 thousand MW could be
imported from Nepal and Bhutan. The tapping of such huge hydro potential
will not only augment our energy capacities at half the cost of nuclear energy,
but will also tame these rivers which regularly consume the lives of thousands.
This year’s floods according to the United Nations are `unprecedented’ in
human memory.
Thus, the government’s argument that the Indo-US nuclear deal is to augment
our energy resources sounds untenable. Huge commercial orders running into
thousands of crores of rupees for the purchase of nuclear reactors would be
placed on US. The profit bonanza to multinational corporations is there for all to
see with the attendant benefits to sections of corporate India. Recollect that for
more than three decades the West has not installed new nuclear power reactors!
3
Is India then actually going in for this deal to bolster US economic interests? If
the same amount of resources were to be spent on generating power through
hydro, thermal, gas, clean non-renewable and solar electricity, India’s energy
augmentation would be many times higher. Thus, the nuclear deal not only
exposes India to greater vulnerability, it drains a huge amount of our scarce
resources.
Apart from drawing India into US strategic military alliances in the region like
the forthcoming joint military exercises with USA, Japan, Australia and
Singapore, and the effort at pressurising India’s foreign policy positions, this deal
does not even guarantee full and complete access to civilian nuclear technology
as assured by the Prime Minister in the Rajya Sabha. In fact, the 123 agreement,
forbids the transfer of dual use technologies. The assurances of uninterrupted
fuel supplies also break down if the 123 agreement is terminated. The 123 itself
explicitly states that the national laws will prevail upon termination, meaning,
the Hyde Act. India would be subjected to international safeguards in perpetuity
even after the 123 is terminated.
These have substantive implications for India’s sovereignty in the future.
Instead of meeting these issues, a web of fabrications based on so-called extra
territorial loyalties of the Left is woven. It should be remembered that the Left ,
on many occasions, set the agenda for modern India. Apart from many others,
militant peasants struggles at the time of our independence brought the issue of
land reforms on to the centre stage. Like also the issue of linguistic reorganisation
of the states, through the movements of Vishalandhra, Aikya Kerala
and Samyukta Maharashtra. In this current conjuncture in the post bipolar Cold
War world, the natural tendency in international relations is for the movement
towards multi-polarity. US imperialism seeks to subvert this by imposing a
unipolarity under its tutelage. India’s role in the comity of nations will be
determined by its championing of multi-polarity and its traditional leadership
role of the developing countries. Any alignment with US imperialism to impose
unipolarity will dissolve India’s distinctiveness in world politics. This is
precisely what the Left seeks to prevent in the interests of India and its people.
Meet us on our arguments as we return to our beleaguered Bishop. Badly
bruised by the media, at his first public lecture, he appealed to media persons
that his repertoire of anecdotes is limited as he comes from a small Italian village,
hence, these should not be reported. He was happy that the media agreed. Only
to be aghast, the next morning to read, “Bishop tells many stories, all
unprintable”!
TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE LEFT AND THE UPA REGARDING THE NUCLEAR DEAL PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:
http://cpim.org/nuclear/2008_nuclear-notes.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment