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Post by bhumika on Aug 23, 2007 18:25:22 GMT 5.5
There is, however, an important strand of the Old Left that continues to drive the comrades: visceral anti-Americanism. This has become the new article of faith for the communists and its uncompromising espousal has enabled it reach out to other groups, notably the Muslims, which were hitherto uncomfortable with the Red Flag. Anti-Americanism and anti-Hindutva are the two central planks of the Left’s outreach programme.
Unlike economics, where the comrades are willing to effect compromises or, as in the case of Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, even embrace market economics enthusiastically, anti-Americanism remains an article of faith. It’s the issue that links the Indian Left to China, Cuba and North Korea.
To the faithful, the Left’s threat to pull down the UPA regime on the Indo-US nuclear deal is not an act of adventurism; it is their version of supreme solidarity with the suicide bombers in Iraq and the Yankee-go-home brigade in Venezuela. It doesn’t matter what the stakeholders of India Inc think, for the Left the past week has been inspiring politics.
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