India’s nuclear deal with the US: Karat is playing Indian Marxists’ Great Game with the Great Satan

By John Cheeran
The rump of the Indian revolution, the Indian Left, is playing its Great Game over the nuclear deal with the United States.
Prakash Karat is an honourable man, a rare specimen in contemporary politics, but he is limited by the CPI (M)’s the anti-United States agenda.
Karat and his fellow communists oppose the nuclear deal in the name of national interest. Congress is rooting for it in the name of national interest. Faced with dwindling global oil reserves, the country should embrace alternative energy sources, says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. And the UPA allies including M Karunanidhi, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan all buy that line.
But even more pressing national need is to stay in power at the centre. That’s why the UPA allies are urging Ms Sonia Gandhi to exercise caution in case she wants to use the stick against Karat.
The only yogi in the current game seems to be Karat and to certain extent his Left followers. A national election means little worry for CPI (M) and CPI because they have nothing to lose outside of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. They might have a diminished presence in the Parliament, but presence, they surely will have.
And one should not ignore the fact that by standing up against the great satan, the United States, Comrade Karat is sending out a clear message to Muslims, who comprise the 18 per cent of Indian population, that here is a new Saladdin to their rescue.
Karat’s stance on the nuclear issue is a dead giveaway that Indian Marxists have abandoned the revolution and now hope to survive riding the regressive sentiments of a besieged segment of the society.
It is great tactics, but awful politics.
Going green was not meant to be like this.