India’s nuclear deal with US and the opposition from the left has once again exposed their political emptiness and goes to prove why their political ideology has a very few takers in the country. The Berlin wall falls, China embraces capitalism, Soviets disintegrate, North Korea succumbs but still there are few communists left who continue to live in their own red castle closing their eyes to changes sweeping across the globe. The Chinese are on the other hand fortunate. They don’t need to  spend much in  foreign intelligence so  far as India is concerned .The Communists are doing a fine job that they themselves could not have achieved through their own  intelligence wings – stopping the N deal , preventing from going to IAEA or creating  all those situation to make the Government weak , tank the Sensex  causing  uncertainty at the centre or leading to  further inflation as a result of all these.

So strong  is their  ego that the gang of Prakash Karat who have never won a single Lok Sabha election but still aspired to be in the Parliament through Rajya Sabha, finally join hands with the Mayabati led BSP .  Where goes their so called ideology or ethics?  When it comes to power politics they too toe the usual line of conscience trading like any other political party. These blue collared comrades in ivory towers are mostly the podium speakers than the ones fighting alongside the working class on the frontline holding their dead political ideology above national interest. They lack ability to manage transformation – take Singur or Nandigram for example. The intent was right but could they manage it? The new generation of communists simply lack the wisdom and finesse to manage such transformation. There is a complete thought bankruptcy.

In multiparty democratic India this is one of the biggest challenges today. The intelligentia is shunning politics today.  Again coming back to the context, where were the communists when the Chinese Government unleashed their terror on the Tibetans or forcibly occupied Tibet?  Did Brinda Karat sit on a dharna infront of the Chinese embassy? Why are they silent over Chinese intrusion into Arunachal Pradesh and why dont they use their good offices to mediate peace between the two countries and help resolving the long pending border disputes?

Following Rajeev’s unfortunate death in 1996 when the country desperately needed a consensus Government for stability at the centre to tie over the crisis and appealed to veteran communist leader Jyoti Basu to be the Prime Minister, the same communist elite think tank turned it down and thereby pushed the country into uncertainty. History shows they never take responsibility but prefer to enjoy the fruits of being an allay of those in powers. Who then are the burgeons? In 1964, the communists got divided into two groups on silly matters over China forgetting their essential commitment to the working class and the Nation. I am yet to find their reaction over the much reported stealth nuclear sub marine build up by China which is a major threat to India Where does their loyalty lies?

We need power. We need NSG and the IAEA with us to break from the nuclear apartheid. This is the need of the hour and more so when we are exhausting our natural power sources.  And we know, Uncle Sam does not give anything free – you take it or leave it. There will always be strings attached and we need to make the choice. It’s a simple trade off that we all must recognize and hold national interest above our self ego, myopic vision and partisan politics. There is no mid night betrayal to you my dear communist friends as you are crying around, it’s a wake up call.  Now or never.

More than whether we finally manage to sign the N deal or not, whether the UPA Government proves its majority in the parliament or not, it’s a test of how history would remember you.