THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2003
CPM takes stock of Islamic terror
BHASKAR ROY
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
NEW DELHI: Taking a break from its exclusive concern with the fundamentalism of the sangh parivar variety, the CPM is also reckoning with the threat being posed by Islamist groups.
Undisclosed to the media, the party politburo at a meeting on January 4 took note of the serious challenge from the fundamentalist outfits being spawned by the ISI with apparent help from the Khaleda Zia government in Bangladesh.
The discussion in the party forum took place in the context of the coming assembly elections in Tripura, where the Marxists had been in power for two successive terms now.
The party, which has long been squeamish about openly discussing the links between Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, now blames the new regime in Dhaka for the sudden spurt in subversive activity this side of the eastern border.
``We have noted with concern the activity of extremist and fundamentalist groups along the Bangladesh border,'' politburo member Prakash Karat told The Times of India on Wednesday. He pointed out that the presence of two Jamaat-e-Islami ministers in Khaleda Zia's cabinet itself was an indication of the new regime's fundamentalist leaning.
When West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had first openly talked about the mushrooming of madrasas along the international border as an indication of the assertion by Islamic fundamentalism, he had to face severe criticism from a section within the party.
The party seems to have veered round to his position since then. ``Because of the border and the fact that fundamentalism has grown and found representation in the power structure in Bangladesh, they are now trying to penetrate West Bengal,'' Karat said. He also admitted that the recent gruesome killings of schoolgirls in the Kashmir valley was a confirmation of the presence of foreign mercenaries there. ``This could not have been the handiwork of local militants,'' he said.
Clearly there has been some rethinking in the CPM on the phenomenon of terrorism as an expression of a fundamentalist ideology. One obvious reason is the threat from such elements to the political stability in West Bengal where the minorities constitute one-fourth of the population.
However, the party insists that its position on Islamic terrorism is significantly different from that of the BJP. ``Our criticism of the BJP-RSS is on the ground that they see only one shade of terrorism -- Islamic -- ignoring the fact that it could have other sources like ethnic aspiration or assertion by a majority community,'' Karat said.
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