[lbo-talk] MJ Akbar on the Indian election results

ravi ravi at platosbeard.org
Tue May 19 08:38:08 PDT 2009


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Columnists/M-J-Akbar-BJP-Left-face-dilemma/articleshow/4540877.cms

His take on WB:


> The national ethos is shaped by one predominant desire: the hunger
> for a better life. Prosperity is impossible without peace, so the
> passions of sectarian politics, whether based on community or caste,
> have been replaced by the clear understanding that peace is non-
> negotiable. Prosperity, on the other hand, has always been
> negotiable, since it has never been a universal fact. India remains
> a poor country with rich people rather than the other way around.
> The poor want to be part of the India Rising story.
>
> It is odd that the Marxists should have missed this. They lost the
> Muslim vote in rural Bengal, not because of Islam but because of
> poverty. The message from Nandigram and Singur was that land was
> being taken away from the poor in order to create jobs for the
> middle class.

--ravi



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