India's increasing proximity to the US was preventing it from pursuing an independent
foreign policy, India's CPM leader Prakash Karat has claimed, as he expressed concern over the rise of neo-liberal capitalism that has resulted in gross social inequalities.
Speaking at a University of Cambridge conference last evening in memory of noted Marxist historian Victor Kiernan, who taught Karat at the University of Edinburgh in the late
1960s, he said the Indian Left today was facing similar kind of challenges that it faced during the 1940s.
"Today the Left in India is confronted with three challenges: the growth of neo-liberal capitalism that is leading to widespread social inequalities; the continuing challenge to bring about agrarian transformation; and the fight against entrenched oppressive institutions such as caste," the CPM general secretary said.
He said India's increasing proximity to the United States prevented it from pursuing an independent policy in international relations.
This proximity, he said, was also having an impact on domestic policies, including in the agricultural sector.
He said the rise of neo-liberal capitalism was a major challenge to the Left forces in India as they were the only political force in the country with "alternative policies".
Calling himself the only 'non-scholar' among the speakers that included academic stars such as Eric Hobsbawm and Christopher Bayly, Karat recalled Kiernan's friendship with Indian Marxists such as P C Joshi and EMS Namboodiripad and added that he was always unrestrained in his criticism of some aspects of the Communist Party of India.
Kiernan, who died in 2009, met Karat the last time in 2008. Recalling the meeting, Karat said Kiernan was concerned about the rise of communal forces in India and the 'great impact' they had on Indian politics.
He was concerned how India would deal with the challenge, he said.
Kiernan, who lived in British India between 1938 and 1946, often criticised Indian communists for their lack of interest in theory.
Karat admitted this 'deficiency' and quipped that the Left in India was still "banking on the concepts and theories of the 1940s".
"We need to study the big challenge posed by
neo-liberal capitalism. It is leading to unequal development.
Its focus of exploitation is similar to primitive forms of exploitation.
"This is more important for us because the Left is the only force in India politics that has alternative policies," Karat said.