PRICE 3S PAISE

•

DEATH OF A BLUFF

DECEMBER 21, 1968

THE people of Haryana have been fooled by the Congress once again.Refusing to learn from their experience after the last general election

they allowed themselves to be swayed by the Congress propaganda thatof all the parties, it alone could give the State a stable Ministry. A screeningof sorts was staged to select defection-proof candidates as if the partyabounds in en of inc odible integrity. The ruse worked, and in themid-te~ po ill fuddled electorate voted back the Congress tof;~~ ..nty suffiCient to see it through till the next general

~ as now started repeating itself in all its sordid details,month old Congress Ministry in the State is tottering.

Bhagwat Dayal Sharma is paying back the leaders of his erstwhile partyin their own coin, for it was the present leadership of the Congress whichItad launched a policy of subverting the United Front ministries by playingon the avarice of unprincipled legislators. When some of the UF ministrieswere in trouble as a result of this policy the Prime Minister had saidwith a mixed air of injured innocence and ridicule that the Congress hadnothing to do with it and the UP ministries were crumbling under theweight of their unity. The Fronts were in most cases emergency amalgamsof disparate parties and groups, and it should have been a miracle if theywere able to hold together for long against the Congress onslaught. Thereis no such saving grace for the Congress Ministry in Haryana. It is goingto pieces because of the dry rot in the party.

Elated at the victory of their party at the mid-term poll in Haryanap

the Congress leaders had complimented themselves on their show ofsternness towardst he defectors. The anticlimax in Haryana has neithersobered nor shamed them, as is evident from Mr Morarji Desai's glib talkat elections meetings in this State. Desperate attempts are being made tokeep the Bansi Lal Ministry in office, and eating all their brave wordsabout disciplining the defectors, the Congress leaders are trying to wooMr Sharma's followers back to the party. They have authorised Mr BansiLal to expand his Ministry clearly for the purpose of accom . asmany defectors as possible. Much is being sought to be made MrSharma's expulsion from the party, but his associates have not been touchedso that there may be no bar to their return to the fold. This open-doorpolicy towards the defectors has been supplemented by Mr' Bansi Lal

9

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14

MPR. '.DOR AND HISL

SHEVCHENKOA DRAMA CRITIC ] 6

PTY CANVASBODH KUMAR MAITRA ]6

No. 37

XHIBITIONSAN ART CRITIC ] 7

ditor: Samar Sen

AT MODERN INDIA PRESS.A SUBODH MULLICK SQUARE,

A-13 AND PUBLISHED WEEKLYAa SEN FROM 61, Mon LANE,

CALCUTTA-13

NOT FOR BURNI~GM CORRESPO 'DENT .. 8

TTA DIARYRAN GUPTA

EACHERS?

UKANTA SHUKLA 8

ROM DELHIANA DITHERS

{ A POLITICAL CORRFS-ONDENT

On Other Pages

with' a threat that he might recom..,mend dissolution (of the Assembly.A callow Chief Minister like himwould not have dared to talk of sucha drastic measure unless advised byhis leaders in New Delhi. A similarbluff was tried in Madhya Pradeshlast year but it did not work. Thereis no reason to take such threatsseriously, for the Congress is no lessscared of facing the electorate thanother parties. Mr Bansi Lal wasmerely trying to bully the desertersand his depleted herd.

More unscrupulous has been theway the Governor lOf the State, a

former civilian, is being made to playthe Congress game. He is not, how-ever, a new hand in this matter, forit is he who had recommended thedissolution of the Haryana Assemblylast year when the UF Ministry hada Tslender majority because he wassick of tbe almost bourly ratting.The present situation in Haryanadoes not seem to be any differentexcept that it is a Congress Ministrywhich is in trouble. That has beenenough for the Governor ; he refusesto be bothered by numbers and goesby what the Congress Chief Ministersays. So great is his reliance onMr Bansi Lal that he does not thinkan early trial of strength in the As-sembly is necessary to decide the rivalclaims of the Congress and the newlyformed United Front. The ChiefMinister has set his face against anearly session, and the Governorsees no harm in the uncertainty con-tinuing till the Assembly meets, asscheduled, towards the end of January.In a similar situation last year, an-other Governor, he too a formercivilian, had thought differently. MrDharma Vira could not wait for threeweeks for the West Bengal Assemblyto meet and dismissed the UF Min-istry in West Bengal peremptorily,because on the strength of certainscraps of paper he was satisfied thatthe Ministry had lost its legislativemajority. It seems the powers anddutie~ of Governors vary not mere-ly frb State to State but also fromtime to time in accordance with theneeds of the Congress party; theyhave become willing tools of the

2

FRONTIER

'power game of the Congress, or may-be they are only fulfilling their con-tractual obligations. By such mani-.pulations the Congress is only has-tening the process of disillusionmentwith the type of democracy it pres-cribed for the country.

Congress CampaignMr Morarji Desai, it appears, came

to Calcutta both as Deputy PrimeMinister and as a senior Congressleader. Such a combination of officialand political roles may sometimes beinescapable, but is better avoided onthe eve of elections. Men like MrDesai make little effort to keep the twoidentities separate and do not seemaverSe to using their official positionfor party purposes. Mr Desai knewthat his main engagements in Calcuttawere official; yet he did not hesitateto utilise it for Congress electioneeringas well. If he had come for elec-tioneerins alone, people could havetreated the . ~ a~ it ouLl h".01~ been.One COIlSeuen f th nof two roles was that m. ~ sec-tions of the general pubftc but alsonewspaper reporters (who shouldknow better) seemed to treat MrDesai's election speeches as pronounce-ments by the country's Deputy PrimeMinister. In fact, Mr Desai himselfblurred the distinction by saying atelection meetings things that he wasentitled to say only as Deputy PrimeMinister; for example, his observationsabout the Centre's policy towardsKerala.

There is also the small matter ofexpenses. In view of his official en-gagements, the Deputy Prime Minis-ter's trip was presumably financed bythe Government. He travelled by anIAF plane, stayed at Raj Bhavan, wasaccompanied by officials from Delhi,and-so far as is known-used officialtransport to keep both his official andpolitical engagements in the city. Ifthis is not misuse of public funds,what is? We may, of course, bemisinformed. The Congress partymay, though we doubt it, have paid,or arranged to pay, the Governmentthe part of the expenses incurred in

connection with Mr Desai'said of the party. If so, let thement make this public, and .cing detail. Until this ispublic will be entitled to thepublic resources have been iused. Besides, how does athe expenses of a combinedWhich part, and how large athe air journey should be reghaving .been for party workmany meals did the DeputyMinister eat in his official capahow many did Mr Desai needtain his strength for addressingtwo election meetings in a dayis not exactly levity; it inpoint of principle which tenignored by a senior Ministerthis country.

Obviously, Congress leadersDesai have no time for suchthey must save West BengalCongress, howsoever dubiomeans that might be necessary.meeting on Saturday a few milCalcutta, Mr Atulya Ghosh s

Congress did not want virig other parties and p

went on speaking of "a reignand disorder" let loose bythe United Front. Mr Desai,speaking in Calcutta on the sawas of course far more abusivaccused the two communist paowing allegiance to Russia anddescribed the leftists as "vk' ~r.democratic and subversive",slanderous personal attackMr Ajoy Mukherjee, and, ascame to listen to his speech, askpeople not to be afraid of thsince there were forces in themuch more harmful.

And, of course, much is beingof the allegedly violent tactics eed by the United Front and itsporters. The United Front has agiven its reply to one of its opphurt in a cracker explosion inpore: that it does not believe inience even against traitors. ACongress leaders, it was reportweekend, had received a fewafter a meeting in Burdwan.ever such incidents occur, thereto be no hesitation in holding thetists responsible. Everybody

DECEMBER 21,

FRONTIER

in the London market, and aboutthirteelJ times the price in Cuba.

What a topsy-turvy situation this is,with high-income countries iPaying lowprices, and Indians, who have perhapsthe lowest per capita income in theworld, paying the highest price fora near-essential article. It will be idleto pretend that this high price is beingdetermined by either the cost of pro-duction or the free forces of supplyand demand. If, for example, facto-ries are allowed to mOVedown South,where both the yield per acre and thesucrose content of the cane are high,a reduction in the per unit cost ofsugar would immediately take place.To claim that such a shift would throwout of employment hundreds of thou-sands of cane workers in Uttar Pradeshand Bihar is a plain exaggeration. Ascane production shrinks, there shouldbe scope in these States for crossingover to alternative crops, includingfoodgrains. Given the spiralling offoodgrain prices in recent years, itwould have been in the nature ofthings if acreage had shifted in thismanner towards paddy and other foodcrops at the expense of cane. Officialprice policy, however, has been pre-cisely to forestall any such possibility:efforts have been directed to adjust theminimum price of sugarcane so as tomaintain the competitiveness of canecultivation vis-a-vis other crops, ateach point of time, in all the States.Consequently, cane and, therefore,sugar pricing has been the victim oftwo separate irrationalities: first, theprice has been set in relation to thelevel of cost of the least efficient unit;scond, this price has been continuouslytinkered with to keep pace with theprice of foodgrains.

Scarcely any rhyme or reason inher-es to policy decisions, such as these.At least in foodgrains, particularly rice,there is a worldwide shortage; in sugarit is exactly the opposite. If only theGovernment would agree to import acouple of hundred thousaqd tonnes ofsugar each year-or even emit thethreat to make such imports-internalprices will start to tumble. This couldalso encourage the sugar industry-theState Governments !permitting-to

Bitter Sugar

The International Sugar Agreementrecently signed under the auspices ofthe UNCTAD, has fixed the exportprice of the commodity at 58 paiseper kilogram. If one shops around inthe London market, sugar can be ob-tained at 40 paise, and if Americanwrath can be dared, the sweeteningagent can be imported from Cuba atonly 30 paise. In contrast, the marketprice here is close to Rs. 4.00 per kilo-gram; in other words, the price whichour consumers are being called uponto pay is ten times the price of sugar

to stage-manage suchr propaganda purposes

Front can legitimate-that few voices are raisedence directed against its

.by identifiable elementsonents. A young man,

supporterof the CPI (M),in the Baranagore area

Mr P. C. Sen and someveda few brickbats. Some-CPI(M) worker, pastingposter in Entally, wasdeath, and many other

'ght-wing violence havebeen reported.

nastier 'incidents occur if these gainhim a few more seats in the mid-termelections.

There have been at least 20 politi-cal murders of late in West Bengal,and the number of people killed bythe police in this country in the pastfew months is not inconsiderable. Butto people like Mr Kabir, while vio-lence from the Left is a crime, vio-lence of the Right is always righteous.The fighting kisan is a sinner, themurderous jotedar a saint. Why wasit that Mr Kabir did not condemn thebrutal police attack on those who hadjust ceased to be ministers in Novem-ber last year? Now that Mr Kabirknows where the splinter hurts, heshould be more compassionate aboutother victims of worse violence.

Mr Kabir is obsessed with theent writes: ballot-box. But what sort of demo-that Mr Humayun Kabir cracy have elections produced in thisthe jaw by a cracker at country? Think of what is happen-

e meeting. We hope that ing in Haryana at the moment, ofbe able to resume his what has happened all over the coun-count the election seats try since the last general election. To

e hatched. After all, this sickening sequence..Mr Kabir hase some political soot}- also \leen a. party,. can be takenbusinessmen, and at the for granted' that if his Lok Dal gangsabir is the hero of their up with a hypothetically victorious

.pity of it all is that Mr Congress in February, the bliss willimagines himself to be be short-lived and the game of defec-

oe McCarthy, has neither tions resumed. Five LD members maynor the resources to be be O.K. But if ten or more candi-

as the American. Think dates win, there will be trouble unless: Congressman, Indepen- all of them are included in the Cabi-

his ouster from the Union net. We know the stuff these devoteesBangia Congress, BKD, of democracy are made of.Dal-it is a large litter,begetconfidence. Mr Kabirpolitics almost to a gameing.

uine sympathy for theKabir would have been

but for the way he hasg his head off. In a pre-

statementin the hospital het he had wanted the Gov-arrest Mr Jyoti Basu and

ukhe~eebefore McNamaratown, because it is thesewho are behind the hooli-hooligans themselves are

at the language of one whobe the saviour of West Ben-one who would not mind if

:3

shift towards high-productivity regionslike Maharashtra and Mysore. Im-porting two hundred thousand tonnesof sugar will involvle barely Rs. 2crores woith of foreign exchange, butthe saving for the consumers willeasily amount to Rs. 50 crores.The regime in New Delhi does not

however think in terms of imports: ithas to worry about the election kitty,and about lining the pockets of thenear and dear ones. In one of thosebreath-taking demonstrations of per-verse logic, it is planning to ex:portsugar to the extent of three hundredthousand tonnes annually. The exportwill of course be possible only throughheavy subsidies, possibly amounting toRs. 7 Or 8 crOres each year.This is a scandalous situation; a

Government which propounds and ex-ecutes this t)'ipe of policy deserves tobe liquidated in no time. But India-being India, there is hardly a ripple ofprotest; not only that, sugar manufac-turers as well as rich cane-growershave the audacity to ask for a stillhigher price, which, betwixt this instantand tomorrow, might even be conced-ed to them. After all, the Congresswill have to fight the mid-term elec-tions in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

...

••-KINGHENRY•... f?i~C1I:>1 <P

~~(:~<I~~ -'~. 8'AO~-., -. ~","1"- V

4

..Russians In Nigeria

Thanks to the Russo-British coope-ration, the Federal Government ofNigeria has been wholly succ;essful inblockading Biafra. So much so thatOxfam reports that by Januarycarbohydrates will disappear fromBiafra. Proteins have already gone.The people have eaten up all the yamsseeds supply and so there is no pros-pect of a harvest next year. TheObserver said that 2 lakh people inBiafra had died in October, 3 lakh inNovember and five lakh would die inDecember. At the present rate of de-cimation, Colonel Gowon can reason-ably expect to finish the business be-fore I971 , for the population ofBiafra is 7 million. Or even earlierconsidering the galloping rate of death.But Mr Wilson thinks that helpingNigeria with arms was the only hu-mane way to end the civil war. TheSoviet Union seems to have concur-red.Before July 6, 1967 the dl;ly the

civil war .star.ted;- t~e Russians u~ed tobe called by the NIgerian _ radio theirworst enemies. Not so now. "'fhe SovietAmbassador- in Nigeria made a televi-sion broadcast on the Bolshevik Revo-lution for half an hour this year. Itwas the first time that any foreignnational day was given importance bythe Nigerian national television, Thegovernment press and broadcastingservices kept absolute silence on theRussian entry into Czechoslovakia.The Nigerians are grateful: when

the U.S., having its hands full withVietnam, refused to export weapons toNigeria, the Soviet Union became themajor arms supplier to ColonelGowon: Mig 17, Ilyushin-28 bombers,jeeps and commando cars. Even ship-ful of aerial bombs, which the Britishfelt too queasy to supply, were sent toNigeria by the Soviet Union. Recent-ly the Migs and Ilyushins killed civi-lian people in the crowded city ofUmuahia.The hitherto small Russian Embassy

in Lagos is now a concrete fortress,holding 13 diplomats. Till now, therewere only American and British mili-tary attaches in Nigeria; now the

Soviet Union has contribut,According to a captured f,soldier, Nigerian troops aretrained by the Russians.Not by arms alone. A 8-ma

team of economic expertsNigeria on November 10 and c,cd a bilateral economic and t,assistance agreement for a $1lion project to construct all if,steel complex in Nigeria.It is no mystery that the

Government should help theGovernment of Nigeria. Britidents may protest against tbsupply, Oxam may demand mBiafrans, but the British Gove.could not care less. It has tofirm conlrol over its erstwhilethe seeds of dissension being sitself before it left the country,no one explains why the Sovietshould back the reactionary andelements of Nigeria in prefethe bourgeoisie and work~ngBiafra. Is it because supportto Nigeria would boost its ithe predominantly M,uslimqst? The Rausa, Fulani,and Nupe, the major tribes ofria, are Muslims. Or possibKremlin thought that backingwould help to win the hearts 01can States, to which Balkaniza'a frightening word, althoughno particular meaning in theof the pluralistic cultures of AfdmOre possibly, the Soviet Unio:banked, as did the British,bigger numerical forces ofwhich, it hoped, would finish Bino time. Whatever the reasondifficult to 'find any facade of i,gical justification for the Russiato Nigeria.

FRONTIER is available IT,

Eastern Book Agency,

Khadimpur,p, O. Balurghat,

West Dinajpur.

DECEMBER 21,

contributeptured f::Jops arens.

A 8-maexperts10 and c

nic and tefor a $1

uct an irria.that thelelp the'ia. Britigainst theemand mesh Gave[t has to~rstwhilel being soe countryhe Soviet'nary and1 prefe'ork~ng

support>t its .[uslim'ulani,tribes of

possibllackingheartsalkanizallthoughin the; of Aiet Unioritish,es ofinish Bi

reasonIde of .

Russian

:R 21,

the latest phase of man-atching in Haryana, a new-

Congress myth dissolves in theolution of the legislature and'ons need not necessarily

ections Or check political in-here politics is just back-

Defections are a phenomenonndi belt, like the cow protec-And it is mostly a CongressThe Prime Minister should

be happy that Mr MorarjiPar!ir>mentary Board mem-rITeof Hary'ana under the

• "zonal" dispensation, haste size. Mr Desai's chela,lit Dayal Sharma, who ledit 'Out of the party, whichthat even Gandhian plati--

e ~pe popularised by Mro foil against the backwatd

the cow country. When themeets early in January, it iseans certain that the Bansiry would not be toppled be-politics of defection has an

logic all its own. If Mrwanted to test a politicalHaryana, he must have foundexperiment has failed. Aelection is at best a super-. n to the political pande-

aD the way from Chandigarh-and Delhi included, whereare so primitive.raises the larger question.

Con~ress keep Punjab, Uttaror Bihar even if it wins thepolls? The leadership's ap-the mid-term elections has

lackadaisical that the partypaddock with practically no

preparation. For instance,been done these two years tothe party? A third of the

seats in the country is atthese States and about 40 perthe country's electorate is in-Finances are still a big prob-

the latest party directive

that individual leaders. who collectfunds should make them over to theparty would only encourage the leadersto collect the funds and not to dis-close them to the party at all.

The Government leadership's onlyconcern now appears to be the fanciedNaxalite revolts in several parts of thecountry. What is significant is thatthe same set of bureaucrats in theHome Ministry who psyched Mr G. L.Nanda into ordering a mass round upof the Left Communists in 1964 areplanning the policy still. Last week,the Home Secretary, Mr L. P. Singh,wrote to the governments of Assam,West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradeshand Andhra Pradesh alerting themabout possible Wynad-type attacks onpolice stations in the months to comein these States.

The Home Secretary's letter is inshort a time-table of the projected up-heavals in various Naxalite pockets inthese States-where and when a raidcould be expected. The communica-tion makes hardly any distinction bet-ween the amateurish KeraJa raids andthe· clashes· that might resu1t in thecontext of a genuine agrarian unrest.Secondly, the communication makesit appear that it is the Centre's policyto attribute any organised peasantmovement in the country to the poli-tical leadership of the Naxalites. TheCentre's communication would onlyencourage some of the State govern-ments to adopt this easy recourse tocover up other things. For instance,the attack on a bus in a tribal tract inAndhra Pradesh, first attributed toNaxalite Girijans, has turned out to bea clash between two Congress factionsin the area.

One is struck by the obvious differ-ence between what Mr Chavan hasbeen saying in Parliament and whatthe minions in his Ministrv seem tohave taken for granted. The HomeMinister would not ,presume that theKerala raids had anything to do withthe call of the AIl India Co-ordinatingCommittee of Communist Revolution-aries which met in Calcutta in Octo-ber. But his Ministry's letter to theStates suggests that the silly adventur-es in Kerala were part of the NaxaJitemovement in the country.

Looking back on the Kerala inci-dents, one is struck by the obviousabsurdities about them. Ajitha wasparaded by the police as though shewas an exhibit. And Mr KunnikalNarayanan has been presented to thePress after his arrest to proclaim tothe world that the world's one andonly genuine revolution has failed andthat he was a Maoist. The CriminalProcedure Code does not permit thiskind of absurdity.

On the whole the Centre is in a fair-ly comfortable position at the moment.There is no prospect of the long-awaited Cabinet reshuffle until theNagercoil by-election next month. MrKamaraj is the Syndicate's favouritefor inclusion in the Central Cabinetif he wins the by-election. It shouldbe a marginal victory, even if hemakes it, thanks to the trianoular con-otest. But the Centre seems to be mis-calculating things in Madras State. Forinstance, it thinks the DMK's stand onthe language issue has softened consi-derably. Nothing has been done toeqmilise the language burden the Lan-guage Policy Resolution imposes onthe non-Hindi people. On the use ofHindi commands in NCC, the Centrehas not relented a bit and is out to gettough with Madras and go ahead withits plans to revive NCC training in theState from the next academic year.The deadlock over the three-languageformula continues. In All IndiaRadio, English has been pushed to thebackground and Hindi has been instal-led as the super-language of the coun-try, which is enough to offend theTamil sentiment.

Mr Annadurai's desire to softpedalthe language issue and its fairly res-pectable showing at the Madras CityCorporation elections have given theCongress a false sense of confidence.Slick public relationing by New Delhimight have got the DMK leadershipround but not its following. Thestudent movement in Madras State onemotional issues might well overtakethe DMK and. even if Mr Annaduraiwant's it secretly, Mr Kamaraj's elec-tion to the Lok Sabha cannot be takenfor granted.

DECEMBER ]5, 1968

5

DECEMBER 21, I

nincompoops as ministers, wthe exigencies of intra-frontpolitics ; it cannot afford to beto the unscrupulous and inefficiof senior civil servants and po]icials who are at present ruliroast in the State ; it has to hacourage to alienate the jotedathe industrialists; it must notpetty jealousies in the way oftive power gravitating towards g]y able ministers ; and it mustprogramme of sweeping agra'form which will not be bondedniceties of conventional law andFinally, it must not be scareding a confrontation with NewThe trouble with the United Fthat by now it has turned into awith many ]odgings; some of thserve to be weeded out. Thereno dearth of counsel that theministry should this time hasten]y, must -first consolidate itshold over the State before subsproblems are taken on hand, faw: e the whole thing might onceblow up. But this is preciselmity. The whole tone of the newmity. The whole tone of the nenistration will be set by what it .to achieve during the first coupmonths. If it starts out by belike a Nervous Nelly-as it elilast time-it will never bethe opportunity to consolidate ifluence : New De]hi would hemthe Governor would browbeat iragamuffins of the civil servicefrighten it, the police would ]astray, and the rural racketeersurban industrialists would sweetinto non-activity. Does the UFront have the courage to stanto the hostile forces and push tits minimum programme? Ifturn out in the way it is being apated it will get its second chanceFebruary. If it muffs this one toopeople of the State, for alI onesermonise, would make up theirand turn-perhaps towards aout direction.

I{. I{.

It was graceful for the Front tomand last week that Mr Kanu Sand his comrades be accorded thetus of political prisoner. Cynics

Governor. Contrary to what eventhe United Front had feared, thefloods in North Bengal-and the con-sequent 'postponement of the poll-instead of improving the prospectsfor the Congress have made them im-mensely worse. The ineptness of thelocal administrators, coupled with thecasual way of dealing with evengrave matters in Writers' Building,has fouled up beyond redemption theparty's starry-eyed plans to cash inon the goodwill of official relief ope-rations. The rest of the debacle hasbeen Shri Dharma Vira's very perso-nal contribution. It had taken himsix days to descend from Darjeelingto Siliguri in that grim week follow-ing the fury of the October 4-5 night;even that descent was not an autono-mous movement, but was induced bythe visit of Mr Morarji Desai. Andthe Governor has stuck to his owncode of manners. H could not sparethe time to meet the representativesof the Jute Workers' Union to dis-cuss the problems faced by the80,000 retrenched workers un the

jute industry; he was "much too'busy'O to meet the 'union leaders,they could leave the relevant papersbehind. Busy with what? He hasseemingJylenough tlme to "inaugu-

rate" film shows, to go to the GolfClub, to adorn cocktail occasions, todeliver glib perorations to chambersof commerce. By his disgracefulbehaviour, with every day, the Gov-ernor must be making the Congresslose at least 100,000 votes. MrAtulya Ghosh, it seems, would neverput up with Mr Dharma Vira; nowhe has the objective reason for notbeing able to.

I{. I{.

So the odds are for the UnitedFront's returning to Wtriters' Build-ing. But what will it do with this vic-tory? The thirtytwo-point program-me is a pot pourri of generalities; ifgood intentions are to be translated in-to reality, the Front will need strongwill power. It cannot afford to carry

CHARAN GUPTA

Calcutta Diary

THERE are certain imperatives inthe situation; Mr P. C. Sen

has to say that the Congress is goingto capture all the 280 seats-each oneof them-in the mid-term election.Mr Sen would have been hardly MrSen, and the election season hardlythe election season, if the claim wasany less total. Nobody is being foo]-ed. My private information is thatCongress is now reconciled to havinga maximum of 105 seats in the newAssemb]y. Surprisingly, most peoplewho are doing the advanced calcu]a-tions-including, at one end, theC.B.I. and, at the other, the UnitedFront-, I am told, agree, more orless, with this assessment of the like-ly Congress performance. Viewsdiverge only with respect to the arith-metic on the number of seats theUnited Front itself is going to cap-ture: as of this week, the Front isconfident of winning between 170 and180 seats, while those who are stillpinning their hopes on a Congress-INDF-Lok Dal-PSP-Bengal NationalParty combine to saVe West Bengalfrom the Communists and the 'Naxal-ites' do genuinely believe that, comeFebruary 9, the Front would some-how fall short of an absolute majo-rity. That is also the hope of theindustrialists and businessmen whohave suddenly now woken up to theirresponsibilities towards Calcutta andits cause. This election-eve bout ofconscience will of course die a natu-ral death once the results of the pollare announced: if the Congress em-erges victorious, the 1'urpose of theersatz moral fervour would have beenamply served ; if the United Frontwins, the industrialists might as wellstart cutting ltheir investments-andCalcutta could take the hindmost.

In the past, potentates and simi-lar sorts have ascribed their misfor-tune to slow horses and fast women ;in their' analysis of the anticipatedFebruary debacle, Congressmen areheaping the blame on slow-movingcivil servants and the fast-talking

6

the statement is merely adevice. But let me takeFront at its face value,

fromthere. Once in power,it propose to do with the

men and women whoseve introduced such a tre-

'tative change in the po-, ~ Can we, please, have

the Front that, let Mrto the winds, one of their

acts on taking charge in. ding will be to release

and the rest of the poli-who are freely described

Is of the Naxalbari path?a pledge that all those

been clamped behind thethe Preventive Detention

exclusivelypolitical reasonsout with honour, and all

related to disputes overrvestingrights be summa-

? In other words, canttraightforward assurance

Front that the ethos'II be one unflinchingly

use of workers, the pea-middle class, and not

out by Indira Gan~hi," Y. B. Chavan and com-

the United Front beprofessed socialist faith-in its defence of it? Theuld happen to the Frontit to be stampeded intocourse of action by theenemy newspapers, by

p voices of the capital-itch landowners, as it wasOne would hope that Mr

is a reformed manat least, he ought to beman.• ##-

a plea to mount beforeCommunistparty, the larg-

of the Front. Is it thatbas washed the Naxalbari

its hand, and it has nosibility~ Is the gene-

one of letting the 'adven-in their Peking juice, andId not care less? Epi-

no bones but they do notr. After all, the Marxistthemselves were being

urists' by the minions of

FRONTIER

the Right Communist Party till onlyabout two years ago. It would befoolish to be wretchedly dogmaticabout correct tactical lines in the pre-sent state of confusion; lags and leadsare inevitable as between judgmentsreached by different individuals, Theissue of breach of inner party disci-pline too can be viewed from a some-what dialectical angle. All I amdriving at is that it will be a pity-and a blunder of a major proportion-if the leadership of the CP(M) in-s:sts on harping on what it considersto be negative aspects of the Naxalbarimovement, and slurs over its glorious,exhilarating side. Who can deny thatwhatever ferment there is discernibletoday in the country is on account ofthe daring and sweep of the little 'ad-venture' !hat was launcbed in tbe WestBengal terai last year-and on ac-count of the zestful,idealistic studentswho took it up from there? Pray,what have been the overall contributionin the course of the last one year, to thecause of social transformation by thecareerist MPs belonging. to .tbt( Leftsome of whom have been reduced toconfusing their parliamentary dutieswith the performance of comic anticsfor the regalement of the Establish-ment in New Delhi?

It is no Use putting on blinkers,The CP(M), for its own long-termsurvival-if not for the long-term in-terests of the movement-bas to builda line of communication with the youngmilitants who are now eitber in tbewilderness or in formal disgrace. Itsfailure to do so will be a major trage-dy ; let nobody be under any illusionthat simply because a few of the recal-citrants are turned out from the party,everything will turn out to be sweetand smooth; the fact remains thatthe new generation of idealists areno longer feeling attracted to theCP (M). Unless the party thinks thatit can march along despite lack ofsupport from the younger generation,it has to do something about it andquick. The triumpbal re-entry intoWriters' Building cannot possibly bethe end of the road for the party. Ormaybe I am mistaken.

##- >i-

J have a rather hilarious footnote to

add to the story of the young studentwho was arrested under the Pre-ventive Detention Act, for the secondtime during one year, on the eve ofRobert McNamara's visit. When hewas arrested for the first time last year,after about a month he was producedbefore the reviewing board, over whichwas presiding an ancient former ChiefJustice of the Calcutta High Court.The ex-Chief Justice went thunderingat the boy: "Fellow, aren't you ash;'lm-ed of yourself? Why can't you give uphooliganism, and for a cbange useyour time to do your studies?" "ButI .do my studies." More roaring fromthe other end of the table: "Don'targue. Let me have a look at yourpapers." The papers were looked in-to: the boy had a uniformly brilliantacademic career, starting from hisschool days till the week he was ar-rested. But the former Chief Justicewas not to be daunted ; he roared oncemOre: "Cheeky young man, after in-dulging in all this hooliganism, bowthe devil do you manage to have timefro studies?"

But did I say this was a hilariousfootnote to the young man's story?

For FRONTIER contactS. P. CHATTERJEEStatesman OfficeSteel MarketDurgapur-4

A. I. E.M/s, ASSOCIATED INDIAN ENTERPRISES

PRIVATE LTDAre

LEYLAND MAIN DEALERSfor

WEST BENGAL and BIHARCALCUTTA, SILIGURI, PATNA,

RANCHI, MUZAFFARPUR

225C Acharya JagadishBose Road,

Calcu tta·20

FRONTIER

Calcu tta-20

225C Acharya JagadishBose Road,

AreLEYLAND MAIN DEALERS

forWEST BENGAL and BIHARCALCUTTA, SILIGURI, PATNA,

RANCHI, MUZAFFARPUR

A. I. E.M/s, ASSOCIATED INDIAN ENTERPRISES

PRIVATE LTD

For FRONTIER contactS. P. CHATTERJEEStatesman OfficeSteel MarketDurgapur-4

add to the story of the young studentwho was arrested under the Pre-ventive Detention Act, for the secondtime during one year, on the eve ofRobert McNamara's visit. When hewas arrested for the first time last year,after about a month he was producedbefore the reviewing board, over whichwas presiding an ancient former ChiefJustice of the Calcutta High Court.The ex-Chief Justice went thunderingat the boy: "Fellow, aren't you ash~m-ed of yourself? Why can't you give uphooliganism, and for a change useyour time to do your studies?" "ButI .do my studies." More roaring fromthe other end of the table: "Don'targue. Let me have a look at yourpapers." The papers were looked in-to: the boy had a uniformly brilliantacademic career, starting from hisschool days till the week he was ar-rested. But the former Chief Justicewas not to be daunted ; he roared oncemOre: "Cheeky young man, after in-dulging in all this hooliganism, howthe devil do you manage to have timefro studies?"

But did I say this was a hiklriousfootnote to the young man's story?

J have a rather hilarious footnote to

the Right Communist Party till onlyabout two years ago. It would befoolish to be wretchedly dogmaticabout correct tactical lines in the pre-sent state of confusion; lags and leadsare inevitable as between judgmentsreached by different individuals, Theissue of breach of inner party disci-pline too can be viewed from a some-what dialectical angie. All I amdriving at is that it will be a pity-and a blunder of a major proportion-if the leadership of the CP(M) in-s:sts on harping on what it considersto be negative aspects of the Naxalbarimovement, and slurs over its glorious,exhilarating side. Who can deny thatwhatever ferment there is discernibletoday in the country is on account ofthe daring and sweep of the little 'ad-venture' !hat was launched in the WestBengal terai last year-and on ac-count of the zestful, idealistic studentswho took it up from there? Pray,what have been the overall contributionin the course of the last one year, to thecause of social transformation by thecareerist MPs belonging. to ,tht( Leftsome of whom have been reduced toconfusing their parliamentary dutieswith the performance of comic anticsfor the regalement of the Establish-ment in New Delhi?

It is no Use putting on blinkers,The CP(M), for its own long-termsurvival-if not for the long-term in-terests of the movement-has to builda line of communication with the youngmilitants who are now either in thewilderness or in formal disgrace. Its rfailure to do so will be a major trage-dy ; let nobody be under any illusionthat simply because a few of the recal-citrants are turned out from the party,everything will turn out to be sweetand smooth; the fact remains thatthe new generation of idealists areno longer feeling attracted to theCP (M). Unless the party thinks thatit can march along despite lack ofsupport from the younger generation,it has to do something about it andquick. The triumphal re-entry intoWriters' Building cannot possibly bethe end of the road for the party. Ormaybe I am mistaken.

¥- 'f.

the statement is merely adevice. But let me takeFront at its face value,

fromthere. Once in power,it propose to do with the

men and women whoseve introduced such a tre-

'talive change in the po-, } Can we, please, have

the Front that, let Mrto the winds, one of their

acts on taking charge in'ding will be to release

and the rest of the poli-who are freely described

Is.of the Naxalbari path?a pledge that all those

been clamped behind thethe Preventive Detentionelusivelypolitical reasons

out with honour, and allrelated to disputes over

rvestingrights be summa-~ In other words, can'ghtforward assurance

Front that the ethos'11be one unflinchingly

use of workers, the pea-middle class, and not

out by Indira Gan~hi," Y. B. Chavan and com-

the United Front beprofessed socialist faith-in its defence of it? Theuld happen to the Frontit to be stampeded intocourse of action by theenemy newspapers, by

p voices of the capital-h landowners, as it wase would hope that Mr

, e is a reformed manat least, he ought to beman,• ¥-

a plea to mount beforeCommunistparty, the larg-

of the Front. Is it thats washed the Naxalbariits hand, and it has no

sibility} Is the gene-one of letting the 'adven-In their Peking juice, andld not care less? Epi-

no bones but they do notr. After all, the Marxistthemselves were being

urists' by the minions of

INDU,KANTA ,SHUKLA

For FRONTIER readers inWest India can contact

FROM A CORRESPON

DR Sen from the eminentDelhi sings paeans

autonomy while a Vicecalled (P)A. C. Joshi 100maniacs and marauders areupon innocent students andbroken, limbs dislocated,tered and property pillagedfire. The two-pronged flamare the (R)SS and the PAC:called Armed Constabulary (cial picaroons) and the blHindu Nazis run amuck.

A visit to the district jail,gives a glimpse of their do'brilliant students of Mininggy, one from Lucknow, anoOrissa, 'first-rankers todrenched in blood, their bdaged all over. They areand wondering as to whaton them. Other students Iside were as badly beatened. Unable to mOve or talkably they told me somehowwere set upon by some ganlowed by PAC hoodlums whtheir articles, bashed themleft, arrested them and thenlined up in the Bhelupura pol'for a second dressing doundid them.

The progressive studentsleaders of the city were c1gether in a selective huntquick arrests in several swthe incendiarism and pillavarsity could be imputedFunnily enough, the comradestesting that their leaders didthe varsity at all this year.serve their parliamentary sleft the students in the lureless. Even this failed tocerti'fiable respectability neeescaping the Congress dra

The leftists are 'poor smfor the real goons and faythe PAC-AC combine. Theto be vindicated by New Destakes are high with the miniimminent. A scapegoat fortion as also for buttressing

wonder, and the Government with mis-trust and apprehension. Both arebusy calculating its potential. Theteachers feel re-assured and confident,the Government glowers. What ismore, the students and degree collegeteachers have pledged their supoort tothe striking fraternity.

Which is what the Government isfrightened of. Closing of discrimina-tory ranks among teachers may well beone welcome consequence of the move-ment. It may be fleeting, it may befeckless. But it is there, evolving,emerging visibly. Again, the strike hasbrought the teachers and students clos-er in an affectionate alignment remi-niscent, however faintly at present, ofthe pre-Independence era. Some ofthe stigma of the teacher as one amongmany mercenaries in modern societyis shed, and it is touching to see waveafter wave of students-kids amongthem-visiting their teachers in thejails to pay them their regards andoffer them their services so that theybear their tedium well. This develop-ment, understandably, peeves and per-turbs the Oligarchs who are avowedvotaries or ventriloquists of non-alignment.

An aspect of the movement hascome, rightly enough, into the properfocus. In case of a rprolonged show-down with the Government, the plightof the urban teachers would be mark-edly difficult, and different from thatof thOse with rural assets and relativesto fall' back upon. For such an

eventuality the teachers perhaps didnot prepare themselves. But the so-lidarity forged among them in the firstbout with the Government will here-after stir into function that organiza-tional acumen which in their firstflush of mass action they failed to in-voke and benefit by. Bonism maynot be justi'fied in the present phase,but these postures and plays are radi-cal enough in the cow country. Andthis is to say much.

Tailpiece: The Government is spend-ing Rs. 7.50 per teacher in the jails.But the teachers insist it is only Rs. 3per head. Whose pockets are linedwith the rest of the dough? Of theofficers of a government which chro-nically bewails lack of funds.

,/

1 7i•• J.. •

S. D. CHANDAVARK A R]0, Kanara HouseMo?;al Lane, MahimBombay-l 6

u. P. Teachers OnWarpath?

THE Higher Secondary schoolteachers have defied the ordi-

nance and the jails are being filled upwith them. The Government, asusual, pleads its helplessness for lackof funds. But people are amazed atthe alacrity with which it swung intoaction and clamped the draconianordinance similar to the one againstclerks rammed by New Delhi earlier.And the teachers ask why does theGovernment, which is sluggish andcraven vis-a-vis the tycoons guilty ofevasion of taxes running into crores,and other malpractices like adulterationand blackmarketing, swoop so swiftlyand savagely on the clerks and teach-ers? Dangerous questions these andfor raising them teachers must betaught a lesson. The bona fides ofthe Government, on this reckoning,are suspect and its behaviour repre-hensible.

Collaterally, for their persistent re-fusal to sabotage the teachers' move-ment the leftists are being rounded upall over the State. The pattern is fami-liar and the HQ of these Maffia opera-tions is called the capital of India.Lucknow is as much under a CongressGovernment as New Delhi. Popularassertion that President's rule is Con-gress rule is daily demonstrable.

What has given the Government thecreeps? The respectable teachers haveshed their bourgeois inhibitions, band-ed together for a cause and throwntheir chins up for the first time. Thismassive upsurge has injected into thema milttancy whose depths and dimen-tions they are viewing with gladsome

8

NISHAD

The Comprador And His Capitalmustbe invented. Surely it isthe Black Hoods of the

they,from all accounts, haveyeoman service by burningand bleeding people. Herey the commies. Here enter

e Ministry of Chhatrapati

DOwthere is peace-throughabsenteeism. In fright the

fledthe hostels, stayed in theoutside, and in despair leftYet the VC tells a gullible

t the situation is normal and. is to remain open. With

nts gone or in jail, withclamped on the city, withde the campus, if the situa-be described as normal, God'IS perception.s recall, as the citizens do,Joshi who broke peace byce, despite seething tur-

keeping BHU open-whichstudents being trapped for

C, the PAC and the Union. try outfit has a simplisticr problems plaguing India.y it is Bengalis who makelaunch revolts. Impound

all be well. And this be-in dead earnestness is evident

rabid thoroughness withukherjis,Malliks, Majumdars

have been pulverized. Ifa fewSinghsetc. among them,know that this contact ise.ieval manner in which theapithstudents~peaceful pro-token of their sympathy forbrethren, was smashed and

in which the PAC boorsand hacked at them in the

bathrooms, verandas isong other things, of theVC would h~ve. The wallsof the hostel, as in BHU,es of blood on them areeloquent testimonies that

havemyriad name.t', and theyin a certain State of India,

out of intelligent, indepen-d young men and womentheir heads high and cry

th: Down with Fascism Inot for burning I

WE give below certain facts andfigures relating to some of the

biggest companies in India, which wehope would explode the myth that thebig capitalists/industrialists of Indiaare independent and mutually compe-titive groups which have antagonisticcontradiction with each other and im-perialism.

The objective facts of the Indianeconomic scene should have beenenough to show that in the age of im-perialism, an inde natioIUlI,big bourgeois cannot develop in anco ollial countr. In order to developat al the bourgeoisie of the colonialcountry must submit to and ally itselfwith imperilaism ; that in spite of be-ing an underdeveloped country, India'sindustry is operating with huge idlecapacity ; that Indian industry is hav-ing to close down, retrench, reducereal wages, and pauperise both the ur-ban and the rural sections. In short itis being made to kill its own market ;that Indian industry has at present andin the past a relationship with impe-rialism and feudalism which is Over-whelmingly submissive and friendly;that Indian industry is having to im-port unpatented know-how at high costand accept restrictions on export fromforeign "collaborators". (RBI-Surveyof Collaboration); that the State de-ends absolutel on foref . 1-

its; that the ru ee even within thecount is totall ~...dent on tbo~ewho hold one-fifth of the total mon~in circulation-PL 480; that it is highlydepended on an infrastucture (i.e. rail-ways, roads, power, food, administra-tion of the country) which is under thecommand of U.S. and Russianeconomic and political interests ; thatthe very origin and growth of the In-dian entrepreneur in the colonial erawas that of a subservient lackey,never that of an independent bourgeois(in contrast to the development of thebourgeois of France, Germany, U.K.or pre-World War II Jllipan).

In the tables given later we havedealt with companies which belong to

the biggest industrial families in In-dia. The CPI and CPI (M) hope touse the "democratic tendencies", "the Vanti-feudal inclinations", "the anti-imperialist contradictions", of thegroup. \!! is this faith which leadsthem to swear by the Constitution, ruleby UF Ministries and depend exclu-sively on non-violent, non-revolu-tionary tactic~ From 1952 onwardstheir actions have been based on asingle premise-that there is an inde-pendent Indian big bourgeois.

Being bourgeois and big, this classis, of course an "enemy" to the CPIand CPI (M) . But the "enmity" de-rives more from the "monopolist"character of this bourgeois than fromthe latter's basic a1'Jti-national, com-prador origin and character. There-fore, to the CPI and CPI (M) thisclass is an enigma-to be fosteredand to be fought at the same time.This results in the confusion and thebewildering changes of direction thatso frequently take place in the actionof these parties. In order to explainaway the facts of life, the two partiesmaintain that this class is "leaningheavy on" Or "is increasingly compro-mising with" imperialism. They evengo so far as to say that "we are indanger of coming under neo-colonialistexploitation." They 3lI'gue that till1947 India was a colony (and there-fore could only have a dependent bigbourgeois); that from 1947 India be-came independent and the big bour-geois picked up State power and be-came bigger and more independentuntil 1957, (as if "becoming" and"picking up" could happen in tht! pre-sent epoch); that since 1957, accord-ing to CPI and CPI (M), the bourgeoishas been submitting, is compromisingwith imperialism, but apparently noqualitative change has occurred.

What we give below is neither com-plete nor conclusive. Yet, it oiIght toserve as an indication of the financialdependence of the Indian big bourgeoison foreign finance.

This study bases itself on tbe fact

9

THE BANK FOR ALL BIG AND SMALL

(Incorporated in the United Kingdom. Liability of members is limited)

NATIONAL AND GRINDLA YS BANK L1MI

group that supposedly "coeconomy.

In actual practice theyers-cum-senior partnerscommission, interest and shfit of the business ; and exetical power by virtue of theirship" (actually by virtue ofsition as favoured agents ofthat foreign power); andthe foreign creditor profits inof interest, pro>fiton capitaltenance purchases, dividendsshare of the Indian andMarket.2. Company

Name of Companyannual report, and the namecollaborating foreign group.3. Equity and Return

E9uitv capital is that capiownership (legally at least)a right to elect the directoIBcompany. The "owning"dom owns the total equityThey just invest enough to giselves a controlling intereit

Saving is surprisingly easy atNational and Grindlays.

You need only Rs. 5/- for a..start.

Friends, face the future without fearStart saving, open a new frontier.

FRONTIER

gross block of the Company has in-creased from Rs. 33 crores to Rs. 121crores at present, their own direct con-tribution towards the growth of theCompany has been limited to onlyRs. 7 crores through the proceeds ofa small issue in 1957".

In this paper, we repeat, the eco-nomy is not treated as a whole, butindividual large companies have beenanalysed on the basis of their annualreports. Tlrerefore, two important as-pects have not been touched upon.These are dependence of Indian bigbourgeois on foreign (mainly impe-rialist) technology, not only fOr thepilot plants but also for subsequentexpansions and even for maintenance;and the dependence of the entire in-frastructure of Indian industry andcommerce-administration, food, rail-ways, power, roads-upon imperialist'aid'.

The data have been arranged asfollows:1. Group: The Indian business

that thc ability of the capitalist toserve his own and national interest di-minishes as he becomes increasinglydependent upon foreign finance. Whendependence on foreign loans reaches,such proportions that for every Re. 1of the "owner" he has borrowed Rs.3 or 4 even Rs. 10, from foreigners,his "independence" must logically va-nish. It is his creditors by whose gracehe earns his income. His creditors arethen in a position to dictate his poli-cies, about sales, purchase, finance andnational ;politics; control his opera-tions and destroy him, should he !provedisloyal or unruly.

The relevance of this type of studycan be gauged from the followingcomment made in the course of aspeech to shareholders of Indian ]ron& Steel Company by Sir Hiren Mu-kherjee on July 24, 1968. Discussingthe primary liability of the manage-ment to the creditors and informingthe shareholders that no dividend shallbe paid to them, he said: "Share-holders will realise that whereas the

of the shares as wide-so that their authoritychallenged. Sometimesgroup's share of equity

be as low as 20%.equity capital of a

mightrepresent bonusare profits distributed

Therefore, these do notey investment by share-profit was built up bycapital. Therefore theus shares owe more tothan to their- invest-

find the real contribution

~ONTJBR

of the shareholders, bonus capital isto be deducted from total equity.

This is the crux of the study:the prQlfit of the Indian bourgeois isdependent chiefly on foreign (mainlyU.S.) finance and therefore its rela-tionship with imperialism is mainlynon-antagonistic.4. Loans

Name of the creditor. Foreign cre-ditors are grouped together.

The sum paid as interest is shown.Compare this with dividend, that is,what the shareholders get and whatthe creditors take.

5. Ratio·Foreign loan for every rupee of

actually contributed capital.

6. AbbreviationsIBRD -World Bank;DLF -Development Loan Fund

-USAAID -Agency for International

Development, 'USAEXIM -Export Import Bank-USACDFC -Commonwealth Develop-

ment Fund-UKICICI -Industrial Credit and De-

velopment Corporation

All in Rupees Crores

Company Equity Foreign Loan

Tata Iron & Steel Co. Equity 38.6 IBRD, U.S. 45.7TISCO 1967-1968 Bonus 14.8 N & G Bank UK 2.0

Contrbn. 23.8 ICICI .9

Dividend 4.4 28.6

INTEREST 2.9

Loans Assets Profit

1925-26 6.7 21 1.01944-45 2.3 34 4.0r. 1951-52 2.5 44 5.41956-57 21.5 93 8.11958-59 83.8 172 8.21966-67 51.5 238 19.1

Andhra Valley Power Foreign Loan1667-69 Equity 3.3 AID US 6.3

IBRD-US 3.39.6

Dividend .4 INTEREST .6

Loans Assets Profit

1925-26 3.8 6.1 .21946-47 1.0 5.1 .21950-51 1.0 5.2 .31960-61 4.8 11.7 .71967-68 10.3 18.6 1.3

Ratio

1:1.2

Ratio

1 :3

II

FRONTIERGroup Company Equity Foreign LoanTATA Tata Engineering & Equity 14.8 AID-US 19.1Locomotive Co. Ltd. Bonus 2.0TELCO: 1966-67

Contrbn. 12.3(West German)DIVIDEND 2.1 INTEREST 3.2

BIRLA Century Spinning 1967 Equity 3.2 Institutions 5.3Bonus 1.9 Suppliers ofNote: GrowthMachinery 1.9Loans Assets Pwlit Contrbn. 1.31945-46 .4 0.2

7.21951-52 2.2 5.6 .71957-58 15.5 16.8 2.3 DIVIDEND .7 INTEREST .81961-62 14.7 29.3 4.51966-67 43.0 68.4

" .2

BIRLA Orient Paper 1967-68 Equity 3.8 EXIM-US 10.9Bonus 3.0

Contrbn. .8

DIVIDEND .4 INTEREST 1.6BIRLA Hindustan Motor 1967-68 Equity 8.2 AID-US 22.1(General Motors USA)

CDFC-UK 1.1

23.2

DIVIDEND 1.0 INTEREST 2.0BIRLA Hindustan Aluminium Equity 7.1 EXIM (US) 19.31967(Kaiser Aluminium

AID (US) 4.8USA)Kaiser (US) . .5ICrer .1

24.7

DIVIDEND .6 INTEREST 1.9BIRLA Renusaga Power Co. Equity 3.8 AID (US) 4.8(General Electric USA)

Suppliers ofmachinery-US 10.3

15.1

DIVIDEND Nil INTEREST .412 1DECEMfiER 21,

FRONTIERGroup Company Equity Foreign LoanTATA Tata Engineering & Equity 14.8 AID-US 19.1Locomotive Co. Ltd. Bonus 2.0TELCO: 1966-67

Contrbn. 12.3(West German)DIVIDEND 2.1 INTEREST 3.2

BIRLA Century Spinning 1967 Equity 3.2 Institutions 5.3Bonus 1.9 Suppliers ofNote: GrowthMachinery 1.9Loans Assets Pw.fit Contrbn. 1.31945-46 .4 0.2

7.21951-52 2.2 5.6 .71957-58 15.5 16.8 2.3 DIVIDEND .7 INTEREST .81961-62 14.7 29.3 4.51966-67 43.0 68.4

" .2

BIRLA Orient Paper 1967-68 Equity 3.8 EXIM-US 10.9Bonus 3.0

Contrbn. .8

DIVIDEND .4 INTEREST 1.6BIRLA Hindustan Motor 1967-68 Equity 8.2 AID-US 22.1(General Motors USA)

CDFC:;-UK 1.1

23.2

DIVIDEND 1.0 INTEREST 2.0BIRLA Hindustan Aluminium Equity 7.1 EXIM (US) 19.31967(Kaiser Aluminium

AID (US) 4.8USA)Kaiser (US) . .5JCler .1

24.7

DIVIDEND .6 INTEREST 1.9BJRLA Renusaga Power Co. Equity 3.8 AID (US) 4.8(General Electric USA)

Suppliers ofmachinery-US 10.3

15.1

DIVIDEND Nil INTEREST .412 1DECEMfiER 21,

FRONTIER

Company Equity Foreign Lo~n Ratio

Delhi Cloth Mills Equity 6.6 AID (US) 6.4DCM 1967-68 Bonus 5.5 1: 10.2

ICICI .2Contrbn. 1.1 Mitsubishi 2.0

Suppliers ofMachinery 2.7 I, I

11.2

DIVIDEND .8 INTEREST 1.7

Premier Automobiles Equity 7.5 DLF (US) AID 6.71965-66 1:1

(FIAT-Italy) Fiat .4

7.1

DIVIDEND .4 INTEREST 1.0

Loans Assets1946-47 .31950-51 .7 2.01955-56 3.0 3.01960-61 4.0 6.01965-66 16.2 21.4

Indian Iron & Steel Equity lBRD (US) 6.5Co. 1967-68 Equity 24.8 1:1.3

Bonus 14.5 N & G (UK) 6.6

Contrbn. 10.3 13.1

DIVIDEND Nil INTEREST 1.2

R Ashok Leyland (1967-68) Equity 7.8 CDFCC (UK) .9(Leyland UK) Foreign 1:2.4

Holding 4.3 N & G (UK) 4.3FNCB (US) 1.2

3.5 ICICI If' 1.8

3.2

DIVIDEND .6 INTEREST .4

Madras Aluminium Equity 4.5 Mediobanca Italy 8.6(Montecatini-Italy) Foreign 1:2.2

Holding .5 ICICI .1

4.0 8.7

4.0

DIVIDEND Nil INTEREST .7

FRONTIER

Group Company Equity Foreign Loan

MAFATLAL Mafatlal Fine Equity .9 ICICI 1.0Spinning 1966-67 Bonus .5

Suppliers ofContrbn. .4 Machinery 0.8

1.8

DIVIDEND .3 INTEREST .2

MAFATLAL National Organic Equity 12.0 Foreign Guarantee .6Chemical 1967(Shell Petroleum) ICICI 1.0Co. UK-Dutch) Shell 16.3

17.9

DIVIDEND Nil INTEREST 1.3

The Press

Rats Of HaryanaCOMMENTATOR

THE Congress balloon has beenpricked in Haryana at last.

Most papers have expressed them-selves against the tactics employed bythe Congress party to keep itself inpower in Haryana, though they all re-gret the imminent end of Congressrule in the State. Mr Bhagwat DayalSharma, who organised the defection,has come in for sharp criticism; so alsothe newly formed United Front. Butthe present Chief Minister, Mr BansiLal, emerges practically unscathed,though sQme papers have not been ableto agree with him that the assemblyshould be dissolved in the event of afall of the Congress Ministry.

The Indian Express regrets thateven when Mr Sharma gave the HighCommand 24 hours' ultimatum, thecentral leadership tried to get the rebelleader to come to Delhi for a bargain-ing session. Mr Sharma has beensuspended only and no action has beentaken against the 15 Congress MLAswho have defected from the party un-der Mr Sharma's persuasion, Appa-

14

rently it is still hoped that some, ifnot all, of these defectors can bebrought back to the Congress fold.One is therefore compelled to concludethat opportunism reigns supreme in allcamps. Advising the Governor tf

)

deal with the situation in an "uprightmanner" the paper says that it is notthe Governor's job to determine whe-ther Mr Bansi Lal has lost his legisla-tive majority. The question must bedecided on the floor of the House, andthe Governor should lose no time insummoning the Assembly for this pur-pose. Nor should he make the mis-take of dissolving the House in caseMr Bansi Lal advises dissolution toevade defeat on the floor of the House.In the event of the Bansi Lal Ministry'sdefeat, the proper course would be togive the SVD a chance to form aGovernment. It is not the Governor'sfunction to punish defectors. Even jfHaryana's politicians are determinedto make a mockery of parliamentarydemocracy, the Governor should tryto keep alive the spirit of the parlia-mentary system,

The Times of India also feels thatthe Centre must put out of its mindany thought of imposing President'srule on Haryana by way of a pre-emptive strike to protect parliamentrydemocracy. Whether the Congress or

the newly expanded SVD hasrity in the legislature is awhich has to be decided 'onof the House and nowhere e'can it be assumed in advancemajority claimed by one sidother will be necessarily unswill lead to a perversion of thementary process. This too hconfirmed by events. HoldiCongress High Command resfor the turn of events in Harypaper says that common pshould have warned the Highmand against accepting thetions of Mr Bansi Lal, who wasly new to the rough and tuHaryana politics. Relying 0optimistic assessment thePresident apparently decidedshow of firmness would be inforgetting that in the case of aso accident-prone as the HCongress, a posture of this kind,one was very careful, might 0pear farcical. This is preciselyhas happened. Until almostminute, the High Commandconfident of averting a trial of sor being able to overcome it andof its determination to mainta'cipline. It was clearly unprepathe crisis that has overtaken it.face of the crisis the High Com

.0

.88

2

to maintain disciplineoticeably. A massive ex-

Cabinet seems likely,arne at which Mr Bansi

o match for Rao Birendrah s been waiting in the

months and now movesof the stage as Mr

cipal ally. The Bansi Lalalvage enough from the

eep afloat a little longer'ving up all pretence of

di cipline.tan Times notes that

Impressively as it had,'d-term poll, pulled itselfal instability, the infantryana has moved to thebility. How the Cong-ndle the issue of indis-

ghted once again by theHaryana is strictly speak-I affair of their party.

to bear in mind is howpeople of Haryana torepresentative govern-

the Congress partyandate to govern the

decided on the floor ofIt is the only arena inof the defectors and

can be tested convin-Ily the State Assemblywards the end of the

But it can and shouldOon as possible. Whatted immediatelly is thatuld defectors be reward-

'stership. This principleh the Congress and the

ecaDedn recalls that when the

Mr Aioy Mukherjee'sfdinistry in West Bengallast year because of de-p, C, Ghosh and others,

delay in summoning theconsidered so objec-

Governor that the State1V8S dismissed. This

considered too preci-'me need not be repeat-

But both the Centremor owe it to the

all their constitu-authority to ensure

FRONTIER

that Mr Bansi Lal is not allowed todelay the summoning of the Assembly.To allow him to hold the session atthe end of January, as at presentscheduled, would be an act of impro-priety which could seriously under-mine faith in the impartiality of theCentre. The precise number of de-fec·lions may be a matter of dispute,and it is possible, indeed probable,that some at least of the Gaya Ramsmay again turn into Aya Rams at thedrop of a Gandhi cap. But there canbe no denying the fact that the Cong-ress party's majority in the legislaturehas been called into question. Thepaper advises the central leadershipof the Congress to withhold permis-sion for Cabinet expansion in Haryana,though it contends that criticism ofpolitical bribery comes ill from repre-sentatives of political parties whichare members of the SVD in MadhyaPradesh.

Patriot says that Haryana must beaccepted by the Congress party'sscarecrow president and those whobelieve that a political organisationcan be b.uilf round a system of ritualsand formalities as the final warningthat a party without a true economicpurpose and a following committed toit cannot exist and grow in modernIndia. Mr Nijalingappa and MrMorarji Desai and perhaps most of theothers who take their ease in Delhiand imagine that the pompous pueri-lities with which they seek to hidetheir political incompetence and lackof dedication to principles are notleaders who can revive the kind offaith that a large party requires if it isto become effective again. Theirsingle-minded absorption in the pro-blems of office and organisational po-wer is more than matched by the cold-blooded cynicism of those who callthemselves the second-rank leaders or"workers" of the party. The former'shope that pulling down non-CongressGovernments here and there with theaid of unprincipled charlatans willeventually convince the people thatonly the apolitical opportunism ofCongress power-mongers can giveadministrative stability is being frus-trated. If there had been secret hopesin certain quarters that after the

mid-term elections the Government ofKerala could be pulled down undercover of constitutional casuistry, whathas happened in Haryana should dashthem. The lesson that Mr Sharmaand Mr Bansi Lal have taught is notfor the so-called central leadershipof the party which is largely made upof individuals with similar inclinationsand aptitudes. The latter will onlytreat it as one more chess problemthat can be solved by moving one in-dividual here or another there or bystriking deals between themselves. Thelesson is for those younger Congress-men who desperately look forwardeven today to a time when their oncedisciplined and principled party canonce more face the people withoutplacards of corruption and factiona-lism hung round its over-fat neck. Forthem it is an opportunity to do somehonest heart-searching and on thebasis of it to initiate a movement ofhouse-cleaning that will drive out of(he organisation a number of profes-sional office-hunters who go aboutpretending that they enjoy the con/B·dence of the people.

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15

Taras ShevchenkoBy A DRAMA CRITIC

ONE does not really know whatresources an amateur group pos-

sesses to enable one to give a fair-minded opinion: after all, the systemunder which an activity develops mustaffect it deeply. If one upholds the prin-ciple that a biographical play shouldbe accurate in manners, costume andlocale, then Abhijan's presentationfails. If on the other hand it is meantto convey the motivating idea whichmakes the character worth remember-ing, then it succeeds to the extentwhich Monmotho Roy's play succeeds.

The biography begins in 1838 withTaras Shevchenko, the Ukrainian poetand artist, getting his freedom fromBaron Engelhardt. A series of sevenepisodes depict his development as arevolutionary, his incarceration andfinally his death. To those seven scen-es was added a tableau which, thoughvisually pleasing in patches, failed toevoke either mood Or emotion. Theman in drainpipe trousers standing ona dais baffled the senses. The singerdown the aisle and the simultaneousspeaking on the stage was drowned bythe excitement of an over-exuberantaudience. It must have irritated thesensitive and disgusted the serioustypes in the hall.

Far too many "special effects" weretried, and since minor imprecisions inthem mar the general effect, a curb onthe producer's enthusiasm for sucheffects would have been for the better.

The play itself was good only inparts. The scene placed in the villageof Kirilova was ,perhaps the weakestboth in acting and in content. Thebest was undoubtedly the episode in-side Novopetrovsk Jail. Though why

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painted flats were introduced suddenlywhen most of the play was performedin front of curtains and back-litscreens, must remain a mystery. Theend of the play came as an anti-cli-max. The costumes, except in thecase of the women, were assembledaccording to availability and BaronEngelhardt was made to look like anAmerican truck driver complete withleather jerkin, while his son came rightout of a visiting circus. This bizarrecosturnery was intended to lampoonthe landlord class but would have beendone better by exaggeration of mannerand dress of the period itself. Sinceno period costumes were attempted,the baron and his son could have wornmodern costumes with necessarytouches to affect the ludicrous. Whileon this subject, the number of redwigs seen in this production was fan-tastic. The same money spent oncostumes could have helped the visualeffect more.

Although the standard of actingwas generally good, sOme minor partscould have been better served. Com-petent performances were put up byShyamoo Roychowdhpry in the titlerole, ably supported by Meena Halderas Natasha. Since three microphoneswere assisting the voices, there weremany occasions when the words seem-ed but a jumble of noises. Particu-larly at fault was Amal Mukherjee asIvan, who was made to walk up anddown between a table and the backdrop. He was only partly heard, asevery time he turned his back to theaudience his words were completelylost. It was unfortunate that MahadevDas playing the Police Inspector,whose lines were delivered clearly,acted as if he had been lifted out ofthe silent films.

As a 'first production, Taras Shev-chenko was ambitious but was carriedthrough fairly well. After the jailscene, however, one felt that the lastpart could have been omitted so thatTaras Shevchenko remained a hero inthe minds of the audienCe and notbecome a mere idol.

So much work and so much dedica-tion deserves a better audience-pleaselet us keep out the 12-year-olds andcertainly those below that age.

A PAN JAN, Tapan Sifilm, has its focus p'

the teenagers who are appabut who, after all, are our "and not particularly badcircumstance maketh themcase, however, is unconvin'sented, what with the seratSinha manages to scrap up'.

The material has good pothe director curiously ehootuous way of storytelling.duction itsclf is quite anprocess. An old woman'sshown in pieces when it haddespite the ruffian typerough postures-the blokea golden heart. Then we sDevi as the old woman withmake-up who clings to hershe seems destined to be intime, to pasg through ewhich we must share andover to her apanjon's estaShe, of course, could not qwhat was in the offing, onlying hand enlightens her onof the city bred. We finelsoaround and the old wOmanforsakes her relations to jointheir den.

There are two groups offact. One is led by an imdressed boy (a newcomer infold), a dispenser of justice aof universal provider to tchildren who hop around him.background is not sufficientlyed. They are all fair camp(compared to the other grouping like bhadralog whose pHfaintly makes out from theis mainly due to postponementminations or something to thTheir leader's fate seems to hasealed after the collapse oflorn existence, the damsel'shaving been instrumental inhim to jail. Weare shown it .back as we are often reInto the old woman's past lifewhacky flashbacks. Thisseems to have some fascin

held an exhibition of their recent workat the Academy of Fine Arts lastweek. Not merely in technique. butin their chi ace of forms and glazes,the Janahs have a marked Westernorientation. This was evident also fromtheir latest exhibition which includeddecorative objects like ceramic sculp-tures, vases of various shapes andsizes, bottles and vials, jewellery andtoys as well as utilitarian products likecups and glasses, dishes and bowls,tea and coffee sets. But in the pre-sent exhibition, there were also someitems that showed that they are nowturning to Our traditional terra-cottafor inspiration and are adapting someof its elements to suit their purpose.For instance, in some vases) they usedclay figurines as decorations and theresult was not unpleasing. Altoge-ther, it was an interesting show andcontained at least a few exhibits ofexcellence.

Greeting CardsShilpayan, a group of young artists,

held an exhibition of greeting cards,letterheads and envelope sets, printson textiles and some water coloursand temperas at the Academy of FineArts last week.

The greeting cards dominated theshow and some of them, using oldillustrations from illuminated manus-crips and sculptures and printed insilk screen on hand made paper, weredone with taste and refinement. Butthe same cannot be said about theletterhead and envelope sets and thecases containing what was describedas 'Thank you' cards. Of the otherexhibits, two largish prints on textile,based on 'figures, based on Indian mi-niatures, were well-drawn and well-printed.

Letters

The Benefactor !Mr IEhut 'Nath Bhattacharjee has

been swift to come to the defence ofthe benefactor of his class-Mc-Namara (December 7). With pom-pous sarcasm and righteous indig-nation, he ints out that Calcutta's

18

FRONTIER

eleCtric supply partly comes from theDVC system, which is partly financedby the World Bank. How terriblythrilling this is for those whose homesare (partly?) furnished with (Fed-ders-Lloyd ?) air-conditioners! Nodoubt those of Calcutta's populationwho do not even partly benefit fromelectricity-let alone that part of itWhich is the gift (or loan ?) of theWorld Bank-should also go down onbended knees and genuflect to thelatest minion of U.S. monopoly capi-tal. With remorseless logic Mr Bhatta-charjee goes on to say that becausethe World Bank dumped some capitalon the DVC (at high rates of interest),"Calcutta still breathes." One doubtsif the children rummaging in Calcutta'srubbish heaps, or the tens of thous·and sleeping on. Calcutta's pavementsare over-enthused about the fact thatthey "still breathe."

Mr Bhattacherjee is angered thatthe Russians did not genuflect to theAmericans after the Second WorldWar, in spite of the fact that the latterhad already begun their encirclementof the socialist world and their now-famous cacophony about "communistaggression." He also cannot under-stand why China did not gratefullyacknowledge her debt to Russia afterthe latter suddenly cut off aid andwithdrew all her technicians leavinghundreds of projects in the air as partof her economic blackmail.

The editor of Frontier and "like-minded politicians" have "destructivedesigns," complains the aggrievedadmirer of McNamara. Of course,the system which by 1960 had des-troyed 125 million tons of breadgrain (enough food for all Indians forone year) in order to keep up worldprices is being extremely constructive.The system which in the past 14years has destroyed 4 billion dollarsworth of farm surpluses and whichrains 30 billion dollars worth of des-truction on Vietnam every year, is, ofcourse, only doing all this as part of agrand construction plan for the world.

India is now at a stage where,apart from the millions of rupees ofrepatriated profit leaving the country,she is having to borrow more in orderto payoff old loans-from such phi-

lanthropic institutions as thminated World Bank.Bhattacharjee, "an openclear mind are enough toculprits." I suggest thatsome eye-opening and m'for himself. For open eyeminds are one type ofwhich even McN amarabenefaction will not be w'

DI

Sniping

While commenting onanger" and the recent massistrations against Preside(Frontier, December 7) y"what the Indian Governmhave proclaimed and donedemonstrations taken placeafter a shattering military

It is a common experienreaders of Frontier that wsing all ~nd ~ndry subjectsmiss an oppOrtunity to s .Government of your ahowever unsuited the ocbe. You must know illcism is just as bad as uncritimism. Both do no creditauthors but betray a cert'of immaturity of mind.made the above remarkforgot that "what the Indiament would have prada'done", the dictatorialNasser and Ayub need notand do, for the powers souproclamations are alreadythem. Unlike their countIndia, the students in Egyptfree press and a greaterexpression and association,"been in Egypt you wouldachieve a "free Press" firstout a weekly like Frontier,

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