Karate Chop

Journalists called Prakash Karat India’s most powerful man. More powerfulthan the PM, that is. They called him India’s second most powerful politician.Second to Sonia Gandhi, that is. Karat’s fame grew with his handling of theN-deal issue. How did he handle it?

When the UPA government decided to execute the NDA government’s initiativefor an Indo-US N-deal, Karat opposed it. He said national security and India’sindependent foreign policy were compromised. The Left would withdraw support.The government went ahead and negotiated the 123 Agreement for the deal. Karatsought the agreement text. The government showed him the text. The agreement didnot refer to nuclear tests. But the US government passed a domestic law, theHyde Act, which forbade help to any nation conducting nuclear tests.

Karat said that the Hyde Act deprived India of its independence andjeopardised its national security. The government said that the US President wasbound by the Hyde Act, not the Indian government. No international commitmentprevented India from nuclear testing or pursuing an independent foreign policy.Karat asked why India had supported the UN resolution against Iran. Thegovernment said Iran violated its own assurances to IAEA. Russia and China alsoopposed Iran.

Karat was opposed to India having the bomb. But he wants India to be able toconduct nuclear tests. He was opposed to India becoming a nuclear power. But hewants Iran to become a nuclear power. The UPA government and Left allies set upa committee to settle differences. This happened years ago. The committee hasmet nine times. Each time the government reiterated its intent to sign the deal.Each time Karat issued an ultimatum to withdraw support if the government wentahead.

Now a few months remain for the government’s tenure to end. Anticipatingthe Left’s withdrawal the Congress has held talks with other oppositionparties to cobble a majority in parliament. It seems to have succeeded. So Karatasked the government for clarifications about what the government would tellIAEA. We still do not know if he will or will not withdraw support. Or when hemight withdraw support. It does not matter. Forget the merits or otherwise ofthe N-deal. Consider the merits of Karat. On July 14 he will launch a nationwideagitation against the government’s economic and foreign policies which itpursued for four years surviving on his support. One understands Karat admiresStalin. What would Stalin have thought of India’s most powerful man?