People's Democracy

BJP's Subterfuge

THE BJP has, unfortunately, succeeded in its diabolical effort to subvert a parliamentary discussion on the Indo-US nuclear deal. Though officially it justified the disruption by advancing the bogus reason of the government’s refusal to constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to study the deal, its real reasons for not wanting a debate in the parliament appear to lie elsewhere. For a moment, however, let us consider their ostensible position. It is the very same BJP that had accepted the Speaker’s ruling rejecting a notice given under Rule 184 of the Lok Sabha (which entails voting after debate) on the grounds that acceptance would, “amount to, in effect, disapproval of the agreement already entered into by the government which, in my opinion, is not within the competence of the House. What cannot be done directly cannot be achieved indirectly.” The ruling further notes, “There has been no occasion where any treaty or agreement was ever discussed under Rule 184.” The Speaker then ruled that a discussion will take place on the Indo-US nuclear deal under Rule 193 which does not entail voting. Having accepted this ruling, the BJP’s demand for a JPC is simply unsustainable. Yet, that it persisted with this to disrupt the parliament continuously tells the other and the real story.

A discussion in the parliament would have clearly demonstrated, presuming that the BJP would have echoed its public opposition to the deal inside the parliament, that a majority of the Indian parliament is opposed to the deal. It is, however, clear that the BJP chose to disrupt the debate as it would have exposed its double speak on the issue as evident from Mr. Advani’s public retracing of the BJP’s initial opposition.

After all, the architecture for the present strategic alliance with the USA was detailed under the BJP-led NDA rule! Though defence cooperation with US began under the Narasimha Rao government, the impetus for developing the strategic alliance came during the six years of BJP/NDA rule. Following the May 1998 Pokhran-II, eager to have the USA lift the imposition of sanctions, prolonged secret negotiations took place, in eight rounds, between Strobe Talbott and Jaswant Singh. Following this, in 1999, India for the first time participated in the international military exchange training programme of the USA. Following the visit of Bill Clinton in 2000, this alliance deepened with India becoming the first country to welcome the US national missile defence programme. In order to please and appease US imperialism, the Vajpayee government was even prepared to sign the CTBT, which India had all along refused. In fact, Vajpayee articulated the desire of his government that India be treated as USA’s ‘natural ally’. Following the 9/11 attacks, Vajpayee promptly wrote to president Bush offering (even without the USA formally requesting) India’s military facilities in the US’s war against terrorism. The fact that USA chose Pakistan, instead, was bemoaned by Advani as a result of the “logic of geography”. To drive home their eagerness, Advani not only visited Washington but also the CIA headquarters to discuss security cooperation!

In 2002, the Bush administration set out its national security strategy. This stated that: “The United States has undertaken a transformation in its bilateral relationship with India based on a conviction that US interests require a strong relationship with India.” Following this, in 2004, under the Vajpayee government, the next steps in the strategic partnership round of talks started which extended cooperation in space, nuclear, high technology and missile defence fields.

A discussion in the parliament would have brought out these and many other aspects of the strategic relationship with the USA that the BJP was seeking. This would have completely exposed its current ostensible opposition to the nuclear deal. This is the real reason for sabotaging the discussion.

The CPI(M) has always been critical of these developments and vehemently opposed the efforts of the Indian ruling classes that was seeking such a strategic alliance with the USA only to have India replace Pakistan as the US surrogate in the region. Further, the CPI(M) and the Left extended outside support to this UPA government on the basis of a Common Minimum Programme in order to prevent the communal forces from controlling the reins of State power. The Left, therefore, can never be party to any effort by the UPA government to carry forward and complete the task of cementing a strategic alliance with US imperialism that the BJP/NDA government began.

Through these columns in the past and elsewhere in this issue, we have been explaining our critique of the deal and the grave implications it has for India’s security interests, our independent foreign policy and our economic and political sovereignty.

In order to examine the Left’s objections and the grave implications of this deal on India, a UPA-Left committee has been constituted. This, ironically, met for the first time on the anniversary of 9/11. The exchange of notes has begun and only time will tell how sincerely these concerns will be addressed. The UPA, on its part, has committed that the committee’s findings will be taken into account before proceeding to operationalise the deal. The substantive issues articulated in these columns earlier will now be taken up in the committee.

Be that as it may, it is necessary to debunk a common fallacy that the nuclear deal in itself and the debate on it does not really concern the common Indian. This is the deliberate disinformation campaign that is being spread. In these columns in the past, we had demonstrated that nuclear power would be the most expensive energy option before India, while accepting the undeniable need for urgent augmentation of energy resources to sustain India’s economic growth.

According to the estimates made by eminent scientists, the cost per megawatt of electricity would be around Rs 11 crore from imported nuclear reactors. The prime minister has announced a target of generating 40,000 MW of nuclear power in the future. Of this, assuming that 10,000 MW would be generated from domestic reactors, the remaining 30,000 MW would cost us Rs 3,30,000 crores. Now the same 30,000 MW, if produced through coal, would cost us at best Rs 1,20,000 crores. Using gas or water (hydro-electricity), this would cost Rs 90,000 crores only. By using the nuclear option, India would be spending anywhere beyond Rs 2 lakh crore more than using the available alternatives. Can India afford such an expensive option? Imagine, this cost difference can build nearly 20,000 fully-equipped 100-bed public hospitals, or, 2,50,000 schools like the Navodaya Vidyalayas with full boarding facilities for 100 students. The cost differential is so huge that, while generating the same amount of electricity from alternative sources, we need not deny 20 lakh children of quality primary education or 250 lakh people of quality medical care. Who says, therefore, that the nuclear deal does not affect the common man? Apart from all other serious implications, this deal actually denies us the opportunities, very dearly, to improve the livelihood of the aam admi. In the final analysis, thus, this deal constitutes not only an attack on our sovereignty and independent foreign policy but is also patently anti-people.