The Robert Frost moment
Jyoti Malhotra -
Thursday, June 26, 2008 3:18 PM
The morning after the meeting between the UPA and the Left on June 25, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to be standing firm in his determination to take the nuclear deal to the next stage, that is, to the IAEA Board of Governors for approval.
Meanwhile, the CPM Politburo is meeting on Sunday in a show of strength to support its general secretary, Prakash Karat. Of course, he’s going to get it.
The party has been clear, right from the start that it cannot allow the nuclear deal to go through, because it believes that it compromises India’s strategic independence. Whether or not its ideological opposition angers or infuriates the pro-dealwallahs, fact is the party line has been cleared by the Central Committee and thereafter, by the Politburo several times over the past year. It’s not going to change now.
You can call the Communists, and especially the CPM, several names, many of them unparliamentary, but the fact remains that they have stood by their word. In a country where few politicians have the courage to stand up for what they believe in – even if you accuse the Left of living in the Jurassic Age – several Left leaders are exceptions to that rule.
Then there is the matter of the Prime Minister, whose honesty and integrity is a byword in contemporary politics. To think the Left believes he is an American stooge, only diminishes the Left.
Truth is, the nuclear deal – by getting a waiver authority from 45 nations who are members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group -- allows India to circumvent decades of technology denial by the big powers. India’s space organisation, ISRO, has especially suffered, as have several other projects undertaken by supposedly cutting-edge research outfits like the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).
As India takes on the world, there cannot be any shame in admitting that we have fallen behind on several counts. Jumpstarting circuits that have fallen into disuse because of lack of experience or knowledge must score higher than patriotism.
India is confronting its own Robert Frost moment right now. On the one hand is a can-do feeling of flight, on the other a bar so low that allows under-achievers to look so good in their Made-in-Third-World mirrors. The road not taken will have several consequences for many generations of our children.