Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen expressed his frustration with the Left parties at a seminar in Kolkata on Saturday. “We cannot see the intensity of the Left [parties’ activities] these days. The intensity has to be increased,” said Professor Sen.
He also pointed out that a non-Left party like the Trinamool Congress (TMC) staged protests faster than the Left parties.
‘Not matter of pride’
“The major question [now] is how much we see [by way of] expression of Left politics. In Assam, there is an issue with residents [the National Register of Citizens]. Long before the Left could say anything, the non-Left TMC went there and staged a protest,” Dr. Sen said, adding that the development was “not a matter of pride” for the Left.
Professor Sen also indicated he was upset with the present state of the CPI(M), and argued that it would be a matter of concern if questions were raised over the CPI(M)’s political presence.
“In our childhood, we used to be concerned over whether there is God. Now, if someone asks whether there is [a party called] CPI(M), it would be a matter of great concern,” he quipped.
He argued that the Left parties should not hesitate to come together with the non-Left parties. “There are reasons for those who support the Left to believe that they [the Left] should come together with those who are non-Left… The question [of whether Left parties should come together with non-Left parties] will come up in a big way in the 2019 [Lok Sabha] elections,” said Professor Sen, cautioning, “Only, being Left could be a political problem.”
