•IS THERE AN 'INDIAN FORM OF COMMUNISM'?' 91
disproportionately in government services of one kind or the other. . . their experience is confirmed—fairly or not—by the reportage of daily press which is less than sympathetic to a radical transformation of society. For an anti-communist newspaper, a little corruption (in the left) goes a long way.* (p.181) Nossiter has been able to reach such conclusions even from the liberal standpoint, because, he studies the theory and practice of Indian Communists against the background of the concrete situation existing in India. For example, while explaining the limitations of land reforms under the CPM-led government in West Bengal, he says : 'in practice, the lands-man ratio of less than 30 cents in West Bengal ensures that even the model Weberian administration would not be able to seriously redress the inequalities in land-ownership.' (p.140) However, he immediately notes down the failure of the CPM in the direction of collective or cooperative farming. And for this, he argues, a better quality of cadre is required which will be more attentive to the demands of agricultural labourers than sharecroppers. (p.140)
Finally, in dealing with the division among the parliamentary Communists, i.e., CPI and CPM, Nosssiter thinks that the best political yardstick of testing their success or failure is their capacity to mobilise more people for the cause of the Communist movement. And, when the rival lines were put to the test, the strength of the CPM rose from 4 to 6 per cent between 1967 and 1980 and its seats from 19 to 36, whereas the CPI's vote fell from 5 to less than 3 per cent and its seats from 23 to 11. (p.23) From 1979-80 onwards, both parties are broadly pursuing the CPM line of struggle.
On the basis of the foregoing account, one can say that the analysis as well as conclusions offered by Nossiter are clearly sympathetic to Indian Communist theory and practice. These conclusions are derived not from a comparison with the revolutionary achievements of Communists in the USSR or China, but by placing Indian Communism within the context of Indian society. To this extent, this study is balanced and objective. However, there exist in Nossiter's book a few glaring examples of ignorance about some major facts of Indian politics. For instance, Y.B. Chavan (and not Charan Singh) has been referred to as the Prime Minister of India for a brief period during 1979-1980. (See, pp.6, 12) Similarly the credit for leading the 1974 railway strike has been given to the CPI leadership rather than to the CITU led by George Fernandes and the CPM-led Loco-Running Staff Union, who formed the back bone of this movement. Other than these factual errors, this book is a must for all those who are interested in understanding the achievements and contributions to the creation of an 'Indian form of Communism'.
