Nandigram - The Left hand of violence

After the right wing violence in Gujarat comes the left handed punch in Bengal. Gujarat violence was easy to understand and classify - religous hatred and an orchestrated communal outburst. But Nandigram is difficult to comprehend. Partly because media coverage has been patchy. There have been allegations and equally strong counter-allegations in press coverage that has negated the impact of the gory violence in Nandigram.

Communist violence is no less disgusting than communal violence. A fertile well-literate Bengal has been kept under the poverty line by the communists for decades. But nobody seems to bother. Jyoti Basu walks high among politicians even as, say, a Lalu is villified for the same crime. It is a never-ending wonder, how communists have been able to be perched on to their moral high grounds despite their dismal records in Bengal and even in Kerala.

At the end of it all, I know nothing of Nandigram violence. Was it the fault of communists or the alleged-Maoists? What is the difference between the two clans - are they not supposed to be bound by the same idealogy? But there has been something brewing in Nandigram that has made the air putrid there - the stink left by the violence can be sensed though not proven.

Misplaced faith in any idealogy - be it religious or political, be it right wing capitalism or left wing socialism, seems to yield the same result. Hatred. Violence. And finally loss of faith - in anything.