Articles by Nishtar

Efforts to knock together an all-in opposition united front are unlikely to succeed in the context of sharpening ideological and class differences. A more realistic prospect is of coalitions of parties bidding for power on the basis of agreed minimum programmes.

therefore hardly likely to succeed if it is kept within the confines of what passes as a social movement, or if it is made an appendage of the folklore of man-woman confrontation. The battle, if it is to be joined at all, has to be against a retrograde structure of values fostered by an amoral state authority steeped in class bias. The narrow class alignment which has captured the instrumentalities of power in this nebulous country could not care less whether the rest of the population advance into literacy and improved living standards, or in fact recede further into pestilence, squalor and illiteracy. The decision on how the rest of the population is to be treated rests on the judgment how the denouement will affect the class interests of the coterie at the top

The left continues to view the alignment of political forces as they have obtained since independence rather mechanically, with the Congress as the immutable centre and the leftist and rightist forces on either side of the Congress looking for opportunities to improve their position and in favourable circumstances seeking to even share power as junior partners with the centrist ruling formation. Even if this was true for some years after independence, over the years the Congress has been transformed into an outright rightwing party. With the emergency and after its return to power in 1980 the Congress has become the centre of rightist forces in Indian society THE question of an alternative to the Congress(I) at the centre as the basis of mass political activity of all opposition parties has at last been posed squarely by the left. The CPI(M) has taken the lead in this significant development with CPI and other left parties following. This is in marked contrast not only to the halfhearted and hesitant stand of the communists and their allies on this vital question till recently but also to their role in the political scenario ten years ago when Indira Gandhi had called a general election to endorse her emergency rule. The divided communists were able to play only a limited role at that time and the advantage rested with non-left and even anti-left forces. The two communist parties have evidently learnt something from that experience and its aftermath. They have displayed boldness and initiative now when the question of an alternative to the Congress has again been put on the political agenda. They have firmly occupied a central place in these developments and are unlikely to be pushed aside when the composition of the alternative to the Con- gress(I) is determined. They have also not allowed themselves to be disoriented by the superpower interests of the Soviet Union in our part of the world.

Depressed because of Refugees Nishtar THE stock market presents a picture of gloom. It has been forced to beat a further sharp retreat tinder pressure of persistent selling. Bulls have been on the run, hotly chased by bears. Despite the ban on forward trading since June 27, 1969, speculative activity has continued to account for the major bulk of business in the stock exchanges, especially in Dalai Street. And speculation is by no means confined to cleared securities. Equity prices have registered further heavy losses over the week and it is the more popular, easy-to-sell, counters

Persistent Selling at Higher Levels?
Nishtar ON June 23, the spot quotation for groundnut oil in Bombay was marked down to Rs 3,880 a tonne. This is the lowest price recorded so far this year and it is only Rs 30 higher than last year's low of Rs 3,850. The highest realised by groundnut oil this year was Rs 4,600 a tonne; this was in January