As in the past, the evolving war-like situation in the subcontinent has triggered cries in both India and Pakistan for all internal political differences to be forsaken in the name of ‘national unity’. Amongst the most notable examples of what this means in practice are the public statements issued by India’s two major left-wing parties, the Communist Party of India (CPI), and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), following India’s strikes inside Pakistan on May 7.

Both parties have aped the Modi regime’s narrative about Pakistan harbouring ‘terrorists’ and the righteousness of targeting the ‘infrastructure’ (read: civilians) responsible for the Pahalgam attacks of April 22. The statements are uncritical of Indian state policy and only cursorily mention the need for diplomatic solutions to avert war.

Other Indian opposition parties, including the Congress, have expressed similar positions. But the parliamentary communist parties, with a long history of challenging state nationalism whilst also being principally anti-war, appear to be entering unchartered territory.

Bear in mind that the CPI and CPI-M have both remained largely critical of the Indian government’s support for Zionist war crimes against Palestinians since October 2023. They have repeatedly demanded that India re-adopt its historical policy of support for Palestinian self-determination, refusing to be drawn into the dominant discourse of dehistoricising Palestinian militancy and engaging in blanket condemnation of Hamas as a ‘terrorist’ organisation.

The CPI and CPI-M are threatening their very own political creed.

Even if India’s otherwise robust left has been less willing to challenge the Indian state with regards to the question of Kashmiri self-determination, it has at various points acknowledged the organic roots of militancy in held Kashmir rather than just pawn off all responsibility to the proverbial ‘foreign hand’. But by taking the positions they have vis-à-vis burgeoning conflict with Pakistan, the CPI and CPI-M are threatening their very own political creed. 

This is no small matter, especially when looked at from the perspective of the much smaller and embattled Pakistani left. To oppose state militarism in this country can be a perilous endeavour, as evidenced by the repression faced by progressive forces. But despite the propaganda in official and online media, left-progressives have not retreated from their principled positions.

It is not just in India that it is becoming more difficult for what can broadly be called the anti-war left to survive, let alone thrive. Hindutva is not the only extreme ideology to have taken hold through ‘democratic’ institutions. We all live in political environments dominated by an increasingly xenophobic right wing, undergirded by entrenched military-industrial-media establishments. But this is exactly why surrendering to majoritarian sentiment is anathema for anyone committed to a long-term horizon of justice, egalitarianism and lasting peace.

The CPI-M ought to have learned from its own historic defeat in what was once its bastion of West Bengal in 2011. Having ruled one of India’s largest states for over three decades, its downfall was triggered by a symbolic decision in 2007 to dispossess thousands of peasants in Nandigram so as to set up a special export zone. The peasantry was the bedrock of CPI-M’s politics, but by acquiescing to the then dominant logics of neoliberal globalisation, the party turned its back on its social base, and signed its own death warrant.

In the intervening two decades, the CPI-M has been unable to recover lost ground in West Bengal, though re­­-taining governmental po­­wer in Kerala. The soc­i­a­list left in Pak­is­tan is not curr­e­ntly equip-ped to take state power, so parliamentary communism in India still represents an inspiration of sorts. But by unequivocally supporting the Modi regime in its warmongering, both the CPI-M and CPI have greatly reduced their lustre.

At the time of writing, India has further escalated tensions by flying drones into major Pakistani cities, triggering panic and creating further space for hawkish elements in the Pakistani political and intellectual mainstream. The drones are reportedly imported from Israel, a symbol of the growing synergy between Zionism and Hindutva. Surely it is this nexus that Indian progressives should be seeking to challenge.

At the very least, those on the left in the subcontinent and beyond must stop uncritically deploying the language of ‘terrorism’ at the behest of the state, thereby trampling upon the real histories of structural oppression which explain so many conflicts in our region and world. In the fog of war hysteria and disinformation, this much clarity is a must.

The writer teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar

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