All or Nothing?

Ordinarily, one would not reply to a letter to the editor. But I wish to strongly protest against a part of the letter by Jayati Ghosh et al (January 4) criticising the editorial shift in the EPW away from left-wing positions in the last one year or so. While I agree with the general tenor of their criticism, the last two lines of their letter suggesting that at this rate EPW may end up defending the demolition of mosques and attack on missionaries seems to be absurd and misplaced. Worse it displays an arrogance that has been the bane of the Indian left for long.

Perhaps Jayati Ghosh and her friends would do well to resist from drawing conclusions which are not warranted by the evidence. The assumption that unless you are left-wing on economic policy, you cannot hold any progressive position at all is strange to say the least. For example, while the CPI(M) maintains some kind of left-wing position on economic policies, its politbureau remains deeply patriarchal as its response to Binda Karat's resignation so eloquently demonstrated. similarly, the CPI(M) has been consistently suspicious of civil liberties groups and their activities in the country despite the evidence of their commitment to secularism and the democratic rights of the people. Would Jayati et al, therefore, question the secularism of the CPI(M)?