M. R. Venkatesh begins his article with this quote:

‘It is not that the Communists do not know the truth. It is only that the Communists cannot bear the truth. Truth is the Communists’ deadly enemy.’ — Jayaprakash Narayan

So true. The communists thrive on falsehood, beginning with their ideology, which is one of the greatest intellectual frauds of the 20th century. You might have experienced the communists’ selfrighteousness while debating with them. You might have noticed that a communist will never agree with you, howsoever well reasoned and substantiated your argument is. It is futile to think “Why is this guy repeating the same old nonsense? Am I not communicating properly to him? Am I wrong?” because what is wrong or what is correct or what is true or what is false is immaterial to a communist as long as it doesnt fall in line with communist theory. Truth is truth only as long as it satisfies communist theory.

M. R. Venkatesh writes in the concluding paragraphs of his article:

Thanks to the support they still enjoy in some quarters within the country, they have been systematically successful in shutting out the ‘other point of view’ from the general public. Naturally, it follows their ability to derail discourses and prevent people from learning the truth.

And the truth is that they are wielding enormous power, far disproportionate to their strength. Crucially, they carry veto power on virtually everything — from the Presidential poll to foreign policy to the policy on FDI and, in the process, fashioning every policy. All this has come without any responsibility. This turns the very definition of democracy on its head. And that is the biggest danger the nation is facing today.

Take the case of the UPA Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil. It is well known that she was not the first choice of her own party — the Congress. It was only following the intransigence of the Communists over the candidature of others that Patil was finally declared the UPA candidate. With uncomfortable accusations against her tumbling about, the Communists seem to be enjoying the UPA’s discomfiture.

What is amusing is that the onerous task of defending Patil lies with Congress. And at every inconvenient turn, the Communists seem to selectively distancing themselves from inconvenient accusations against Patil.

In the great Indian tradition, while the Communists continue with their perfidy with absolute nonchalance, the task of cleaning up the mess lies with others — the Congress in the instant case.

The earlier the nation and the political parties realise these facts the better it is for the nation, the electorate and our democracy.

So true.