Rajiv is able to fool readers by providing data and details that are well suited to his pre-planned arguments. By making these observations, sitting possibly in San Francisco, he is making serious mistakes in concluding that backward class didn't benefit from the CPM-led reforms in Kerala. (I don't know about Bengal.) Though I am not a big fan of communists, anybody who lived in Kerala during the last 5 decades could easily notice that backward class people immensily benefitted from the policies of communist govts, starting from the land reforms. Before that the so-called forward class sudras practically had SC/ST (pulayas etc.) people enslaved for working in their farms and hugely benefitted from that free labor. The communist party rule changed all that and Congress had to follow the same policies. Though lots of SC/STs left farm work and entered service sector and govt jobs, and left the state dependent on migrant labor and other states for food, it is heartening to see that the state has become a model for social development.
Though any opinions can be expressed the columnists on this paper, when they started using data to score points, editors should check its completeness
RE:Arm-chair journalism
by julia on May 17, 2006 08:35 PM Permalink
You may or may not like a columnist, but you are surely joking when you say he must not use data to prove his point. What are you, an enemy of numbers? Or a fascist?
RE:Arm-chair journalism
by Vijay Mehta on May 16, 2006 04:06 PM Permalink
I regularly visit Kerala. It is one of the most poor states in India. Caste and religious wars are too common. Every government has provoked Muslims against Hindus and one caste against the other. Kerala is not what it was 15 years ago, it is becoming a living hell
Kerala is the most developed state
by Jyothis Narayanan on May 18, 2006 04:06 PM Permalink
Development of a state must be measured on its social development indexes like literacy, availability of health facilities, infant mortality rate, and population growth rate, ratio between girls and boys and awareness towards laws. Even World Bank and capitalistic economists are agreeing with that. In all these indexes Kerala is at par with developed countries in the west. Left movements in Kerala have played an important role in achieving that. I sense very distressing while watching people staying on the roadside of our great metros like Chennai and Bombay. If you go just 100 Km away from these metros you can spot wholesome human exploitation also. They lack awareness about leading a better life and even their coming generations wont be able to achieve that. But in Kerala, even if you go to remotest village, you can see the same social and economical conditions existing in Kochi or TVM. Ninety five percentages of beggars in Kerala are from other states only. Those who talk about wealth creation and significance of competition must understand the importance of setting right social platform for that. A tribal sleeping under a sandal wood tree may not have the awareness and informa
