Only time can tell!

At the Thiruvananthapuram party conference, it was none other than Pinarayi Vijayan, who reminded his cadres of the official party line from the 2012 party congress held in Kozhikode. He was pointing out the ideological resolution passed by the party on China almost ten years before. The party then criticized China and pointed out how China was going out of line with their methods in the fight against imperialism. Another interesting thing that happened the day before Pinarayi's reminder - S. Ramachandran Pillai (SRP - the senior politburo member who is seriously enamored by the charms of China) made a statement praising China and its policies in fighting imperialism. So the obvious question remains, is there any ideological conflict happening here? Well whatever the answer is, it is evident that even though with a fair share of 'tankies' (who regularly deny Tiananmen and other atrocities by China on social media) within the party; there is also a growing fascination with China among the leadership - be it the 'Old Guards' or the 'Young Turks'. 

And yes, throughout his political career, Pinarayi Vijayan himself has praised and criticized China many times (praises more than criticisms). Let us for a moment assume that the criticism against China made by Pinarayi at the TVPM party conference inauguration was a response to SRP. If this is truly the case, then one has to answer the question whether the criticism was honest or not?

In the days leading up to the inauguration of the Thiruvananthapuram party conference, a CPM-organized Mega Thiruvathira event was staged. Apart from all the other controversies, what stood out for me was the lyrics of the song used for the Thiruvathira kali. It was clearly a hagiography of Pinarayi Vijayan - celebrating his 'successful' administration. The lyrics also indicated how Pinarayi Vijayan has single-handedly transformed Kerala into the 'heaven' that it is today. 

Well forget SRP, I believe the criticism against China was actually a way of Pinarayi denying the 'Chinese way' of his administration. It is indeed ironic hearing Pinarayi Vijayan criticizing China rather than the Thiruvathira event (proving once again that his criticism wasn't honest). The hypocrisy here is so evident that by criticizing China, Pinarayi in a way is trying to transfer the blame (even though he never criticized China's authoritarian tendencies). Much worse, it is also ironic to see no other leaders rising up to the occasion to correct SRP in place of Pinarayi Vijayan - the authoritarian father figure with the right to correct. The whole thing once again should remind us of the façade that has to be kept even in dishonestly decrying China. This is exactly how personality cults work. For example, Narendra Modi's style of giving out false appearances is entirely different from Pinarayi Vijayan's. Modi chases the spotlight whereas Pinarayi stands his ground and waits his turn. This is where the populist logic in selling the great leader's public image becomes key for both Modi and Vijayan. 

Going back to China, it is obvious that CPI(M) has always looked up to China despite there being other socialist countries. They have admired the 'Chinese model' and still believes in its 'success' story. And for me, this is where things get scary. Despite being a successful democratic socialist order, Bolivia is not evoked with the same feeling as that of China. same goes for Chile. Slavoj Zizek in his latest book, Heaven in Disorder writes, "What is evident is that Morales, Linera, and their followers were such a thorn in the flesh of the liberal establishment precisely because they succeeded: for over a decade the radical Left was in power and Bolivia did not turn into Cuba or Venezuela. Democratic socialism is possible." For Kerala, this model of Democratic socialism should work as an inspiration not the Authoritarian capitalism of China. But then again, what more to prove that CPI(M) in Kerala is really going the Chinese way. Well this is where K-Rail comes in.

K-Rail is the flagship project of the LDF government and they've been flaunting it for a long time now. A High Speed Railway network was always there in the cards for Kerala. But lately with the revelations that accompanied the floods and the ecological fragility of the Western Ghats region, the developmental projects has to be carefully planned and executed. K-Rail runs through the whole of Kerala and has its ecological impact as a developmental project and the funny thing is that this ecological impact assessment has not been properly studied yet. All questions regarding the same are also pushed under the carpet by the ruling Communist party. This ecological aspect is one thing only. The financial speculation and its feasibility has also not been properly studied and validated. Everything the government claims remain as claims. With this project, Kerala, a state early in its steps to building a democratic socialist economy runs the risk of being taken into a vicious debt trap. If that is the case then with an already high unemployment rate (which is above national average) and with the society very much dependent on public institutions, Kerala may be forced to adopt austerity measures. All the public institutions that've been built over the years will be lost. This is the underlying risk here.

Again, the ruling party counters all these arguments by suggesting that Kerala being a widely acclaimed tourist destination will be able to cash in on the semi-high speed railway system (K-Rail). The government claims that a new tourism circuit can get developed out of this and the incoming foreign reserve used for further investments or pay back the debt. Well as experts say, this is a long shot. Again I would like to point out the fact that there is 'colonialism' working here in its new globalized form. Kerala is dubbed as the God's Own Country due to its greenery, the natural formations and maybe religious coexistence; "the variety of faiths that thrive here" - as an article in Washington Post stated. 

Here in India, Kerala is considered the 'heaven' among all the other states. The real issue here is the heavens (it's specters) of Europe that are haunting Kerala. This whole idea of highspeed railway comes from this desire to emulate the master in his perfection which in reality arises out of an inferiority complex and of course there are financial institutions to support this desire. A highspeed railway may not be something that Kerala needs in hindsight. After all, heavens are not meant to be the same. The paradisaical image is the problem here - ours being the desire to emulate the other. This is where I intend to bring Zizek again. In his Heaven in Disorder, he explains the title by bringing in a Mao Zedong quote, "There is great disorder under heaven; the situation is excellent". He says that in our present condition, the quote can be modified with the disorder being not under the heaven but in the heaven itself. So the idea of the disorder in heaven becomes a perfect reference here. Kerala which is cherishing its paradisaical position actually is in great disorder (crisis point) but to come out of this disorder is not to immerse itself in more capital intensive forces but to reinvent its paradisiacal idea which should help in creating favorable conditions for democratic socialism.

I'm not saying this to deny the space for any developmental projects in Kerala. The point is to understand the devious plan set to rein in the 'heaven in disorder'. It is here that Kerala's political leadership has to rise up to the occasion and understand that they need to reimagine who or what they want to be - not in a way emulating the European projects which are otherwise debt traps. What is lacking here is the political will and a new vision. This is where the Chinese route taken by the ruling party once again comes to the forefront. As Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan has made his intentions clear even from his first term. From straight up recruiting someone like Githa Gopinath to registering Masala Bonds at the LSE, what has been paraded as Keynesian policies were always neoliberal projects which the Communist parties in India reject theoretically.

With all these going on with the 'left' in Kerala, one might think that the left intellectuals, party members could protest and force the party back to the 'left'. Well no, this is because the party members in India or at least Kerala belong to the dominant ideology. Here again, I bring Zizek and his conception of ideology. The 'fetishistic disavowal' of the party members, i.e., them knowingly trying to sabotage the left operation has become the dominant ideology here. There is in fact no ideological mystification whatsoever. For instance, if we analyze how Unni R (a malayalam writer) reacted against the 'Communist' government in their manner of promoting K-Rail, we could see what really goes behind these criticisms. He wrote that CPI(M) should remember the dialogue that used to happen between the former Chief Minister/party ideologue EMS and the writer O.V. Vijayan. He was comparing the old times to the present; now there are in fact no dialogue happening over the K-Rail project. This is pure ideology working here. Unni R knows that the party he is addressing is no more the old party. He very well knows that "all that moves (makes unrest) in Kerala is clearly not 'red' anymore". So the intentions paraded as if to correct CPI(M) is all about reliving the nostalgia of old times.

Once again, if we are to observe how the online cyber comrades are working hard to justify projects like K-Rail, we could see the folly in their mission. With projects like K-Rail, these comrades are promising that CPI(M) is ready to assimilate itself to the system. They are saying that the govt is exactly trying to get us into those 'heavens' of Europe. This is exactly how you undermine democratic socialism from within, And yes, the irony here is that they are doing it knowingly. 

As of now, what has yet to become of the 'disorder' in our 'heavens'; only time can tell!