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April      Last updated: April 29,  5:00 p.m.

THE Bengali daily Bartaman of April 20 carries an interesting item regarding a political debate to be aired by the Bengali channel of the Rupert Murdoch-owned STAR-TV on April 28. The debate features Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee and CPI-M leader Somnath Chatterjee. Arnab Goswami of STAR-TV anchors the programme and journalists Soumya Banerjee of Anand Bazaar Patrika and Srinjay Chowdhury of The Statesman ask questions.

In connection with a question on the "Mahajot" (Grand Alliance) between Mamata's Trinamool Congress, the Sonia Congress and the BJP, Somnath babu with his usual aplomb described it as an "unholy alliance". When Soumya Banerjee remarked that during World War II, even Churchill and Stalin had joined hands, Somnathda almost exploded with anger and asked Banerjee if he wanted to compare "us" (the CPI-M) with Hitler. It is well known that Britain, USA and the erstwhile Soviet Union had joined hands to stop Hitler from overrunning the whole of Empire and probably most parts of the world during the war.

The CPI-M thus tried to paint itself as uncompro-misingly anti-Fascist and upholder of democracy. The CPI-M, however, cannot fool the country by trying to show down a journalist. The CPI-M's Godfather, Joseph Stalin, did join hands with Hitler and for almost three years the Soviet Union was partner with Nazi Germany. This part of the history of World War II is very carefully ignored by the Communists of India and all sorts of excuses are proferred by them to support Stalin's action then. The efforts are wasted just as their efforts to justify their support to the British during World War II and betraying India during the August 1942 Revolution are.

On August 26, 1939, Soviet Foreign Minister Vassily Mototov flew in to Berlin and promptly signed a non-aggression pact with Ribbeatrop, the Foreign Minister of Hitler. There were secret clauses too in this Treaty which included proposals for parcelling out Poland between these two avaricious countries. The rape of Poland began five days later, early morning of September 1, 1939. We all know what happened to Poland, and its Jewish population in the next five years. But the Communists have carefully tried to conceal the fact that the Soviet Union too had attacked Poland in order to extract its pound of flesh. This happened on September 17, 1939, and Warsaw had collapsed after two weeks of intensive bombing by the Soviets. The eastern part of Poland was under Soviet occupation according to the terms of the Hitler-Stalin treaty of non-aggression.

It was on June 22, 1942, that Hitler betrayed Stalin and invaded Soviet Union with an army consisting of as many as 30 lakh men. Most of western parts of Russian territory had fallen to Hitler the same year but neither Leningrad (St. Petersburg) nor Moscow had yielded to the Nazi perfidy. Leningrad fought the seize for an unbelievable 900 days and Moscow for a little less time. However, the Russians, aided by the bitter winter of 1944, had driven away the Nazis just as a hundred years earlier, they had sent back Nepoleon from the doors of Moscow. These are unparallel instances of bravery by the Russians for which the democratic people all over the world salute them even today.

But we are discussing here not the perfidy committed by Hitler but by the Communists of India. For almost three long years-September 1, 1939 to June 22, 1942-the British were fighting an "imperialist" war against the Nazis, but the war became "Peoples' War" from June 22, 1942. The occupation of Poland by the Soviet Union according to the terms of the Hitler-Stalin Treaty was of course a "socialistic war" and the "final solution" of the Jews launched by Hitler was obviously a inhumane act by the world's most notorious butcher. All, these acts by Hitler were supported by Indian Communists till June 22, 1942. So, now getting angry at the remark by a journalist will not absolve CPI-M leader Somnath Chatterjee of the crime against humanity his Party's source of inspiration, Joseph Stalin, perpetrated in 1931-1942. The CPI-M is the spiritual descendant of the evil duo of Hitler and Stalin.

No one who stands for democracy should ever forget this "unholy alliance" of Hitler and Stalin. Describing the "Mahajot" as an "unholy alliance" will not wash. The pictures of Stalin hanging from walls of every CPI-M office in the country will remind people that he was but the alter ego of Hitler. Any journalist has, therefore, the right to compare the CPI-M with Hitler.

-A.G.