Indian Left no threat, say CIA papers

The United States may be anathema for the Indian communists, but the CIA appeared not to rate them highly as they feel they are neither a “revolutionary threat” or a “serious challenge” to American interests.

The American spy agency also goes on to charge the communists of “trading their class struggle philosophy for a share of parliamentary power”, but at the same time says that they are forced to concentrate on electoral politics as the country’s religious, cultural and social institutions resist revolutionary changes.

Declassified records, which are now made available online, show how CIA agents captured every development in communist parties through incisive analysis.

From the analysis on India’s first elected Communist government to the split in the CPI and activities during the Emergency, the CIA reportage on the Indian Left sometimes resembled the language of self-criticism one could read in the party congress documents.

An analysis in September 1982, ‘India: Dim Prospects for the Communists’ reasoned that social and cultural institutions and Hindu religious traditions have become a “formidable barrier” for their growth.

It said the communists won several elections in states for 30 years, but have “little hope” of making “meaningful gains”.
DH News Service