Page 2686 - 1970S

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Mrs. Ganclli
Walksa
Tightrope
by Olorman Cousins
NEW DELHI: lt is di.fficult
10 thinlt of aoy head of state
whose politic:al life is more of a
lúgh-wire balanciog act than
tbat of Indita Gandhi, prime
mioister of India.
Like · her fatber, Jawaharlal
Nehru, llrst prime minister of
India, Mrs. Gandlú's main job
is to lr.eep her nation united.
Coosidering the ethoic and cul·
tural p!u.ralism of India, witb 14
separatc major languages and I'T"A.I ~y IN TURMQIL
bundreds of sects arid subsects, 1.4 L
tbis is ooe of tbe most difficult
political undertalr.ings in his- ltaly's futute survival may be
tory. She is widely criticized, threateoed by possible Commu–
but almost everyone agrees that nist power sharing in tbe gov–
she is probahly the only politi- emment as well as potential
cal figure in India today wbo Nco-Fascist reaction.
can hold thc country together. At the general elections in
Sorne pcople complain be· 1977, the Communists are ex-
cause she doesn't use all tbe pccted to signific:antly increase
powel$ of ber otlice to solve the their votes and boost tbeir
country's problems. Otbcl$ at- cbaoce of sharing leal power in
taclr. ber witb equal sevcrity be- national politics for tb~ lil$t
caúse sbe has beco t~ arbitrary lilJte. ,
a":d_ dictatQ~ái._Ib!;..p~w:e.s- _ .BU1. if-tne-example of'reeéñt
ana counterpressures are as events in Portugal ii any in–
fien:e as they are. prodígious. dication, power sharing by tbe
Just in the past 10 years, lndia's Communists is an eventual one–
population has swelled 10 more way ticket to tbe establishment
tban SOO million, an increasc of _ _ • - ------- –
almost 100 million since Jawa–
barlal Nebru's deatb. The
amount of arable land has
shrunlc <luring this ¡ieriod. Tbe
government is attempting va–
liantly but with small succe$$ 10
stem the onruslúng population
tide. The number of mouths 10
feed is bcyond the food-growiñg
capacity of the country. 1t is
also greater than tbe amount of
food India is able to import
from tbe outside world.
India is a Hindu country, but
its minority of 60 million Mos–
lems represents a major factor
in government policy, botb do–
mestie and foreign. India c:an
never forget that the presente or
so many Moslems .could ereate
a serious intemal · crisis in the
event of a break witb Palr.istan.
The sympathy of lndia's Mos–
lems for tbe Arabs in tbe
Middlc East crisis is a potent
factor in the fonnatioo of ln–
.dian foreign policy. A related
pressure on the prime minister's
Middle East policy comes from
lndia's dependence on the A.rab
states for its oil Palr.istan gets its
oil u · a low (lJlee, wlúle lndía's
oil costs bavc quadrupled. Vut
pressure has beco brougbt on
tbe prime minister 10 withdraw
4
reeognition 'or Israel and to
elose the lsraell coosulate in ,
Bombay.
Mrs. Gandhi has resisted
both tbese pressures. Her recog,
nition o( tbe Palestine Libera–
tion Organizatioo (PLO) is less
an act of partiality than an at–
tempt to maintain a stanee 'fa–
vorilig a negotiated settlement
oftbe Palestinian question.
M~aowlúle, however, the rec–
ognition of the PLO has pro–
dueed shock waves abroad,
especially in the United States,
intensüying ijle aiready s~ed
relations. Mrs. Gandbi is con-
fident tbat in time this relation-·
ship can be restored. Like her
father, sbe places tbe highest
value on tbe goodwill of the
U.S., but feels sbe mu.st be
guided primarily by what sbe
conc:eives 10 be the best interests
of"tbe lndian pcople.
The Uliited States, of course,
is guíded by the same basic
principie. The great tragedy in
the modero world is that as tbe
separate national interests., un–
del$tandable tbougb tlley may
be, come into conAict, the main
loset is tbe human interest. O
ofa "dictatorship of the proleta–
riaL"'
In a reeeot interview pub–
lished by the Turin oewspaper,
La Stampa, the l~der of ltaly's
dominant Christian Oemoeratic
Party, Amintore Fanfani,
' wamed that lús party would
commit poUtical suicide if it
a greed to a · Christian
Democratic/Comm~t eoali–
tion in the future.
Ao electorial triumpb by the
Communists coüld provoke a
strong reaction from the rigbt,
especia~y from the extreme ele•
ment of the Italian Social
Movement. ln retaliation. the
Communists - already cootrol–
ling ltaly's three largest unions
- eould paralp;e the nation by
calling a national stri.ke.
ltaly's continua! political
stagoation has permitted violent
extremist elements to arise. The
growing incideoee of street bat·
tles by the poUticaUy motivated
mobs in tbe largor ltalian cities
are reminisceot of pre-Musso–
lini days.
Although the Nco-Faseists do
oot have th.e numerieal support
the Communists báve, tbey did
emerge, boW.Ver, witb almost
1O percent of tbe votes in the
last elcetions. Sinee tbat time
tberc has been an upsurge in
radical, rigbtist aetivitie.~ with
sorne members embarlr.ing on a
terrorist eampaign of violente
and intimidation. Rumo!$ of
rigbtist plots, attempted coups,
and assassinatioos are inaeas–
ingly becoming part of the ltal–
ians' day-to-day convemtion.
In addition, the spectcr of vio–
lent crime - oflen poUtieaUy
motivated - is rearing its ugly
bead. and Jtidruippinp are on
the increase. Ami_d sucb politi–
cal and social turmoil, we may
be closc 10 witnessing tbe twi·
ligbt of ltalian democracy. O
WARSAW: It is bard for tbe casual observer, waiJcing along
Warsaw's bróad, brightly lit boulevards. lo realizo that this oow–
bu.stting capital lay in near-total ruins 30 years ago. But Warsaw,.
lilr.e the pboenix of legeod, has· risco from tbe ashes 10 bccome
perbap$ the most irnpressive and appealing city in the whole
communist world. '
But the memories of that most cruel of all human conJiid$
remain deeply etcbed in botJI the soil and psyehe of Poland and the -
otber lands of Eastem Europe wlúcb 1 bave bcen touring along
witb Plaln Trurh Waslúngtoo correspo11dent Dexter Faullcner.
. In Warsaw itself, atolhe,site of the old Jewish ghetto, a sotitary
monument of Swedish granito - originally intended 10 be pan of
Hitler's Victory Column m Berlín - stands as mute testimony tó
the valiant fighlcl$ ofthe ghetto who_challenged their Nazi opP!es–
sors toa three-weelr. standotr befare sealing their inevitable fate.
Two bundred miles to tbe south of Warsaw, the gruesorne
c:oncentra~on camps orAuschwitz-Birtcenau are visible for all 10
see almost in their entirety, especially in the case of Auscbwitz.
Here, one is able to tour the dormitory bloeJcs; the prison cells, the
crematoria, and the displays of prison life aod conditions. One tries
lO contemplate the enormity of the erimes P.Ctpetrated bere - tfie
torturous, inhuman, brutal deaths of four million meo, womcn and •
clúldren - but the mind 6ghts against what tbe eyes see. ·
, .Across tbe border in ~oslovalr.ia, banners and postm in
_th~ J)ig ~_,portra~li~tion ot: th~~~:&om tlj~J'fa;i.
yoke 30 ye81'S ago by the Red Army. We noticed that in Prague
nearly every sbop window dutifully displayed its "May 9" victory
plaeard. ('This was done partly to maintain tbe faeade of CzeCII–
Russian solidarity. There were no poste!$ proclaiming tbe country's
"re-Ubcration" in August 1968.)
In Romania and Yugoslavia, where we also traveled, solemn
May 9- cc:remonies commemorated th:e final victory over Nazi
Gerinany. lo Belgrade, where we ..topped on May 8, worlr.men
were adding the tinislúng tQuches to the parade stand where the
aging Presiden! Tito and lús aides wero to view indepcodent Yugo–
s)avia's armed forces the following day. lt was largely Josip Broz
Tito and lús band ofpartisans, of eOUI$0, wbo rid Yugoslavia ofthe
"faseist post."
The following day in Bucharest. Romania, we witnessed the
somber Vlctpry Oay proceedinp a t the base oC. tbe Soviet War
Memorial - a bit more subducd perhaps sinee, for tbc greatest part
ofthe war, Romanian sóldiel$ fougbt on tbe German side.
The biggest celebration of all was reserved for thc Soviet
Union itself. Westem observers werc surprised to note that tbe size
and scope of this year's observanee even eclipsed tltat of tbe 25th
anniversary in 1970. The role ofSoviet armed forees in tbe "Great
Patriotic War" was e.xaggerated even furtber tbis year by Soviet
lústorians, the participatjon of ber democratie allies being furtber
discounted and diminishcd.
In the West, by rather starl: contras!, tbe mell),ories of the
struggle against tbe greatest single tyranny lr.nown to date seem t,o
bave waned. perhaps dulled by the inlluenee of two deeades of
nearly unbroken prosperity. Frencb Pre$ident Giscard d'Estaing
even decided that tbis year's eclebratioo of tbe end of thc war
sbould be the last, that further future observanees would only harm
the close cooperation of a rehabilitated Germany with her Euro–
pean allies. Predictably, many Frenchmen, especiaUy those who
fought in the resistance movemeot, reacted in outrage against their
President's suggestion. They also didn't take 100 beartily to · the
recommendatioo of som.e French otlicials that West Germany
should be entrusted witb an equal hand in tbe operation of a
European nuclear defeose force, suggested to be aeated from tbe
pooled resourees oftbe British and French weapoos SY$1ems.
One woodcl$. Do the Soviets and tbeit allies in Eastem Eu–
rope lr.now something - or, at least, have a ~ea ter sense of bistory
and apprehension of the future tban the somnolent West1 O
WEEK ENDINO JVNE 7, 197S l
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