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        The thing that grates most about the Leftists is their sense of self-importance and their touch-me-not sanctimony. Without beating around the bush, restrictive Communist ideas and misplaced socialist policies have done more harm to India (and the world, too) than anything else ever have, and ever could. Leftist dogma has led to many pogroms across the globe (the East European countries that once were, but which now look like crumbling loaves of a rotting bread, tell the tales of dark death starkly), and closer home too there has been no dearth of violence unleashed by the comrades in arms. The Stalinist and Leninist regimes of the erstwhile USSR, the silent reprisals of the apparatchiks to any form of legitimate dissent against Mao and Zeng in China are chapters in horrid history steeped in and seeped with blood. But here in India the very same figures of venal violence are venerated in a shambolic show of reverential religiosity. Our history books, and text books, have been painstakingly and punctiliously purged of any right and real portrayal of these figures of clay-feet but sharp-nailed boots. The Communists' role during the nation's freedom struggle has also been typically duplicitous. But then again, you wouldn't know about it from any of the scholastic scriptures. So Leftists preaching (in typical strident tones) about moral rectitude and gentlemanly conduct was nothing more than hypocritical hiss.

        As is the case now, when the Leftist leaders, after orchestrating one of their yet another acts of violent interference in Lok Sabha yesterday, are speaking of parliamentary decorum and general decency in public. When Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu set out to introduce the Indian Maritime University Bill, 2007 , which envisages among other things to establish a national-level maritime university in Chennai with regional campuses in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Visakhapatnam, the Left MPs almost bulldozed down the Minister and those trying to spread a protective wall around him. There can be no discussion about the behaviour of the Left MPs. This was the first time in the already tumultuous history of Parliament that Marshals had to be called to get the offensive MPs off the House. The tame explanations of Left leaders that they were carried away by the heat of the moment are at best laughable. But then again, true to type, the Red men are trying to climb the moral high ground when there is none.

        The Left's vehemence in its opposition to the Bill is very disturbing in the larger scheme of things. One, it reflects the tenuous skein of relationships within the UPA and those supporting from outside. At another, it also shows up the rising resentment in many quarters against, what is perceived to be, Tamilnadu domination. This criticism is not entirely without basis as most important Ministerial portfolios (Finance, Telecom, Health, Shipping, Textile) have been garnered by the men from this State. The clout that the TN allies wield at the Centre has also been a cause for heartburn in many quarters. But having said this, does it not seem a little bizarre that the Maritime University has so far been situated in a city which does not have a sea-front. Does not Chennai, with its rich history in maritime trade and ocean-related activities, deserve to have it on merit? But as ever in the orchestrated ululation of the Left, reason has been a big casualty.