Bardhan, Surjeet set for Pak on comrades’ invite

Surjeet and Bardhan had been invited by Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri when he last came to India. But protocol intervened as neither of the leaders are elected representatives of the government. As a result, both Pakistani and Indian establishments found it difficult to accommodate them. According to Left sources, neither of the leaders were interested in going to Pakistan as official Indian delegates.

So finally, Surjeet and Bardhan will leave India in a week’s time as invitees of the Communist Party of Pakistan, Communist Mazdoor and Kishan Party and the National Workers’ Party. Incidentally, the CPP split into two factions only two years ago. The two leaders will first visit Lahore and then go to Karachi.

Though nothing has been decided, meetings with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and PM Shaukat Aziz are likely.

Meanwhile, as a signal to the government that it should be very careful with its marginally shifting Middle East course, the four Left parties held a very significant condolence meeting for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

There were red banners mourning the death of ‘‘Comrade Arafat’’. Given the fact that the UPA dispensation’s condolences had been muted, the Left’s message was loud and clear. ‘‘No hobnobbing or proximity with Israelis.’’