People's Democracy

Meeting Eric Hobsbawm

Sitaram Yechury

I was in London upon the invitation of Perse College, to deliver the Rajni Palme Dutt memorial lecture in the first week of November. I took this opportunity to meet the eminent historian Eric Hobsbawm. It is indeed a really  privileged meeting with him, who is regarded as a doyen among the historians. I went to meet him immediately after addressing the Occupy London protesters at St Paul’s Cathedral. After the initial pleasantries were exchanged, he expressed his interest in the history of the Indian Communist movement volumes the CPI(M) was bringing and said that he was eagerly waiting for Volume II. When told that Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet, the chairman of the History Commission that was deputed to oversee the publication of these volumes had passed away and so did some of the members of the Commission, like Comrades Jyoti Basu, E K Nayanar, Anil Biswas, P Ramachandran and Koratala Satyanarayana in the recent period, he hoped that we would still be able to complete the task undertaken. He felt that this would be of immense importance and interest to the international communist movement.

Eric Hobsbawm, an avowed Marxist, is one of the tallest historians of the 20^th century. Even at this age of 94, he said he is working on a new book that is to be published in another two years. He said he had already done the planning for the book and is now working upon it. This indeed reflects the immense optimism that is characteristic of a Marxist. Of course, this in fact, though amazing, is not at all surprising because he is still sharp in his mind, as he always has been.

Professor Hobsbawm, learning that we had come to meet him directly after addressing the protesters at St Paul’s Cathedral was very happy. He commented that this is the first time since the collapse of the USSR that people in the Western world were talking about the 'system' instead of just confining themselves to rising this or that demand concerned with their livelihood. He said that the basic question being debated in the growing protest actions was that of whether the faults existing in the system need to be corrected or the system itself is faulty. In order to explain the later, the Left needs to be strong, which he felt unfortunately is not the case in England at the moment. While he saw the advances in Latin America as a positive development, he said that in Europe, except for in Greece and Portugal where the struggles were advancing, this was not the case elsewhere. He opined that this is what is required especially in countries like Italy.

Commenting on the electoral setback of the Left in the recent elections in India, while he was not surprised, he hoped that they are temporary and expressed his confidence that we would be initiating measures to strengthen the Left movement in the coming days.

Professor Hobsbawm literally studied the Volume I of the History of the Indian Communist Movement brought out by the Party under the supervision of the History Commission. He thinks that the international communist movement suffered due to the domination of the CPSU. When pointed out that the CPI(M)'s birth itself was conditioned by fighting such domination, he was quick to add that M N Roy's arguments with Lenin on the national question within the Comintern were not properly taken into account. That understanding of the Indian realities must serve as an input for the Indian communist movement.

Learning that I was at Cambridge to deliver a memorial lecture on Rajni Palme Dutt at his old school Perse, he looked back nostalgically. At that period of the worldwide struggle against fascism, he spoke of the strong international communist solidarity and support for USSR at that time. “Many a bright and creative mind volunteered to fight and die knowing fully well that General Franco will win in Spain and were very unsure till the battle of Stalingrad that Hitler can and will be defeated”. He commented that despite many shortcomings and mistakes that led to the collapse of USSR, its absence continues to be felt as it led to profound developments on the global stage and on the livelihood status of a vast majority of the people.

He said he was looking forward to come to India, but his age and health may not permit. His last visit to India was in 2005, where we met in a small luncheon meeting that was hosted by the former foreign minister Natwar Singh.

He inscribed the presentation of his latest book as being given to a 'Comrade'. This partisanship is Communist partisanship and it continues to remain in him.