People's Democracy

RESPONDING to the call given by the all-India bodies of the Left parties, the CPI(M) and CPI held a joint demonstration in Mumbai on October 12, to denounce the unilateral war and bombing attacks begun by US and British imperialism against Afghanistan, which have already led to the death of hundreds of innocent civilians, including women and children. The demonstration condemned both individual terrorism and state terrorism, and came down heavily against fundamentalism and communalism of all hues. This action also attacked the ‘more-loyal-than-the-king’ servility displayed by the BJP-led Vajpayee regime towards the USA on this whole question.

The demonstration was scheduled to take place at the American Cultural Centre near Churchgate railway terminus in the heart of the commercial area of south Mumbai. But when over 250 demonstrators of the CPI(M) and the CPI gathered at Churchgate, a formidable police force prevented them from marching to the American Centre. Resonant slogans against imperialism, terrorism and fundamentalism then began, attracting the attention of thousands of passers-by. The police then arrested all the demonstrators.

The Mumbai demonstration was led by CPI(M) Central Committee member Ahilya Rangnekar, state secretariat members K L Bajaj and Mahendra Singh, state committee members Vivek Monteiro and Kishore Theckedath and CPI leaders Narayan Ghagare, Prakash Reddy and Prakash Narvekar.

The attitude of the Mumbai police towards the catastrophic events from September 11 onwards clearly smacked of a pro-imperialist and anti-Muslim bias. This was first seen during the September 25-27 jail bharo campaign of the CPI(M), when the police harassed the party leaders in Dharavi who had criticised the USA in their speeches. Again, without any rhyme or reason, the police prevented the September 27 CPI(M) procession from marching to the Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum against the Vajpayee government. After a scuffle, the police arrested the demonstrators at the Grant Road itself.

Then, the police not only refused permission for the October 12 anti-war demonstration, but even went to the extent of threatening CPI(M) activists in several places in Mumbai in a brazen attempt to force the cancellation of this action. The police threats were lavishly laced with anti-Muslim venom. The CPI(M) activists of course refused to submit to such blatant threats. But what is much more serious is that it is this very police attitude that appears to have contributed to the recent riots at Malegaon in Nasik district.

A day earlier, on October 11, over 150 women from various organisations held a dharna at the Churchgate railway terminus in Mumbai, to demand an immediate end to the US bombing of Afghanistan. Their placards and full-throated slogans proclaimed: ‘War is Not the Answer to Terrorism,’ ‘We Condemn Terrorism, Imperialism and Fundamentalism,’ ‘Stop the Brutal Massacre of Innocent Afghan People’ and ‘Women for Peace.’

AIDWA’s Mumbai secretary Sonya Gill read out a joint statement signed by ten organisations of women. These were --- the AIDAW, NFIW, Women’s Centre, Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Naari Atyachaar Virodhi Manch, Young Women’s Christian Association, Aawaaz-e-Niswan, Vacha, IWID and Forum for Women’s Health. On the occasion of one month of the terrorist attacks on the USA, the statement condemned the terrorist attacks on innocent citizens, but opposed the unilateral retaliatory action of the USA. Thousands of copies of this statement were distributed during the dharna.

The dharna was addressed by AIDWA patron Ahilya Rangnekar, NFIW leader Tara Reddy, AIDWA state president Mariam Dhawale, AIDWA state secretary Kiran Moghe, Aruna Bhunte and others. They said the women’s organisations have long condemned the trampling of the democratic rights of Afghan women by the fundamentalist Taliban regime. Yet ordinary and innocent Afghan men, women, children, the destitute and the elderly could not be made answerable for the crimes of the Taliban regime. But that is precisely what the US bombing is doing. It was the US itself that had till recently nurtured, encouraged and supported Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, and several other terrorist and fundamentalist outfits throughout the world. Speakers also opposed the BJP government’s support to US actions, and expressed concern that the current international tensions may be misused to aggravate communal divisions in our country.