ON ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES: REVIEW INDO-US SECURITY COOPERATION

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statements on July 6, 2006 

THE arrest of certain persons in the National Security Council secretariat on charges of espionage for the CIA is an extremely serious matter.  The investigations which have led to the arrest of a computer analyst and the head of the National Information Security Coordination Cell have revealed how a spy ring was operating linked to a US diplomat.

It may be recalled that in 2004 a senior RAW officer who was working as an agent for the CIA was able to escape the country and take shelter in the United States. The UPA government must face up to the fact that  the “strategic partnership” with the United States is facilitating strategic spying. Ever since the BJP-led government began security and intelligence collaboration with the United States, the doors have been opened for systematic subversion of the security and intelligence agencies in the country.

There has to be an urgent review of the joint forums and collaboration such as the Indo-US Cyber Security Forum which are being conducted under the overall rubric  of Indo-US security collaboration. The UPA government should not cloak such a serious breach of security and subversion of the intelligence agencies in the name of security considerations. The government should take immediate steps to prevent security breaches. The country expects the government to come out with a full and comprehensive report in parliament about the espionage and security breaches and the exact nature of the Indo-US security collaboration.

ON AIIMS DEVELOPMENTS

THE developments concerning the All India Institute of Medical Sciences are a matter for concern as it is a premier institution for medical services and research in the country.  The affairs in the institution have reached a stage where the governing board has adopted a resolution for the removal of the Director. This is an unfortunate development which does not bode well for the autonomy and the integrity of the AIIMS.

In the recent period, the AIIMS had become the centre for the anti-reservation movement on the issue of introduction of OBC quotas The attitude of the authority running the institute did not keep in mind the fact that the reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs are a constitutional provision and that a central government institution in particular, has to conform to the Constitution.

The strike by doctors in AIIMS and other hospitals on the issue has put thousands of patients to hardship. Mindful of the difficulties faced by the people, the doctors should call off the strike and register their protest by other means. The Polit Bureau urges the government to intervene to amicably settle the issue.