People's Democracy

US Imperialism: Hands Off India

Jathas Roll Out Against Joint Naval Exercises

Jyoti Basu, flanked by A B Bardhan and Biman Basu, flagging off the Chennai jatha

N S Arjun in Chennai B Prasant in Kolkata

LAUNCHING the Chennai-Vishakapatnam jatha, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat vowed that the Left parties will mobilise the people and fight to ensure that our country does not come under the heel of US imperialism. Underlining that the struggle of the Left parties is not just against Indo-US nuclear deal but the overall process of making our country a junior partner to US, Karat warned this would entail further assaults on the livelihood of people in the form of US-dictated neo liberal economic policies.

At the other end, a crowded rally was witness to the commencement of a jatha from Bengal against the imperialist-led joint naval exercise off the coastal waters of India close Visakhapattanam. Veteran communist leader Jyoti Basu flagged off the 81-member jatha led by CPI general secretary Ardhendu Bhusan Bardhan and accompanied by senior Left Front leaders. Biman Basu himself travelled until Bhubaneswar in one of the two large buses that carried the jatha members.

Flagging off the jatha, at exactly 10 in the morning of 4 September Jyoti Basu was strongly critical of the manoeuvres and designs of US imperialism that wanted a military base near India. Jyoti Basu pointed out that very soon joint exercise of the three wings of the armed forces as such would well be conducted given the shape of things to come and the outlook of the UPA government. The jathas and the demonstrations organised against all such designs comprised the beginning of a ‘big battle against imperialist forays said the former chief minister of Bengal. Jyoti Basu called upon the UP government to recall the Common Minimum Programme and adhere to an independent foreign policy.

A corss section of massive rally that set off the Chennai jatha

In Chennai, addressing a huge public meeting organised in Chennai by CPI(M), CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP Tamilnadu state units on September 4 – the day the joint naval exercises of India, US, Japan, Australia and Singapore began off the coast of Vishakapatnam in Bay of Bengal – Prakash Karat said the Kolkata-Vishakapatnam and Chennai-Vishakapatnam jathas being conducted by the Left parties against these naval exercises will send a signal to the world that there are patriotic, democratic and secular people in India who are fighting against efforts to compromise the country’s sovereignty.

Karat accused the UPA government of betraying its promises made in the CMP, particularly that of pursuing an independent foreign policy. Ever since independence, our country never opted to become a military ally of any power and pursued non alignment as a policy. Going against this 60 year record, the UPA government has decided to make India a strategic ally of USA and signed a 10-year Defence Framework Agreement with the US. The current joint naval exercises were also an illustration of how US is making India its strategic ally. He charged the government of not telling the truth when it tried to portray the exercises as a routine one. The reality was that our armed forces were getting integrated with US forces.

Among the 13 US warships participating in these exercises included USS Nimitz, a notorious ship which was used for launching air strikes and cruise missiles against Iraq in 2003, which resulted in the slaughter of thousands of Iraqi people. “Our government is shamelessly hosting that ship now”, said Karat. He reminded the audience that when this ship came to Chennai port in July this year, the CPI(M) had opposed its docking. “Granting of refuelling and restocking option for such killer ships so that they can continue their bombardment missions – is this the role we want Indian armed forces to play”, questioned Karat.

Refuting the accusations that the Left stand is motivated by its anti-Americanism, he clarified that the Left is not against the people of US or US as a country. However the Left is definitely against US imperialism. He criticised the government for reaching an agreement with Bush, who is the most hated man in the world today. As part of our new found alliance with US, we would have to accept their economic partnership also. Along with nuclear reactors would come Wal-Mart and other notorious US companies, further ruining our people’s livelihood. Karat said that today in our country all sections of working people are fighting to protect their livelihood. All neo-liberal economic policies ruining their lives are being fought against. The closer embrace with US would entail intensification of these policies. Therefore the Left parties are insisting that India must have its own path of development, which serves people’s interests rather than those of US imperialism.

On the Indo-US nuclear deal, Karat made it clear in his speech that the UPA government must not go to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to finalise the safeguards agreement. “You might have made a timetable with George Bush. But as a minority government you are duty bound to heed the voice of people and the majority in parliament. Among the people, there is a widespread opposition to the deal. Even a majority in the parliament oppose the deal saying it is not in the interests of the country. So do not proceed. Examine all objections, particularly those relating to Hyde Act. Till then do not go to IAEA to finalise safeguards agreement”, warned Karat. He welcomed the announcement of formation of a committee of UPA-Left and asked the government to take the forthcoming debate in parliament seriously.

Karat rubbished the government’s propaganda of the nuclear deal meeting our energy needs by giving out statistics. As on today, nuclear power constitutes a mere 3 per cent of our country’s energy requirements and that even going by government’s most optimistic scenarios by 2020 it will only be able to meet 7 per cent of our energy needs. He pointed out the high cost of nuclear power and asserted that nuclear power is not the answer to our energy needs.

Pointing out that it was not the Left parties but the entire opposition which is against the deal, he however noted that the BJP is a pro-US imperialist party. Karat called for continuation of efforts to mobilise people in order to prevent the government from taking steps to make India a strategic ally of US imperialism. He concluded by expressing confidence that many other parties, including DMK and PMK in Tamilnadu who know the dangers of imperialism, would come together, rise up and protect our country.

Speaking next, CPI secretary D Raja made a forceful speech in Tamil. Forward Bloc general secretary Debebrata Biswas in his speech said that the country is today at a crossroads – whether we will surrender our sovereignty or fight to save our country from US imperialism. Calling this a historic moment, he said the Left parties will be in the forefront of the struggle to save our country.

RSP secretary Abani Roy accused the UPA government of being keen to please Bush rather than solve the problems being faced by the people.

CPI(M) state secretary N Varadarajan, CPI state secretary T Pandian also spoke. CPI(M) central committee members A K Padmanabhan, W R Varadarajan and T K Rengarajan were present on the dais. The proceedings of the meeting were conducted by CPI(M) North Chennai district secretary while CPI Chennai district secretary welcomed the leaders.

SIDELIGHTS

Before commencement of the meeting, the central leaders of the Left parties were felicitated on the dais with shawls. An interesting part of the meeting was the grand reception given to Prakash Karat on his arrival at the venue. Just before he began his speech, there was a firework display for few minutes, forcing him to pause and giving the press corps a few uneasy moments as they feared the falling embers of the firecrackers.

A booklet on the nuclear deal brought out in Tamil was released by CPI(M) state secretary N Varadarajan who handed copies to the central leaders.

The entire surroundings of Purasawalkam in North Chennai were decked with Red flags, festoons and huge flexiboards depicting various crimes of US imperialism across the world, right from Vietnam War to Palestine to Iraq etc. An anti-imperialist exhibition organised on this occasion evoked good response from people who keenly watched the posters and cartoons. There were also huge cutouts of Prakash Karat, one of which had a caption: “We Shall Fight; We Shall Win”. The top of the dais had a blazing slogan: “American Devils Out Of Bay of Bengal” with an image of a US-flag draped skull.

KOLKATA

A B Bardhan said that the US was keen to create a NATO-like alliance in Asia and to pull India into it. The naval exercise was little more than an instance of sabre-rattling and little else. Why India should become a part of what is an imperialist conspiracy for domination and hegemony, was how the CPI general secretary would put it. The CPI leader also pointed out that the nuclear deal between the US and India, would compromise India’s sovereignty, and if the UPA government sought to go ahead with the deal, the Left would escalate the struggle against the move.

Other speakers at the rally included Biman Basu and Benoy Konar both of whom said that the UPA government should move away from the ‘lean’ it had towards the US and stand form with an independent foreign policy for the interests of the country and the people. Senior Left Front leader who addressed the rally included Debabrata Bandyopadhyay (RSP), Bir Singh Mahato (FB), Kironmoy Nanda (SP), Prabodh Sinha (DSP), Pratim Chatterjee (FB-M) and Subhas Roy (RCPI).