People's Democracy

Support to Uprising in Iraq

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on April 9, 2004.

THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) hails the popular uprising in  Iraq against the American occupation. For the last few days, people in Fallujah, Ramadi, Sadr City in Baghdad, Najaf, Al Kut, Nassariya, Basra and other towns are heroically fighting the US armed forces and their allies.

The Polit Bureau denounces the US and the occupation authorities for launching tanks, fighter planes and helicopter gunships in the thickly populated civilian areas, which have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi people including women and children.

The US administration has approached the Indian government once again to send Indian troops to Iraq. This time, the pretext is to guard the United Nations establishment. The proposed June 30 hand over to an Iraqi puppet regime cannot be construed as an end to the occupation. The UN has not yet decided what role it should play in occupied Iraq.

The Vajpayee government must firmly reject such a request for Indian troops. It should also ask the United States to withdraw its troops while   handing over the interim administration to the United Nations as a preparatory step to hand back sovereignty and power to the Iraqi people.