People's Democracy

Quit Iraq Demonstration In Mumbai

P R Krishnan

MUMBAIITES staged a militant demonstration in the city on June 30, demanding withdrawal of the Anglo-American troops from Iraq. The demonstrators comprised a cross section of the society, while the presence of a large number of youth was of special significance. Organised under the banner of the Committee Against War And Terrorism, the participants came from different parts of Mumbai. “Sovereignty for Iraq,” “Bush-Blair pack off from Iraq,” and “The people of India are with the people of Iraq” were some of the slogans raised during the hour long demonstration. 

The Committee Against War and Terrorism comprises several political parties and Leftist trade unions apart from other mass organisations.

It was at 5 p m that the protest demonstration began. It is at this time that a large numbers of office goers start their return journey from their offices and pass through the Churchgate railway station. It was at the entrance of this station that the demonstrators kept demanding, “US-UK troops quit Iraq.”

The gathering was addressed by Dr Vivek Monteiro (CITU), K L Bajaj and Mahendra Singh of the CPI(M), Sukumar Damale (CPI), Firoz Mithibhorwala (CAWAT) and Begum Sabira Aslam Sikhwani (Samajwadi Party). A significant part of the demonstrators was based on activists and functionaries of the CITU, AIDWA, BEFI, SFI, DYFI, NRMU, Sarva Sramik Sangh, Trade Unions Solidarity Committee, Bharatiya Mahila Federation and NGOs.