People's Democracy

JATHAS CULMINATE IN A MAMMOTH RALLY AT VISHAKAPATNAM

‘Decide Who You Will Be With –– Bush Or Indian People’

Left Parties To Congress & UPA Leadership

N S Arjun in Vishakapatnam

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has said that time has come now for the Congress and UPA leadership to decide what they would stand by – either to the commitments made to Indian people in the form of CMP or to the commitments made to US president George Bush. He hoped that the UPA will take a decision in the interests of the country.

Addressing a mammoth gathering on Ramakrishna beach in Vishakapatnam on September 8, Karat made it clear that the Left parties will never compromise with the abandoning of independent foreign policy as it would entail severe negative impact on the ongoing struggles to protect the livelihood of the people. He appealed to the followers of Congress and other secular parties to consider the issues raised by the Left seriously.

The two jathas to Vishakapatnam – one from Kolkata led by CPI general secretary A B Bardhan and another from Chennai led by Prakash Karat – which began on September 4 and traversed through the coast of Bay of Bengal in protest against the naval exercises culminated in this mammoth public meeting on the beach. India along with US, Japan, Australia and Singapore is taking part in these joint naval exercises off the coast of Vishakapatnam from September 4 - 8, 2007.

Speaking first in the meeting, Prakash Karat came down heavily against the government for violating the commitment made in the CMP of pursuing an independent foreign policy. He accused it of wanting to make India a strategic ally of United States and made it absolutely clear that this is not acceptable. He said that during the five days of travel in jatha, large number of people attended the meetings and he could see that the message the Left parties wanted to convey to the nation and to the UPA government was being received by the people. He said the protest jathas were as a result of the decision taken earlier by the Left parties not to countenance any joint military exercises with the US. He recalled how a lakh of people under the aegis of the Left parties protested against the joint air exercises in Kalaikunda air base in Bengal.

He termed it as shameful that the Congress-led government had invited the US Seventh Fleet to enter our waters for participating in the exercises. He pointed out how despite opposing the then prime minister Indira Gandhi on various issues, the entire country stood as one with her in 1971 when she stood firm against US threatening our sovereignty by sending this same fleet. Similarly USS Nimitz, which slaughtered lakhs of Iraqis is part of the ships taking part in these exercises.

Although the jathas were planned much earlier to the finalising of Indo-US nuclear deal, they were used to tell the people why the Left opposed the deal, said Karat. He said that if the deal goes through, it would entail that for the next 40 years US can blackmail India. The deal is part of the overall strategic partnership with US opted by Manmohan Singh government. Not only would nuclear reactors come, there would be great pressure to open up insurance, retail, banking and agriculture sectors – these were part of the exhaustive list given to Manmohan Singh by George Bush during his India visit. The dangers of entry of US retail giant Wal-Mart or the notorious company like Monsanto into our agriculture were highlighted by Karat. He said there would also be intensified pressure to change labour laws. He underlined the necessity of going to people and explaining to them these dangers.

Karat referred to the ongoing land struggle in Andhra Pradesh and said that the Left parties will continue and intensify the struggle till success is achieved.

CPI general secretary A B Bardhan said the joint naval exercises were a peak of the ongoing collaboration with the US, began actively during the previous NDA regime. He charged that our foreign policy is being tailored to achieve the aim of making India a strategic ally of United States. Charging the government of telling lies by saying that these exercises were a routine affair, Bardhan said the real agenda seems to be to move towards an Asian NATO.

Left leaders greeting the rallyists in Vishakapatnam on September 8

He warned that in this year of 60th anniversary of Indian independence, which was achieved with great sacrifices, and 100th birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the nation’s independence is in danger. “There are dark clouds on the horizon. But I see a firm resolve in all of you to fight the danger”.

Lambasting the UPA government for inviting the killer ships of USA into the peaceful Bay of Bengal, Bardhan asserted that the Left will never accept this. He said the coming three, four months are going to be very crucial and called upon the Left parties activists to go among the people, from village to village to spread the message and prepare them to strongly defend our independence. He concluded by expressing confidence that this would be achieved given the tremendous response received by the jathas from the people in the states they traversed.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury in his speech said the intention behind undertaking these naval exercises seems to be to send a signal to the world by US imperialism that there is a new regional formation in Asia under its leadership and that India too has accepted its leadership. He felt this is quite dangerous for our foreign policy and for our future itself and referred to the volatile situation in our neighbourhood –– in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

Referring to the Indo-US nuclear deal, Yechury debunked the government’s argument of going ahead with the deal for electricity generation. “It is a total untruth. As compared to gas-based electricity, nuclear power is costlier by three times and when compared to coal-based, it is twice costlier. So, nuclear power is costliest and unnecessary for our nation”, he declared. The main reasons in reality were one to make India a strategic ally of United States and two to enable billions of dollars of profit for the moribund US nuclear industry. In this connection, he pointed out that for the last 30 years no new nuclear reactor has been commissioned in US.

Yechury attacked the BJP for indulging in double-speak on this issue. He said on the one hand they want to pose before the people as being against the deal while on the other they are helping the government by preventing a discussion in parliament on this issue. Asking Manmohan Singh to learn from what happened to Vajpayee in 2004, he said for the Left parties the lakshmana rekha has always been the CMP. “Stick to it and there would be no instability from our side. If you violate it and instability ensues then you alone will be responsible”, he warned.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and Andhra Pradesh state secretary B V Raghavulu in his brief speech explained the linkage between the ongoing land struggle in the state and the present movement against making India a strategic ally of US imperialism. He pointed out how the US was pressurising the Indian government to change urban land ceiling laws to facilitate large land holdings by private companies, including foreign ones. They are against distribution of land to the poor and always demanded that this should be left to market forces. Therefore to win in the land struggle it is imperative to win in the struggle against US imperialism, he said.

Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas, RSP secretary Abani Roy, CPI national secretary S Sudhakar Reddy and CPI state secretary K Narayana also spoke. B V Raghavulu and K Narayana acted as the presidium for the meeting. Among those seated on the dais included CPI(M) central secretariat members and participants in the two jathas, Nilotpal Basu and V Sreenivasa Rao, CPI(M) Vishakapatnam district secretary Ch Narsingha Rao and CPI district secretary ….