People's Democracy

Down with Indo US Joint Naval Exercise Protests Held In Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka & Goa

TENS of thousands of CPI(M) cadres rallied at 10 different places from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargode to protest against the joint Indo -US naval exercises off the Malabar Coast. It was part of the struggle organised across the country demanding the Manmohan Singh government to do away with the joint exercises which are sure to harm the interest of the nation and the people. And Kerala, keeping in tune with the glorious tradition of struggles and peoples movement proudly and successfully joined the struggle. It is estimated that more than one lakh people took part in the rallies in different places.

People from all walks of life joined the struggle shouting slogans that condemned the joint exercises. Farmers, agricultural workers, factory workers, women, youth and students took part in the protest. All those who took part in the demonstration and in the rally raised the slogans related to the joint naval exercises. They proclaimed that the joint naval exercise would only be harmful to the independence and sovereignty of our nation.

Those who took part in the demonstration carried banners and placards displaying slogans like "Down with imperialism", �Down with George Bush, Stop the joint naval exercises, The Indo - US nuclear deal is against the interest of the nation.� Caricatures and cartoons exposing the nexus between Bush and Manmohan Singh were also displayed in the rallies that took place in different parts of the state. In certain places, people wearing the masks of Bush and Manmohan Singh were chained and dragged down the streets throughout the demonstration.

Rallies protesting against the joint naval exercises were conducted in ten different places in the state. At the Sanghumughan beach in Thiruvananthapuram, the rally was inaugurated by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member S Ramachandran Pillai. At Kollam, it was inaugurated by Pinarayi Vijayan, state secretary and Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M). CPI(M) Polit Bureau members Brinda Karat (Kochi), V S Achuthanandan (Alappuzha), Central Secretariat member A Vijayaraghavan (Payyannur), Central Committee members, P K Sreemathi (Tellichery), M A Baby (Kozhikkode), Paloli Muhammed Kutty (Ponnani), Dr Thomas Issac (Chavakkad) and state committee member Elamaram Kareem (Uduma) inaugurated the rallies at different centres.

Tens of thousands of people rallied round the protest march braving drizzles in some places and heavy rain in some other places. All of them in one voice denounced the joint naval exercises and criticised the UPA government for having surrendered the country's sovereignty before the US and asked the government to sever its military ties with the US. In places like Kochi, a pledge was taken against the joint naval exercise and lamps were lighted symbolically to protect the independence and sovereignty of the nation.

Leaders who addressed the rallies at different places came down heavily on the UPA government for its attempts to make India a strategic ally of the US in its military adventures.

Brinda Karat who inaugurated the rally at Kochi said that the ultimate aim of the US in the joint naval exercise is to make India a joint military ally of America. America is a dangerous ally as far as its track record is considered. The next aim of the US would be to conduct joint actions against other nations which will be totally against the independent foreign policy of our nation. America is trying to constitute yet another Asian based NATO. And America wants India to be the kingpin of that alliance. This will also prove to be dangerously against the traditions of our nation. She exhorted the people to mobilise the anti - imperialist sentiments of the Indian people.

The historic rallies were conducted at different places after completing a series of preparatory and organisational steps taken up by the Party. To ensure the success of the protest rally, at various levels, meetings of different trade unions and mass organisations also were conducted.

Below is a chart showing the participation of people in the rallies at different places.

District Number of People

Kasargode 2500

Ezhimala (Naval Base) 15,000

Tellicherry 6,000

Kozhikode 7,000

Ponnani 4,000

Chavakkad 20,000

Ernakulam 20,000

Alappuzha 7,500

Kollam 5,000

Thiruvananthapuram 14,000

Total 1,01,000

(K V Sudhakaran)

MILITANT DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST JOINT INDO-US NAVAL EXERCISE

Responding to the call of CPI(M), CPI, Forward Block and RSP, in Maharashtra, CPI(M) staged militant demonstrations against joint Indo-US naval exercises in Arabian Sea, on October 24, 2008 at Mumbai, Uran in Raigad district and Dahanu in Thane district. CPI and PWP also joined the demonstration in Mumbai, staged at downtown Churchgate railway station, in the evening. Hundreds of banners and placard holding demonstrators vigorously shouting slogans for about one and a half hour, denounced joint exercises and demanded halt to joint military exercises and scrapping of Indo-US strategic alliance. They attracted attention of thousands of suburban train commuters, who responded attentively. 3000 copies of CPI(M) Mumbai committee leaflets were distributed during the demonstration. Demonstration in Dahanu was staged at Zai Bori Gaon on Dahanu-Talasari tahsil border. Full throated slogans of demonstrators received good response from the nearby people. Demonstrations at Uran, staged at market place, also received good response.

Demonstrations in Mumbai were led by Dr Ashok Dhawale, CPI(M) state secretary, K L Bajaj CPI(M) Central Committee member, Mahendra Singh, CPI(M), Mumbai secretary, Mariam Dhawale, CPI(M) state secretariat member, Kishore Theekedath and Sayeed Ahmad, CPI(M), state committee members, Ramsagar Pandey, Shailendra Kamble, S K Rege, Ashok Banerjee, CPI(M) Mumbai secretariat members and CPI Mumbai secretary, Prakash Reddy, secretariat members Sukumar Damle, Prakash Narveker. Demonstrations at Zari Bori Gaon were led by Rajaram Ozare, MLA and CPI(M) Thane district secretary. CPI(M) state committee members Barkya Mangat and Edward Wartha, Ghanshyam Patil, CPI(M) Raigad district secretary and Bhusan Patil, Ramesh Thakur, Vijay Patil, Rajesh Thakur etc., all CPI(M) Raigad district committee members, led the demonstrations at Uran. The speakers addressing the demonstrators, severely denounced UPA government�s policy of forging Indo-US military integration as part of Indo-US strategic alliance and exposed harmful consequences of military integration for national interests. They exhorted people to join anti-Indo-US strategic alliance campaign of Left parties.

KARNATAKA

Mass demonstration against Indo- US Naval Exercise held at Ullal (Mangalore) Beach

ULLAL beach in Arabian Sea near Mangalore in Karnataka witnessed a massive demonstration against the Indo-US naval exercise today. This is the land in which Rani Abbaka fought Portuguese to save the nation in 19^th century. The demonstration was organised by CPI(M) and led by K Varadarajan, Polit Bureau member, V J K Nair, state secretary and other leaders of the Party. The leaders garlanded the statue of Rani Abbaka and the procession culminated into a public meeting in Ullal beach.

The public meeting was presided over by B Madhav, state secretariat member. K Varadarajan condemned the policies of the UPA government which surrender the sovereignty of our nation to the US imperialism. Manmohan Singh bypassed the Indian parliament and signed the nuclear deal against the promise made to the Indian parliament. The discussion in the US congress on the deal exposed the imperialist interests and surrender of the UPA to the US imperialism. The US which threatened India for supporting the Bangladesh freedom struggle now has become a strategic ally of the Congress party. CPI(M)�s opposition to the deal with US and to the naval exercises in the Arabian Sea is to protect the nation from the clutches of war mongering US imperialism and to safeguard the interest of the working people, K Varadarajan said.

The pro American policies of BJP and Congress were thoroughly exposed by the speakers in the meeting.

V J K Nair, G V Srirama Reddy and G N Nagaraj, secretariat members of Karnataka also addressed the meeting.

GOA

STOP THE JOINT EXERCISES WITH US NAVY

PROTESTING against the joint Indo-US naval exercises being conducted in the Arabian sea, activists from all the four corners of Goa gathered together at the port city of Vasco. They included workers from the mining areas of the south east, farmers from the north, along with port and dock workers from Vasco itself, and women from all three areas. The demonstrators carried banners stating "Indian People Condemn Joint Naval Exercises with US Imperialists", "No Truck with US Imperialism", and large numbers of placards. Led by Dr Vivek Monteiro, Thalmann Pereira, state secretary and Suresh S Naik and Naresh K Shigaonkar, state secretariat members, the rally first marched to the gates of INS Gomantak, the head quarters of Goa Naval Area and Naval Aviation, where a memorandum addressed to the Defence minister was presented to the commanding officer and then the rally wended its way through the avenues of Vasco-da-Gama city to the office of the deputy collector where another memorandum addressed to the prime minister was handed over.    A public meeting was held here. Addressing the meeting, Thalmann Pereira, stated that the Goan people had a proud history of struggle against colonialism and imperialism. When the Portuguese dictator Salazar was planning to hand over Goa as a base for the US Navy, it necessitated the decision of the Nehru government to order the action of the Indian Armed Forces to liberate Goa. It is a shame, he said, that the UPA government, headed by the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi, should today allow joint exercises off the coast of  Goa with the US Navy.

Vivek Monteiro addressing the meeting said that the policy of strategic alliance with US imperialism was started by the previous BJP led NDA government. The Indian people rejected this policy and threw out the BJP. The UPA government did not have the mandate to take this dangerous policy forward. The Indian people would never accept a strategic alliance with US Imperialism. Our Indian Navy itself had a proud tradition of fighting imperialism as in the RIN revolt of 1946. We can never forget, he said, that this same US Navy had threatened us with nuclear weapons during the Bangladesh liberation war.