‘Not a Single Indian Soldier to be Sent to Iraq!’
ON 16 June, the day a Pentagon delegation visited India to discuss Indian troop deployment to Iraq, a protest meeting was convened by the Committee Against War on Iraq at Delhi. Presided over by CPI(M) MP Somnath Chatterjee, the meeting was addressed by a range of political leaders and individuals.
Addressing the meeting, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat challenged the Vajpayee Govt.’s claim of building a "national consensus" on troop deployment. Mr. Karat said that most major parties were opposed to the move and a representative of the Congress would soon address the protest meeting. CPI leader D Raja also opposed any Indian participation in US-occupied Iraq.
Arriving a little later, Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar addressed the meeting. However, he made it clear at the outset that though he was an elected representative from the Congress Party, he would speak in his "personal capacity" alone. Indicating that the Congress was set to support the BJP Govt. in its bid to deploy troops in Iraq, Mr. Aiyar expressed his personal objections to such a move.
Speaking after Mr. Aiyar, CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya said that Indian public opinion had forced the Indian Parliament to demand that foreign troops quit Iraqi soil. There could be no question, now, of a ‘national consensus’ on sending Indian troops to the same soil. At best, as Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar’s words indicated of the Congress’ position, there could be a ‘deal’ between two parties. The real consensus lay in the voice of our history and our sovereignty, which commit us to support the struggle of the Iraqi people against colonial occupation.
Mr. Bhattacharya said Indian and Pakistani governments are competing to win US friendship by sending troops to Iraq. Vajpayee speaks of letting the decision be made in the ‘national interest’. Can our national interest be based on corporate greed or delusions of grandeur induced by becoming a client of the US? Why can’t the decision be taken, based on the shared anti-imperialist interests of India’s and Iraq’s people?
RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and JD(S) leader Danish Ali spoke opposing Indian troop deployment in Iraq. Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav also sent message opposing troop deployment. Forward Bloc leader Mr. Devarajan also spoke, emphasizing that UN cover or no, India should render neither military nor even administrative assistance to the occupying forces.
Columnist Praful Bidwai reminded the audience that our opposition to the war on Iraq had nothing to do with whether it had UN sanction or not, but was based on the principles of justice. Similarly, even if the UN is manipulated into asking India to send troops, we must ensure that India refuses to serve under US occupation.
All speakers and the entire audience was unanimous that not a single soldier
be sent to Iraq under any circumstance.