NAPM strongly condemns the barbaric and cruel military attack on the innocent people of Iraq ( 70% of them consisting of women and children) by the United States of America and its greedy allies. The war mongers have gone ahead arrogantly inspite of repeated appeals and pleas from important inter national organizations, dumping aside all rules, laws and agreements.
Instead of categorically condemning it, the kind of loose and luke-warm stand that the Indian Government has taken is shameful and is a matter of serious concern. By opposing the US domination, we could have led the rest of the world in an intense anti-imperial struggle, but instead, we could not show even that much of courage as shown by the Governments of Germany, France and China. The parties who are holding power and always harping about nationalism, is in fact destroying the long standing and great traditions of Indian Nationalism. In fact the rulers of the countries like India who have joined the competition of making nuclear bombs have lost their moral authority to oppose this attack.
The attack by the US on Iraq is not merely a madness of the crazy giants but is the natural outcome of the Global Capitalist power structures based on macro-military technology. On the one hand, this power is exploiting the resources all over the world by spread the net of Multinational Companies through IMF, WB and WTO. On the other hand, the same powers are trying to establish a uni-polar world through militarism.
NAPM joins with all the movements, organizations and individuals al over the world who stand against this attack on humanity. This attack cannot be fought in long term by rulers and governments but by only those peoples movements and organizations who are committed to alternatives to capitalism. NAPM appeals to all sane, well-meaning people to bravely oppose this war at all levels, wherever you are.
March 21, 2003, Rohtak
P.Chennaiah & Sanjay M, National Co-coordinators
Medha Patkar, National Coordinator
Unite for Peace against US attack on the people of Iraq
Desh Bachao Desh Banao Abhiyan condemns the brutal attack on the innocent people of Iraq by the US and its lackeys. This attack is unprovoked, unjustified and in violation of basic human tenets, international norms and the UN charter. The targeting of Iraqi people , 70 percent of whom are children and women, constitutes a crime against humanity.
The equivocal and timid response of the Government of India has put every self-respecting Indian to shame. It was India’s responsibility to lead the opposition to this attack by all the members of Non-Aligned Movement. Far from accepting this responsibility, the Indian ruling establishment has not had even the bare minimum guts displayed by Russia, Germany and China. This failure to defend National honor exposes the nationalist pretensions of the ruling BJP. The fact is that the ruling class in this country has long ago forsaken the moral right to oppose such militarist adventures, for it too joined the mad race for nuclear bombs and spiraling military expenditure.
The US led attack must not be seen merely as a mis-adventure of a bunch of rulers that have gone berserk. This is yet another outcome of the military industrial complex that under-writes the global capitalist establishment today. Global capitalism is involved in a globe wide extraction of natural resources with the help of WTO, IMF and World Bank. Unilateral military adventure is the political face of global capitalism. It is an attempt to create unquestioned global hegemony that would facilitate global plunder of natural resources.
Massive protests by ordinary people all over the world in the last two days has demonstrated once again that true opposition to war mongering will come from the people, and not from states. Desh Bachao-Desh Banao Abhiyan stands united with all the peoples movements all over the world that are protesting against this crime against humanity.
The people can pressurize their respective governments to support a ‘ Unite for Peace’ resolution in the U N that would call for an immediate halt to this aggression. We demand that the Indian representative in UN should initiate such a resolution in keeping with the spirit of Indian nationalism and our civilizational ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
March 22, 2003, Rohtak
P.Chennaiah & Sanjay M, National Co-coordinators
Medha Patkar, National Coordinator