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Rediff.com  » News » Snap the growing ties with Israel, says Karat

Snap the growing ties with Israel, says Karat

Source: PTI
March 05, 2008 18:39 IST
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In a sharp attack on the UPA Government, the Left parties on Wednesday accused it of "aiding and abetting" Israel in its bloody offensive against Palestine and demanded snapping of military and security ties with it.

 

Significantly, the CPI(M) was joined by CPI, Samajwadi Party and the NCP, a constituent of the UPA, in demanding that India should not have any relationship with Israel at the cost of the Palestine.

 

Addressing a joint press conference with leaders of CPI, NCP and SP, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said India is "betraying" one of its most principled positions of support to Palestinians and called for a campaign to force the UPA Government to change its stand. Karat slammed the Manmohan Singh administration's "evasive" stand on the latest Israeli offensive against Palestine and wanted the Congress-led government to stop India's military and security collaboration with Tel Aviv.

 

He was particularly critical on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement in Parliament on the situation in West Asia in which he did not mention Israel but pledged support to Palestine to face the hardship and misery.

 

"If somebody from outside this planet reads this paragraph (in Mukherjee's statement) they would think that there has been an earthquake in Palestine or a plague. The suffering, the misery. Israel is not mentioned," he said sarcastically.

 

Karat said the Palestinian hardship has been caused by the "brutal military violence" by Israel and ridiculed the Government for talking about helping the Palestinian people get out of the misery.

 

"On the contrary the Indian government is aiding and abetting Israel

through military and security collaboration," he said.

 

The CPI(M) general secretary also supported an initiative to launch a signature campaign to enlist the support of MPs on the issue by the All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation and The Committee for Independent Foreign Policy.

 

"The signature campaign must be conducted. Parliament must be able to demand that the Government forthwith stop security and military collaboration with Israel," he said. Asserting that the Left has already spoken out against the government's silence on the West Asia conflict, Karat said, "My party and the other parties will get together to launch a popular campaign to mobilise people to get the government to change this stand."

 

He criticised the government for launching an Israeli satellite, saying it was a military spy satellite used by the Jewish country to pinpoint target of attacks in Gaza and West Bank.

 

"The collaboration with Israel in its war against the people of Palestine and Arab countries has reached a new low, new depths," he said.

 

Addressing the press conference, NCP leader D K Tripathi said there should not be any relationship with any country at the cost of the rights of Palestinians as the people of India are committed to their cause.

 

SP's Shahid Siddiqui and CPI's Kamal Mitra Chenoy aired similar views. Siddiqui said it was in India's interest to see that peace prevails in West Asia as the rise in oil prices because of turmoil there has a direct bearing on India.

 

 

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