NUCLEAR BANDIT GO HOME
The
Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) strongly condemns
the visit of President Bush to our shores. The US under Bush has
illegally, immorally and brutally invaded and occupied Afghanistan and
Iraq as part of its global imperial project of dominating West and
Central Asia and beyond. The CNDP will never waver in resisting and
opposing such actions. The US has justified such arrogance in the name
of opposing the spread of nuclear weapons, first in Iraq and now in
Iran. It is shocking that India has supported the US manipulation of
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The US aims to isolate
Iran and prepare the grounds for sanctions on it by the UN Security
Council, and eventually for a possible military attack on Iran either
directly by the US or indirectly through Israel. This Indian government
is not unaware of such imperial calculations but along with the other
nuclear weapons states (NWSs) of Russia, China, France, Britain,
Pakistan and Israel has acquiesced in such US-led preparations.
The
CNDP opposes any and all countries having nuclear weapons or wanting to
keep open the option of having them. This includes Iran. But by what
moral right can existing NWSs decide who else can or cannot have such
weapons of mass murder and terror when they themselves refuse to
disarm? Nor can this nuclear club decide which countries can or cannot
have domestic control over their full civilian nuclear production cycle
with its inherently dual-use character that gives it a military
potential. In respect of this dual-use dimension, there can be no
specific discrimination against Iran even as the CNDP calls for
complete transparency in the functioning of all civilian nuclear energy
programmes everywhere including those of Iran, as well as India and the
other NWSs. To this end there should be a multilateral treaty demanding
such transparency signed by all countries having such programmes. This
treaty should also set up an impartial and genuinely independent
monitoring body, other than the IAEA, for supervising its own
implementation. Since many civilian programmes can be used for military
purposes, this raises the question about how to permanently eliminate
nuclear weapons worldwide without also addressing the issue of nuclear
power.
The
Indian government's excuse for giving support to the US squeeze on Iran
is that it does not want a 'nuclear neighbour'. Who is it fooling? Why
is New Delhi silent about the deeper imperial game vis-à-vis Iran that
the US is playing and which goes beyond the nuclear issue itself? In
1998 Pokharan II pushed Pakistan to carry out the Chagai tests. The
Indian pro-nuclear lobby at that time justified both countries going
nuclear saying this would enhance regional stability! Nor does this
same lobby have the courage today to forcefully demand the immediate
establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons. Iran and
all the Arab states have for decades supported such a demand. It is
Israel backed by the US that has opposed this. Clearly, our Indian
nuclear elite does not want to offend Israel and the US but is fully
prepared to offend the intelligence of the Indian public!
The
Bush visit is also meant to put the seal on the new 'strategic
alliance' between India and the US and for this reason alone must be
opposed. The Indian people do not want to ally with the world's biggest
bully! The Indo-US nuclear deal is really meant to symbolize this
alliance and to internationally legitimize India's status as a NWS and
in doing so endorses, albeit selectively, the proliferation of nuclear
weapons. The deal also sanctifies India's further movement along the
path of nuclear energy production when the existing production and
safety record of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) for over five
decades has been utterly shameful and for which it has never been held
properly and publicly accountable.
The
Indian pro-nuclear lobby wants to use India's indigenous uranium
resources to make as many bombs as possible. This is unacceptable to
the CNDP, which opposes all forms of nuclear proliferation – vertical
and horizontal. The current dispute about how best to separate the
civilian and military parts of the nuclear programme is related to the
dispute about how many nuclear bombs as a 'deterrent' does the country
need or will need in the future. The CNDP rejects this whole debate and
has since 1998 repeatedly called for a separation of the civilian and
military nuclear sectors and for full transparency of the former. This
is something that the DAE and the Indian government owe to the Indian
public and not to the US government or Congress. Therefore, regardless
of whether this deal goes through or not, this separation must take
place in the interests of democratic and public accountability.
The
CNDP will continue to work with peace and disarmament groups throughout
the globe to make South Asia and the world free of nuclear weapons, and
to oppose and defeat the imperial designs of the US government and its
supporters.
NO TO BUSH THE NUCLEAR BANDIT
FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE WORLD
FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE SOUTH ASIA
FOR A MIDDLE EAST ZONE FREE FROM NUCLEAR WEAPONS
US GET OUT OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
NO TO
THE INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL
NO TO SANCTIONS OR ANY MILITARY ATTACK ON IRAN
NO TO ANY INDIA-US-ISRAEL STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP), India
124/6 Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi 110016.
Tel. No. 011-26517814
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: cndpindia.org
--
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I may disagree of what you say, but I will defend to
the death your right to say it."
-Voltaire
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SAVAD RAHMAN
subeditor,MADHYAMAM daily,
pooppalam, perinthalmanna,kerala,
india
cell:(91)-9846085873
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