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Journalism of Courage
The CPI(M) has hit out at the UPA Government for the tone, tenor and content of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s congratulatory letter to President George Bush. In a strongly-worded letter, the CPI(M) has advised that the mandarins of South Block should not transgress foreign policy directions laid down in the Common Minimum Programme.
‘‘There is a widespread consensus in India that we should not subscribe to Bush’s self-serving war on terrorism. To assert, therefore, that we are partners against terrorism without qualification is unwise,’’ the Politburo statement reads.
The CPI(M) has been advising the Government strongly that it chart out an ‘‘independent’’ foreign policy and move away from the pro-US direction that it had acquired during the six years of Vajpayee’s tenure. In fact, this was one of the first pleas made in an article penned by senior Politburo member Prakash Karat in People’s Democracy soon after the UPA government assumed power. Subsequently, the CPI(M) has lashed out at America’s offer for help in the North-East.
‘‘The re-election of George Bush as President of the United States of America portends a continuation of the aggressive and unilateralist approach to international relations,’’ the statement says.
The CPI(M) has been opposing Indian involvement in Iraq. The latest statement reinforces that stand: ‘‘In the past four years, the Bush administration had waged war on the sovereign state of Iraq and occupied it…Neither did Iraq possess weapons of mass destruction nor was it linked to the Al Qaeda. The United States under the Bush presidency has shown contempt for the United Nations and international laws.’’
The party’s advice to the UPA government : ‘‘Relations between India and the United States should be governed by mutual interest and equality. The fight against terrorism which is of direct relevance to our country cannot be a tool for the hegemonistic ambitions of the US.’’
The CPI(M) refers particularly to the Prime Minister’s letter too. ‘‘To state that the global war against terrorism benefited enormously from Bush’s steadfast resolve and leadership is contrary to all facts and evidence’’.
The party criticises the UPA administration for ‘‘the call for a larger and more ambitious agenda for broader strategic cooperation’’ which ‘‘has been given without looking carefully at the policy stances which will be adopted by the second Bush administration.’’
