On August 17, 2014, political activists from different organisations in North India gathered in a meeting in New Delhi on the theme, “US Asia Policy, Question of Sovereignty and We the People”. Representatives of over a dozen parties and organisations participated actively in the deliberations. More than 35 delegates addressed the meeting.
On August 17, 2014, political activists from different organisations in North India gathered in a meeting in New Delhi on the theme, “US Asia Policy, Question of Sovereignty and We the People”. Representatives of over a dozen parties and organisations participated actively in the deliberations. More than 35 delegates addressed the meeting. A correspondent of the Mazdoor Ekta Lehar participated in this meeting, which was organised by the Lok Raj Sangathan.
The atmosphere in the meeting was characterised by two features. One was the spirit of optimism in the participants, cutting across organisations, that the working class and people of our country can and will fight against all efforts of the US imperialists and the Indian ruling class to embroil our country in a dangerous military alliance against our sovereignty and against peace in this region. The second was the spirit of unity amongst the participating organisations, the desire to come together on one platform in the struggle to end the unjust exploitative and oppressive order in our country, by vesting sovereignty where it must belong — in the people.
Posters with graphic details of the US strategy and the history of its treacherous activities against the sovereignty of nations and peoples of Asia and other parts of the world were displayed in the hall.
The meeting began with a power point presentation that explained the US policy vis-à-vis Asia, driven by its imperialist ambition to rule the world. The presentation clearly brought out that today the US military is present all over the world across 156 countries – that is in more than three out of every 4 countries in the world. After 9/11 it established 13 new military bases in 7 countries, bringing the total to US bases in 63 countries. About 60% of the world’s population lives in Asia, representing the biggest potential market for the sale of goods. The US wants to control the important trade routes across countries and continents. The US economy is heavily dependent on the export of arms, military hardware and expertise, and on organising wars in one or the other regions of the world. The presentation hailed the world’s people who have been rising in opposition to the imperialist hegemonic warmongering and violation of the sovereignty of countries.
Ms. Sucharita welcomed the participants, which included activists of a large number of organizations not only from in and around New Delhi but also from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, etc. Youth formed a large contingent and throughout the day they were all ears, eager to learn and express themselves. Ms. Sucharita explained the grave danger posed by US imperialism to our country and its neighbours. She invited the President of Lok Raj Sangathan, Shri Raghavan, Comrade Prakash Rao of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, and Shri Hanuman Prasad Sharma, Vice President, Lok Raj Sangathan, to be members of the Presidium.
Shri. Raghavan initiated the discussion with his introductory remarks on US Asia Pivot Policy. He was followed by speakers from several participating organisations including Com. Prakash Rao from the Communist Ghadar Party of India, Com. Pratap Samal, Delhi Secretary, Socialist Unity Centre of India, Comrade Sheomangal Siddhantkar, General Secretary, CPI-ML New Proletarian, Shri. Mohammed Salim of Jamaat Islami e Hind , Shri. M Hasnain (Kaumi Party of India), Com. O P Sinha (All India Workers’ Council), Advocate Shahid of United Muslim Front and Shri Ram Kishan of Nagrik Parishad.
A large number of activists from workers, peasants, women, and youth organisations, as well as from the Samitis of LRS in different areas addressed the meeting as well. They included Ms Renu, Com. Hansraj Sharma, Shri Charu, Com Dharmender, Ms Nirmala, Dr Pradip, Shri Sohan, Shri Bipin, Shri P Anand, Shri Umesh Kumar Mishra, Ms Uma, Shri R Anand, Com Kuldeep, Ms Afsaan, Shri Saurav Jain and Ms Shivani. They expressed their views, some in eloquent verse, as well as raised questions as to how to take the struggle forward, that were dealt with by the Presidium.
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The speakers were all in unanimous agreement about the dangers posed by this US policy to Asia and to our sub-continent, in particular. They unequivocally condemned US imperialism’s criminal attacks on various countries. They pointed that US imperialism is working to establish its complete domination over Asia and the world, by making military alliances under its dictate with various countries, by declaring various countries as “rogue states” and carrying out “regime change” in these countries, by funding terrorist groups in various countries, by spreading anarchy and confusion, and by directly invading countries under various pretexts including “defence of human rights”. Beginning with the destruction of Yugoslavia in the last decade of the 20th century, US imperialism has brought most of the countries of East Europe and the former republics of the Soviet Union under NATO control. It has devastated Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, and it is destroying Ukraine and trying to redraw the map of West Asia. Now it is looking to conquer the rest of Asia.
Lakhs of innocent people including children have been killed in the name of fighting terrorists. One after another, speakers pointed out that no Indian can afford to have any illusions that US is a force for peace. It is an imperialist power with one aim — that of controlling the world.
Speakers pointed out that the Indian ruling class has always been part of the imperialist system. They never broke from this system in 1947. Afraid that the Indian people would become masters of their own destiny, the British colonialists and the Indian ruling class collaborated in the bloody communal partition of our motherland. They have established a state which is communal to the core, and deprives the people of different nations, nationalities and tribes their sovereignty. They have allowed the imperialists to plunder our land and labour. Internationally, the Indian big capitalists are plundering the land, labour and natural resources of other countries. They are feverishly militarising and preparing for war. In sum, their approach to the question of sovereignty and peace is not different from that of the US imperialists.
Indian people should not harbour any illusion that the Indian government will do anything against the US machinations. Our ruling class wants to strengthen its alliance with US. It is also strengthening alliances with other powers in order to fulfil its ambition of becoming a major imperialist power. This course that it is pursuing is endangering our sovereignty as well as peace in the region. Only we the people can safeguard our sovereignty. Only we can promote such a friendship with our neighbours that no one will be able to intervene in our neighbourhood. The imperialist agenda of the US, as well as the Indian ruling class was thoroughly exposed.
The speakers thanked Lok Raj Sangathan for organising this program, and expressed the need to hold similar meetings all across our country. LRS, whose aim is the empowerment of the people, has raised the very important issue of sovereignty of the Indian people, which is under attack today. This meeting affirmed that it is We, the people, who will defend our sovereignty. Sovereignty, i.e. supreme decision making power, should not be concentrated in the central Cabinet, as it is at present, but should be vested in the people of our country. The Indian Union should be reconstituted as a voluntary union of nations and peoples, in which the Union benefits each constituent, the human rights of all people are guaranteed and enforceable, the Union acts as a bulwark against imperialist aggression and domination, and becomes a factor of peace and friendship with other countries of the region.. We do not need US imperialism to solve our problems. We have a glorious history of rising up as one, against foreign aggressors. The people of our country will unite in struggle against our rulers, who are taking our country on a dangerous course by building a strategic alliance with this most deadly imperialist power. We will create a new India that will not be a part of the imperialist camp, but will be a factor in defence of peace and sovereignty in all parts of the world.
The meeting unanimously adopted a declaration that summed up the views expressed (See Box).
In conclusion, Shri Hanuman Prasad Sharma, Vice President of Lok Raj Sangathan, summed up the proceedings and gave a rousing call to come together and fight against all forms of imperialist aggression and interference, to fight for a society in which sovereignty will be vested in the people.
Declaration of political forum
Incidents of violence and civil war over the years in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Palestine, Ukraine and other regions portend the fact that the world is being relentlessly hurled into a new World War. This grave situation has been caused by America and its allies who are aiming to establish their complete domination over the world. They are doing this by brazenly violating the sovereignty of countries and by smashing any challenge to their domination.
The US claims to be an international law enforcer when, in reality, it has been the lawbreaker. It is directly or indirectly organizing terrorist attacks and violating human rights in the entire Asia-Pacific region.
To justify the violation of the sovereignty of peoples and countries, the US has used its control over international monopoly media to demonise its victims and rivals. This has also been accomplished by overt and covert financing and arming of various groups. It uses the banner of “democracy” to spread anarchy and violence, the deployment of fascist forces, the organizing of various “coloured revolutions” and manipulation of different political forces in each country.
A part of the devious plan of the United States is to establish its domination over the Asia-Pacific region as an essential step towards world domination. The US recognises that the political and economic history of the 21st century will be written in the Asia-Pacific region. It wants to ensure that this is scripted according to its dictates, in typical imperialist fashion.
It is the US with its American intelligence agency, CIA and its war machinery which has caused great destruction in Afghanistan. By propagating the lie that Saddam Hussain’s regime is a threat to other countries and to American interests in the region, the US violated and continues to violate the sovereignty of Iraq. It is the US that set out on a mission of regime change in Syria by seizing the opportunity that opened up in 2011, and encouraged the most anarchic and barbaric forces to topple the Syrian regime. The US is bent on dismembering Iraq and fomenting war and tension in neighbouring states such as Iran. In order to break the unity of freedom loving people and to engender enmity amongst them and to destroy the ancient civilizations, it is encouraging civil wars on the basis of cultural, racial, communal, language diversity of this region, which is detrimental peace and progress of the whole world. The U.S.-led aerial bombardment in 2011 led to the ouster of Gadhafi’s government in Libya, which ended up in endless conflict, bloodletting and chaos in Libya. Thousands of people have been killed ruthlessly in Gaza in recent days by the Israeli state, armed to the teeth by the US and acting as its gendarme in the Middle East. Most recently the US is behind the dismembering of Ukraine. The US has been organizing regular drone attacks killing and maiming thousands of people in the border districts of Pakistan, claiming that it is being done to flush out “terrorists”.
US imperialism’s hands are steeped in the blood of millions of people across Asia and the rest of the world and in this is aided and abetted by Britain and other powers that stand to gain.
We, the people of India, cannot remain unconcerned by these developments in our continent and in neighbouring countries and regions. We cannot allow the US to brazenly flout the sovereignty of peoples and nations under any pretext. We cannot turn a blind eye to American interference in the South Asian region and its attempts to undermine the security of the region and foment dissensions among neighbouring countries and peoples.
Our country is not exempt from the games which the US is playing to dominate Asia and control its vast resources. We are not immune from US interference in the sovereignty of our country. No stone is being left unturned by this death-raining power to enter into an alliance with the Indian government and big corporates to militarise the Indian economy further. Our military is being constantly beefed up to so-called “protect” our country from our neighbours.
Only we as a people can take a principled stand in preserving India’s sovereignty and take steps to stem the interference of the US and other big powers in our internal affairs. The existing political process deprives people of political power and marginalizes them from playing a central role in the sphere of foreign relations. We have to strengthen our movement to force the hands of our government to stop participating in the games of big powers. The demand of vesting sovereignty in the hands of the people has to reverberate across this country.
This political forum calls upon the people of our country to resolutely condemn the fomenting of regime change, civil war and violation of sovereignty by the big powers led by the US. We must not forget that India too, like other countries in the continent is a target of the big powers as part of their plans to conquer Asia.
This political forum:
- Condemns all foreign intervention in the South Asia region and demands the immediate withdrawal of US, NATO and other foreign troops from the region.
- Opposes militarization and war preparations by governments.
- Condemns all acts of state terror and repression against peoples under any pretext.
- States that the so called war on terror, growth and development, national unity and territorial integrity, etc. cannot be used against social and political movements of the people.
- Calls upon the central government to annul all defence treaties and collaborations with the US and other big powers and cancel all FDI in the area of defence.
- Calls upon the central government to build friendly relations with neighbouring countries and their peoples.
This forum affirm that: We the people do not want war. The forum calls on all peace loving people to boldly step out in every locality, state and region to boldly say in one voice “No to war and No to US interference in South Asia!”