A broad and loose coalition has been recently formed with the coming together of a number of initiatives that have been going on since the Sept 11 events and the subsequent war. The initiative has been called Coalition for Peace and Democracy (CPD) and it seeks to be a platform that is as broad and open as possible.
Individuals and groups associated with all these different initiatives
who felt the need to make a public statement that the opposition to the
war is not merely coming
from fanatics but from all democratic and secular people, met on October
12 at ISI to discuss the future course of action. It was decided that we
join in all our forces to make a massive show of secular-democratic strength
by marching for peace on October 30, 2001. The time of the march will be
at 11.00 a.m but the details of the route and starting point are still
being finalized. A common statement that will be printed in the form of
a leaflet has been prepared and was discussed at the second meeting of
CPD held on Oct. 17 at ISI. A copy of the leaflet is pasted below. Please
forward this information to all those who might not have received
it. The next meeting of the CPD will be held on the 24th of October
at ISI at 5.00 p.m. Those who wish to attend are welcome.
We oppose and condemn the US military assault on Afghanistan. This
has already taken the lives of innumerable people who are in no way responsible
for,
or connected to, the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
We unequivocally condemn those actions as a crime against humanity and
demand that its perpetrators be brought to justice. But the US and its
alliance must give up their blatant double standards. If the calculated
killing of ordinary, innocent people
is terrorism, and doing so outside one's borders is a form of international
terrorism, then we oppose this wherever it takes place and whosoever is
responsible
for it. An effective campaign against international terrorism can only
take place by upholding international law, establishing an International
Criminal Court (ICC),
strengthening the International Court of Justice, and democratizing
the United Nations (UNO). Only legitimate international bodies like these
can carry out adjudication and enforcement in a principled and impartial
manner.
The global coalition of states that the US is setting up to undertake
its self-declared "war on terrorism" is illegitimate. It comprises governments
that are the
major profiteers in the global arms trade, possess virtually all the
world's stock of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and
biological), have
caused great ecological devastation, and are also responsible for many
acts and campaigns of ethnic cleansing and international terrorism, even
genocide,
that have taken place over the last 50 years. That this coalition should
now be authorized and empowered to wage war on one of the poorest countries
in the
world violates the most elementary principles of justice and offends
basic values of decency and concern for our fellow human beings.
The Indian government has shamelessly endorsed this coalition. We oppose
and condemn this stand of the Indian government and demand that this coalition
be
immediately disbanded. This war will bring immense suffering to the
people of Afghanistan and destabilize the whole South Asian region. Already,
lakhs of
innocent Afghans have become refugees, and their numbers will increase
to millions. As always, women and children will be among the principal
victims of
the war, and also of the reinforcement of masculinist and patriarchal
attitudes and structures, that the ideology of war always brings with it.
Undeterred by
all this, the Indian and Pakistan governments are using the situation
to foment mistrust and xenophobia among their respective populations and
to deepen mutual tensions. We strongly oppose this and affirm our commitment
to promoting goodwill, cooperation and peace between India and Pakistan.
The US government's claim that "fighting global terrorism" gives it the right to militarily intervene anywhere it judges fit, is contrary to international law. And it arouses suspicions that US designs have little to do with terrorism. In this regard, the "8 to 10 year program" that the US is embarking upon is completely unjustified. It will lead to many more conflicts and wars the world over, generate more bitterness about the arbitrary use of American power, and cause destruction, casualties and deaths on an ever widening scale.
The BJP-led government has also sought to use the current situation
to promote communal polarization, and to attack basic democratic rights
within the
country. It has tried to identify terrorism as predominantly a phenomenon
of Islamic fanaticism. It has painted opponents of the war, and of the
Indian
government's support to it, as anti-nationals. In this regard, it has
deliberately targeted sections of the Muslim community as well as others
such as human
rights activists opposed to its own repressive and anti-democratic
behaviour. This government has arbitrarily banned selected associations,
arrested
individuals on a large scale, harassed activists exercising their democratic
rights of peaceful public protest, and now proposes to bring in more draconian
laws like the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance which is modeled on
the notorious Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).
This codification
of the government's arbitrary power to arrest, detain, harass and punish
on grounds of mere suspicion, can then be used against all kinds of peoples’
movements
legitimately mobilizing and opposing government policies of various
kinds.
The opposition to the war on Afghanistan is not only a struggle for
peace and justice on a world scale, or for preventing avoidable human suffering.
It is also a
struggle to reduce communal tensions and to strengthen India's best
traditions of secularism and democracy.
[The Coalition for Peace and Democracy (CPD) is a broad and loose
coalition that was formed by the coming together of all initiatives in
the city that
followed the events of Sept.11 and the subsequent war.]
JOIN THE MARCH AGAINST THIS UNJUST WAR AT 11.00 A.M ON OCTOBER 30, 2001. (Route of March will be finalized
shortly. Please inform others)